CITY OF NIGHTMARES
Author: Rebecca Schaeffer
Date released: 2023
Category: Fantasy
Synopsis: In a Gotham-inspired city that is comedically chaotic and full of so many villains they literally trip over each other’s plots in Bacanno style chaos, people are literally transformed into their worst nightmares. We follow a perfectly normal, non-Nightmare, non-villainous girl, who just happens to have joined a cult for the free rent. As one does. She’s also a huge coward (which really, relatable given this is the kind of city where the Mayor has a pet pterodactyl that eats people). But when she gets blown up in some random villain’s plot, she needs to grow a semblance of a spine before she ends up a casualty in multiple villainous wars. Welcome to the City of Nightmares. We hope you don’t end up too dead or horrifically mutilated during your stay.
The UnReel Take:
Story: 8.0
Writing: 7.0
Characters: 9.0
Setting: 10
UnReel AR: 8.5
Bottom Line: This book is so weird, and I mean that in a good way. Like, so weird I couldn’t even come up with cogent commentary, so here are scattered thoughts instead.
· This is funny AF and GOOD GOD did it need to be, since readers probably wouldn’t accept the world otherwise. The humor also does a good job insulating the reader against the deeply traumatizing body horror depicted. (It's worth noting here that I'm a big wuss when it comes to body horror.)
· The writing is repetitive but didn't detract from the experience.
· Ness, our main girl, isn't a character everyone will love, being a self-centered coward, but she is unique and well-rounded and I had a great time reading from her perspective.
· As some other reviews have noted, City of Nightmares includes some preachy rants about "sexy vampire" stories and how toxic they are. Not much to say here as there definitely are preachy author-insert passages. I don't align with the author on her "stories about toxic relationships are harmful to society" thesis, but it also didn't bother me. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion and these inserts made sense with the characterization.
· There are some "woke" inserts that didn't add much to the story but, again, it wasn't over the top. For example, “Before his Nightmare, he’d been a ‘manly man,’ the kind who had a collection of firearms and used them to shoot men who didn’t conform to his sweaty ideas of masculinity.”
· City of Nightmares is hard to put down because so many chapters end on cliffhangers! Darn you Rachel Schaeffer, I need some sleep!!
· Some of the character growth comes off as quick or convenient, but I totally get why the author didn't slow the pace to give us a slightly more believable character arc at the expense of 200 extra pages.
· This isn’t a perfect story, and one of the negatives is that I never felt like the stakes were that high. The setting, Newham, is Gotham-inspired and gives a real "comic book" vibe. Yes, dire things are happening, but I was always confident the main characters would be fine. That doesn't mean effed-up things didn't happen, just that I knew Ness would pull through. She's a survivor, that one.
· Similarly, don't worry about understanding the antagonist's motivations. They’re classic "comic book villains" and I'm here for it.
· I have NO IDEA what time period this takes place in. Characters read the paper and there are no references to cell phones, but there is mass transit so I'm guessing like a 60s-70s vibe? This is an alternate reality story so it doesn't really matter, but I would be curious to hear what era the author was picturing.
Ideal Reading Location: The ideal reading location for City of Nightmares depends on how sane you’d like to appear. If you don’t want to seem like a crazy person, read this in the comfort of your own home, where you can cackle maniacally in peace. If you don’t mind being publicly cuckoo for coco puffs, read this on a train during heavy commuting periods and embrace your inner psycho banana.
Drink Pairing: Absinthe. Just try not to cut off your own ear.
Maybe your experience will be different!