June 2023 Staff Picks

I initially grabbed City of Nightmares because I’m a fan of Rebecca Schaeffer’s other series, Market of Monsters, and was not disappointed. City of Nightmares is set in another version of Earth, where years ago when people had nightmares they would become what they most feared in mind or in body. This could mean that they become twisted monsters who rampage through streets causing mass destruction, or they could become something more sinister, like a deadly disease. Some nightmares are even contagious and people who haven’t dreamed can catch them (like one of 7+ strands of vampirism). Most cities have nightmares controlled through drugs in the water or medicine you take every night, but sometimes that fails. And not only are there literal monsters absolutely everywhere, people are embracing their worst selves. The Mayor keeps a pet pterodactyl that eats people on command and is going to jail. Rival gangs have all out wars in the street. Bribery is the only way to get things done so if you don’t have money, tough buckets. 

Eight years ago Ness’s sister went to bed early and woke up a man-eating spider, eating their father while Ness hid under the sink. Ness survived, but became an utter coward in every way. In order to try and gain some semblance of safety Ness joins a sort-of-cult called Friends of the Restful Soul where they offer free “therapy” to survivors of monster attacks. Her place in the Friends is put at risk when her cowardice outweighs her usefulness. Ness bullies her way into one more chance, only to have everything blow up in her face- literally. The mail boat she’s traveling on explodes and the only survivors are Ness and a Vampire monster boy named Cy. Surviving means that Ness and Cy are neck deep in a massive assassination conspiracy that goes way deeper than either of them ever expected. In order to survive Ness has to face her ultimate fears- spending time with an actual Nightmare.

This book was utterly chaotic and absolutely amazing in every way. It was weirdly funny in spots and majorly thought-provoking in others. Highly recommend.

*I borrowed the audio version of this title from cloudLibrary