City of Nightmares follows Ness deep into the corruption around her as she teams up with the ever-dashing vampire Cy and battles numerous fears and assassination attempts.
The thrilling new start to a new series, Schaeffer delivers a non-stop story following Ness, the ever-fearful and sometimes comical who becomes the reluctant heroine of the novel.
Humorous
One of my favorite parts of the novel is that our main character here is Ness, after the Lochness Monster. Once you read the story, that makes sense. It makes sense, as the book title is City of Nightmares and takes place in a crime-ridden and corrupt city (just think Gotham). Monsters come alive here; people turn into monsters in their sleep, whatever their worst nightmare is.
For Ness, ever since she was a child. She witnessed her sister become a giant spider, eat their father, and was left traumatized by the incident. So, the irony of Ness being named after a famous monster is icing on the cake.
The way Schaeffer created Ness was top-tier. Ness is terrified of everything. Absolutely everything. The description, the way she crab scuttles away, crawls up walls and pipes, and is generally fearful and terrified of everything, is hilarious to read. Ness is aware that her fear and reactions are irrational. Ness is self-aware, and throughout the novel, she struggles to face her fears of monsters and nightmares, even going so far as to befriend a vampire and become one of his best friends.
Ness’s journey is incredible because she must overcome many of her fears. But the important part of the story isn’t that she has to overcome them; it is the fact that she doesn’t let being afraid control her anymore. Ness rises to the occasion, exposing corruption in a well-recognized organization and risking her life to save Cy, a vampire who becomes her best friend.
Final Thoughts
From beginning to end, City of Nightmares is just a fun read. Ness’s reactions are comical, but even more impressive is her character development. She may still be scared of everything, but doesn’t let it control her.
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