A review by hanna
City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Schaeffer manages what so many YA authors before her have tried and failed to do: How do you make the loser kid without powers or training into the main character who's supposed to save the world? Easy, they're not going to save the world.
There's so many characters in this book who would've been better suited as a YA-saviour, there's Ness' best friend, Priya, whose biggest dream is fighting the Nightmares or the charming vampire Cy, who Ness is starting to like more and more. But we're stuck with Ness — and it's great!
It was so fun seeing her work around trying to do everything on her own. She makes other people work for her, put her info out into the world without risking too much herself. She's isolated, doesn't want anymore friends than she already has and where there's danger, she's already running away from it.
What I also loved was that all this "not like other people" business didn't at all turn into "not like other girls", which we often see with FMCs.
The world Schaeffer has creted is intriguing and offers enough potential for so many more books. The Nightmares, how they are created and why, all gets more and more mysterious and I'm so ready to see where this story takes us next!
There's so many characters in this book who would've been better suited as a YA-saviour, there's Ness' best friend, Priya, whose biggest dream is fighting the Nightmares or the charming vampire Cy, who Ness is starting to like more and more. But we're stuck with Ness — and it's great!
It was so fun seeing her work around trying to do everything on her own. She makes other people work for her, put her info out into the world without risking too much herself. She's isolated, doesn't want anymore friends than she already has and where there's danger, she's already running away from it.
What I also loved was that all this "not like other people" business didn't at all turn into "not like other girls", which we often see with FMCs.
The world Schaeffer has creted is intriguing and offers enough potential for so many more books. The Nightmares, how they are created and why, all gets more and more mysterious and I'm so ready to see where this story takes us next!
Spoiler
The only thing that I didn't really like was the "explanation" that all nightmares retain their minds because that's a lot of murderous people running around and I just can't believe that all people who turn into non-humans want to go on killing sprees. Or maybe I'm just as naive as Ness 😉
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Trafficking and Alcohol