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City of Nightmares #2
Cage of Dreams
In this thrilling sequel and conclusion to the City of Nightmares duology, Ness is forced to make a twisted deal with the Nightmare Phantom—only to find herself embroiled in the explosive fallout of the agreement when a botched assassination attempt unleashes chaos into the City of Newham.
Nineteen-year-old Ness used to have a vehement terror of Nightmares—people who’d been turned into their worst fears while they slept. Through two assassination attempts, an explosion, and a faustian bargain with a dream demon, she’s finally working through those fears.
Unfortunately, Nightmares aren’t the only dangerous thing in Newham. Working at a speakeasy where gunfights are common and death is a regular occurrence, Ness is forced to reckon with all her other fears—including her fear of mortality. It’s easy to die in Newham, but it’s hard to live.
So when the Nightmare Phantom—the monster that turns people into Nightmares—shows up, asking her another favor, she agrees, but only if he turns her into a Nightmare. One of her own choosing, something bullet proof and strong and able to live without fear.
But when Ness’s attempt to fulfill the bargain goes wrong, things start to spiral out of control. Now, Ness is in the crosshairs of enemies old and new, and this time, she can’t run from her problems. If she wants to survive, she’s going to have to conquer the most difficult enemy of all: herself
Nineteen-year-old Ness used to have a vehement terror of Nightmares—people who’d been turned into their worst fears while they slept. Through two assassination attempts, an explosion, and a faustian bargain with a dream demon, she’s finally working through those fears.
Unfortunately, Nightmares aren’t the only dangerous thing in Newham. Working at a speakeasy where gunfights are common and death is a regular occurrence, Ness is forced to reckon with all her other fears—including her fear of mortality. It’s easy to die in Newham, but it’s hard to live.
So when the Nightmare Phantom—the monster that turns people into Nightmares—shows up, asking her another favor, she agrees, but only if he turns her into a Nightmare. One of her own choosing, something bullet proof and strong and able to live without fear.
But when Ness’s attempt to fulfill the bargain goes wrong, things start to spiral out of control. Now, Ness is in the crosshairs of enemies old and new, and this time, she can’t run from her problems. If she wants to survive, she’s going to have to conquer the most difficult enemy of all: herself
352 pages, Hardcover
First published September 26, 2023
62 people are currently reading
7198 people want to read
About the author
Rebecca Schaeffer
7 books1,550 followersThis author also writes under the name RR Schaeffer
Rebecca Schaeffer is the critically acclaimed author of Not Even Bones, Only Ashes Remain, and When Villains Rise. The Webtoon adaptation of the trilogy has garnered over a hundred million reads and nearly 2 million subscribers. Her next book, City of Nightmares, comes out in January 2023.
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I read a lot of books and have a lot of opinions, so the only books I put up and rate on Goodreads are ones I absolutely loved and would heartily recommend to my fans.
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I also don't add friends and I don't have time to keep up on all platforms, so Goodreads is just for posting book reviews. If you want to contact me, there's a form on my website ^_^
Rebecca Schaeffer is the critically acclaimed author of Not Even Bones, Only Ashes Remain, and When Villains Rise. The Webtoon adaptation of the trilogy has garnered over a hundred million reads and nearly 2 million subscribers. Her next book, City of Nightmares, comes out in January 2023.
*******
I read a lot of books and have a lot of opinions, so the only books I put up and rate on Goodreads are ones I absolutely loved and would heartily recommend to my fans.
****
I also don't add friends and I don't have time to keep up on all platforms, so Goodreads is just for posting book reviews. If you want to contact me, there's a form on my website ^_^
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April 21, 2023Welcome back to the City of Nightmares, where you can make your worst nightmare a reality.
This is the conclusion of the City of Nightmares duology, and I'm really excited for you all to see it! It's more action, more chaos, and a lot more Nightmares.
I know my publisher has an official blurb up already, but in the spirit of the first book, here is my unhinged personal book description:
In fake-Gotham, where people can literally turn into their worst nightmare, Ness is still a coward, but she's better. She's on step two of the ten step plan for not being a coward. Which is better than the -100 she was at before but not exactly great. And the city is more dangerous than ever, because it's mayoral election season, so naturally the mayor rides her pterodactyl down the street with machine guns in both hands chasing down her opponents, as one does. So when the Nightmare Phantom approaches Ness and asks her to do something, instead of refusing and running away like she wants to, she decides 'hey, we all die someday' and takes him up on the offer--if she does what he wants, he'll turn her into an invulnerable, indestructable, non-murderable Nightmare. Win-win. Obviously this goes Wrong. And now Ness is caught up in a mess. Again. Oops.
I hope you all enjoy the conclusion to my chaotic fun duology this September!
This is the conclusion of the City of Nightmares duology, and I'm really excited for you all to see it! It's more action, more chaos, and a lot more Nightmares.
I know my publisher has an official blurb up already, but in the spirit of the first book, here is my unhinged personal book description:
In fake-Gotham, where people can literally turn into their worst nightmare, Ness is still a coward, but she's better. She's on step two of the ten step plan for not being a coward. Which is better than the -100 she was at before but not exactly great. And the city is more dangerous than ever, because it's mayoral election season, so naturally the mayor rides her pterodactyl down the street with machine guns in both hands chasing down her opponents, as one does. So when the Nightmare Phantom approaches Ness and asks her to do something, instead of refusing and running away like she wants to, she decides 'hey, we all die someday' and takes him up on the offer--if she does what he wants, he'll turn her into an invulnerable, indestructable, non-murderable Nightmare. Win-win. Obviously this goes Wrong. And now Ness is caught up in a mess. Again. Oops.
I hope you all enjoy the conclusion to my chaotic fun duology this September!
February 1, 2024
“No matter what you do, you have to work with other people.” Pryia shakes her head. “A lot of people talk about independence like it’s living alone, having a job, and supporting yourself, with no one else there. But that’s not independence—it’s isolation. And the problem with isolation,” Pryia points out, “is that when something goes wrong, you have no one to lean on.”
An original DNF…But…My completist personality (only when it comes to a series) officially took over. Encouraging me to give this book another try…And…MY FEELINGS ARE SO HURT RIGHT NOW!!!
So. Truly. This was not a bad book. I know that so many other people will love this and, probably, fall in love with Ness and the Crew all over again. But. As for me, this was not the book that I was expecting nor hoping for. 😔😔😔. It took from Chapters 10-35 for this entire story to begin and all of the delicious drama to take place. Once I hit Chapter 10, I found myself staying up late and just flipping the pages. I just needed to know what the heck was going to happen. 😌😌😌. Though I had to read 3 chapters, at a time, to really find some enjoyment. This book is the prime example of “Hope for the best, but Prepare for the worst.” And I genuinely hate this!!!
Oooh how Book #1 was so much better !!!
Unfortunately for me, this will be the last book that I read from this author. But. I am rooting for her future in the writing industry!!! 🥰🥰🥰.
P.S. I am sssooo thankful that I was able to read this with my BB Anja. I honestly don’t think I would have been able to get through this journey, especially this book, without you!!! Hope to do more buddy reads with you soon. 😍😍😍.
An original DNF…But…My completist personality (only when it comes to a series) officially took over. Encouraging me to give this book another try…And…MY FEELINGS ARE SO HURT RIGHT NOW!!!
So. Truly. This was not a bad book. I know that so many other people will love this and, probably, fall in love with Ness and the Crew all over again. But. As for me, this was not the book that I was expecting nor hoping for. 😔😔😔. It took from Chapters 10-35 for this entire story to begin and all of the delicious drama to take place. Once I hit Chapter 10, I found myself staying up late and just flipping the pages. I just needed to know what the heck was going to happen. 😌😌😌. Though I had to read 3 chapters, at a time, to really find some enjoyment. This book is the prime example of “Hope for the best, but Prepare for the worst.” And I genuinely hate this!!!
Oooh how Book #1 was so much better !!!
Unfortunately for me, this will be the last book that I read from this author. But. I am rooting for her future in the writing industry!!! 🥰🥰🥰.
P.S. I am sssooo thankful that I was able to read this with my BB Anja. I honestly don’t think I would have been able to get through this journey, especially this book, without you!!! Hope to do more buddy reads with you soon. 😍😍😍.
October 1, 2023
I opened Cage of Dreams and I felt like I just came home. I kid you not. I missed this world and its characters.
I finished the first book back in February and had no idea I'd be able to complete this series this year, until a few days before I started reading this.
I was making a physical list of series I need to finish, and, of course, this was one of them. I went to check the release date, found out it was coming out on the 26th of September and I knew I had to read it ASAP. And here we are.
This book was just as chaotic as the first, it was so fun and full of completely ridiculous things that somehow work together brilliantly.
My one and only complaint was that Ness would just repeat herself over and over a lot at the start, how she's scared of everything, she doesn't want to be but she is, she just wants to be safe, but Cy could kick her out, but she knows he won't, but he could and that scares her (along with everything else).
This does mellow out eventually, and Ness gains more confidence in herself and her friends.
I was expecting something to happen on the romance front and nothing really did, but that's also okay. The crumbs we got were very sweet.
The ending was satisfying, but I obviously want a spinoff!!! It's a good set up for one, and I know we haven't had enough of Newham. I'd love to see more of The Nightmare Phantom in action.
If you are reading this, and haven't picked up this duology yet, I don't know what you're doing with your life.
I finished the first book back in February and had no idea I'd be able to complete this series this year, until a few days before I started reading this.
I was making a physical list of series I need to finish, and, of course, this was one of them. I went to check the release date, found out it was coming out on the 26th of September and I knew I had to read it ASAP. And here we are.
This book was just as chaotic as the first, it was so fun and full of completely ridiculous things that somehow work together brilliantly.
My one and only complaint was that Ness would just repeat herself over and over a lot at the start, how she's scared of everything, she doesn't want to be but she is, she just wants to be safe, but Cy could kick her out, but she knows he won't, but he could and that scares her (along with everything else).
This does mellow out eventually, and Ness gains more confidence in herself and her friends.
I was expecting something to happen on the romance front and nothing really did, but that's also okay. The crumbs we got were very sweet.
The ending was satisfying, but I obviously want a spinoff!!! It's a good set up for one, and I know we haven't had enough of Newham. I'd love to see more of The Nightmare Phantom in action.
If you are reading this, and haven't picked up this duology yet, I don't know what you're doing with your life.
December 2, 2023
A solid ending to this Duology, although I'm obviously hoping we'll get a spin off featuring Priya. I felt that this story was not as strong as the first book, but still delivered a great ending that showed how strong Ness had become.
The biggest problem I had with this was that it felt like one continuous trek to get to the ending, whereas the first had different encounters and situations along the way. I also felt that the first had a lot more humour, although this still had some great funny moments.
I'm so happy a romance was not forced in this because it wouldn't have worked for me, and having a duology that is not romance focused this year feels like a breath of fresh air (especially after suffering through the Little Thieves sequel). I'm really not quite ready to let these characters go, so I'll be hoping for more books.
The biggest problem I had with this was that it felt like one continuous trek to get to the ending, whereas the first had different encounters and situations along the way. I also felt that the first had a lot more humour, although this still had some great funny moments.
I'm so happy a romance was not forced in this because it wouldn't have worked for me, and having a duology that is not romance focused this year feels like a breath of fresh air (especially after suffering through the Little Thieves sequel). I'm really not quite ready to let these characters go, so I'll be hoping for more books.
December 9, 2023
The way I cringed through most of the book. But then again I did not have a good hate read for a hot minute, so it was fun to laugh at this absolute train wreck. All I have to say is that I'm not surprised R. Schaeffer had a hard time getting new book deals when THIS is what she's been producing.
If the first instalment was weak, this time around Schaeffer manages to absolutely kill her own concept. The whole premise of living nightmares? Cool AF. The execution?? Yeah, we get murderous napkins (not a joke, also quite important to the plot), living carrots that kill people and a multitude of jokes about lizard buttholes.
Cage of Dreams, is the second and last, book in the City of Nightmares duology. I wasn't a huge fan of the first instalment, but I tend to like sequels more, so gave it a try anyway. We follow Ness, who was unlikable in the first book, but somehow managed to get worse in the second. All the progress and character growth from the previous book, seemed to have been abandoned. Cy and Priya are still part of the group as well, but get much less attention and screen time, to the detriment of the book.
Bad Takes
City of Nightmares already suffered from the Author unironically inserting twitter-esque discourse, that was not even important to the story at large. This continued in Cage of Dreams. Here's some pearls of wisdom you will come across:
• If you read fantasy romance, you are going to be okay with abusive relationships and seek them out.
• Don't be like those egotistic girls in trashy romance novels that fall for the villain.
• Sexual feelings are inappropriate
• All politicians are corrupt therefore just joke vote lol
Rinse and Repeat
Reading Cage of Dreams, I would never think that the author published 4 whole books prior to this. The prose borders on middle grade, there is no finesse and the word repetitions are thriving. To add to this, the inner monologue of the main character is going in circles the whole time. It might be realistic, sure, but it isn't entertaining or fun. Moreover, the dialogue is stilted and characters diverge into page long therapy-talk paragraphs all the time. Honestly, who talks like that?
Cage of Dreams is nothing if not hypocritical
From the constant bashing of romance novel FMCs and romance novel readers, this book comes off nothing if not bitter and hypocritical. Schaeffer teases a relationship between Cy and Ness multiple times, but then chooses to backpedal and leave it at that. Ness has an 'holier than thou' attitude, just because she does not act like 'one of those egotistical FMCs in corner store romance novels' while lusting over her vampire friend constantly. But, I guess that's fine because as long as you don't act on your 'inappropriate' sexual feelings you are in fact a better human being 🙄 Yikes. If I had to guess, I'd say Schaeffer is probably a bit butt hurt about fantasy romance being so popular, while her books are not getting the same hype.
Don't think I'll ever touch something by this author ever again. She can happily join my 'authors I'm divorcing' club and stay there.
If the first instalment was weak, this time around Schaeffer manages to absolutely kill her own concept. The whole premise of living nightmares? Cool AF. The execution?? Yeah, we get murderous napkins (not a joke, also quite important to the plot), living carrots that kill people and a multitude of jokes about lizard buttholes.
Cage of Dreams, is the second and last, book in the City of Nightmares duology. I wasn't a huge fan of the first instalment, but I tend to like sequels more, so gave it a try anyway. We follow Ness, who was unlikable in the first book, but somehow managed to get worse in the second. All the progress and character growth from the previous book, seemed to have been abandoned. Cy and Priya are still part of the group as well, but get much less attention and screen time, to the detriment of the book.
Bad Takes
City of Nightmares already suffered from the Author unironically inserting twitter-esque discourse, that was not even important to the story at large. This continued in Cage of Dreams. Here's some pearls of wisdom you will come across:
• If you read fantasy romance, you are going to be okay with abusive relationships and seek them out.
• Don't be like those egotistic girls in trashy romance novels that fall for the villain.
• Sexual feelings are inappropriate
• All politicians are corrupt therefore just joke vote lol
Rinse and Repeat
Reading Cage of Dreams, I would never think that the author published 4 whole books prior to this. The prose borders on middle grade, there is no finesse and the word repetitions are thriving. To add to this, the inner monologue of the main character is going in circles the whole time. It might be realistic, sure, but it isn't entertaining or fun. Moreover, the dialogue is stilted and characters diverge into page long therapy-talk paragraphs all the time. Honestly, who talks like that?
Cage of Dreams is nothing if not hypocritical
From the constant bashing of romance novel FMCs and romance novel readers, this book comes off nothing if not bitter and hypocritical. Schaeffer teases a relationship between Cy and Ness multiple times, but then chooses to backpedal and leave it at that. Ness has an 'holier than thou' attitude, just because she does not act like 'one of those egotistical FMCs in corner store romance novels' while lusting over her vampire friend constantly. But, I guess that's fine because as long as you don't act on your 'inappropriate' sexual feelings you are in fact a better human being 🙄 Yikes. If I had to guess, I'd say Schaeffer is probably a bit butt hurt about fantasy romance being so popular, while her books are not getting the same hype.
Don't think I'll ever touch something by this author ever again. She can happily join my 'authors I'm divorcing' club and stay there.
October 15, 2023
3.5 You Can Be A Nightmare Too Stars
Ness is scared of everything. Yes I really mean everything. It used to just be nightmares and since so many are walking around in the city of Newham it makes functioning day to day a challenge. In a world where no one dreams anymore because if you do there is a change the Phantom of Nightmares will make you the thing you fear Ness is living in a Vampire's closet just trying to stay under the radar.
Cy and Ness worked together to take down the people who blew up the boat they were on. Now uneasy friends/potentially something more they are living together. Ness is so afraid of losing her place to live, if Cy decides he doesn't want her around anymore. She is afraid of the bar she works at, which lets face it isn't safe. She is afraid of the cult she used to be a part of coming to look for her again. Basically if it lives and breathes in the city Ness can find a way to be terrified of it.
The Nightmare Phantom has offered her a bargain though. Help him with a task he needs and he will turn Ness into a nightmare herself so she is indestructible. There is just a few problems that happen while she is trying to accomplish this task and it will throw Ness into the thick of all the trouble all over again. She will need both Cy and Nita if she is going to dig out of the hole she has dug for herself and figure out how to not be afraid of everything that goes bump in the night.
I liked the first book in this series better. The writing had a tendency to repeat itself a little. Ness is afraid, why Ness is afraid, how much she wants to be back in her little room with the Friends even if she knows they are a cult. We hear time and time again how much she is afraid that Cy is going to kick her out or ask to feed on her etc. Some parts of this seemed very redundant and I was tired of scaredy cat Ness.
The story did start to pick up a bit once the Nightmare Phantom got involved and them started to progress a little better but it seemed like it took half the book to get there. One saving grace is that everything ties up pretty well at the end. Cy's conflict with his father, the story arc with the Mayor of Newham and the Friend's plot to make and sale custom Nightmares. There is even an opening at the end for a little spin off series possibly with Nita (who I love) and the Phantom of Nightmares. I would be interested in that for sure.
Good duology and probably perfect for this time of year if you want an unusual read full of freaky things.
Ness is scared of everything. Yes I really mean everything. It used to just be nightmares and since so many are walking around in the city of Newham it makes functioning day to day a challenge. In a world where no one dreams anymore because if you do there is a change the Phantom of Nightmares will make you the thing you fear Ness is living in a Vampire's closet just trying to stay under the radar.
Cy and Ness worked together to take down the people who blew up the boat they were on. Now uneasy friends/potentially something more they are living together. Ness is so afraid of losing her place to live, if Cy decides he doesn't want her around anymore. She is afraid of the bar she works at, which lets face it isn't safe. She is afraid of the cult she used to be a part of coming to look for her again. Basically if it lives and breathes in the city Ness can find a way to be terrified of it.
The Nightmare Phantom has offered her a bargain though. Help him with a task he needs and he will turn Ness into a nightmare herself so she is indestructible. There is just a few problems that happen while she is trying to accomplish this task and it will throw Ness into the thick of all the trouble all over again. She will need both Cy and Nita if she is going to dig out of the hole she has dug for herself and figure out how to not be afraid of everything that goes bump in the night.
I liked the first book in this series better. The writing had a tendency to repeat itself a little. Ness is afraid, why Ness is afraid, how much she wants to be back in her little room with the Friends even if she knows they are a cult. We hear time and time again how much she is afraid that Cy is going to kick her out or ask to feed on her etc. Some parts of this seemed very redundant and I was tired of scaredy cat Ness.
The story did start to pick up a bit once the Nightmare Phantom got involved and them started to progress a little better but it seemed like it took half the book to get there. One saving grace is that everything ties up pretty well at the end. Cy's conflict with his father, the story arc with the Mayor of Newham and the Friend's plot to make and sale custom Nightmares. There is even an opening at the end for a little spin off series possibly with Nita (who I love) and the Phantom of Nightmares. I would be interested in that for sure.
Good duology and probably perfect for this time of year if you want an unusual read full of freaky things.
August 13, 2024
“I blink slowly. “You’re gonna have to use smaller words. I didn’t go to school much.”
I can't remember the last time I had this much fun with a book!
There's a shootout at your bar but you don't have any more penny novels
The napkin that fell on your ex-cult-leader's lizard tail
Daydreaming about living in your old closet, despite kidnapping attempts and psychological experiments
A brief interview with you new Mayor!
First time catering! Hope I'm not forced to jump out a window!
Thinking you've annoyed your vampire roommate
POV: you're a a nightmare about to have Priya enter your eyesockets
Got a call from the Lizard Man
Oooh, but was the cult that bad? They didn't charge for food
I can't remember the last time I had this much fun with a book!
There's a shootout at your bar but you don't have any more penny novels
The napkin that fell on your ex-cult-leader's lizard tail
Daydreaming about living in your old closet, despite kidnapping attempts and psychological experiments
A brief interview with you new Mayor!
First time catering! Hope I'm not forced to jump out a window!
Thinking you've annoyed your vampire roommate
POV: you're a a nightmare about to have Priya enter your eyesockets
Got a call from the Lizard Man
Oooh, but was the cult that bad? They didn't charge for food
March 11, 2024
2024 reads: 55/250
2024 tbr: 28/120
this is the sequel to city of nightmares.
ness used to be terrified of nightmares, but has since realized there are more dangerous things in newham. she makes a deal with the nightmare phantom to become a nightmare herself, but struggles upholding her end of the bargain.
i loved city of nightmares when i read it last year, so i couldn’t wait to continue ness’s story in this book. i do think this book was a bit slower-paced, which made it less exciting, but it was still enjoyable overall. i loved ness’s character growth (even though she pretty much stayed a scaredy cat). i definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the first book!
2024 tbr: 28/120
this is the sequel to city of nightmares.
ness used to be terrified of nightmares, but has since realized there are more dangerous things in newham. she makes a deal with the nightmare phantom to become a nightmare herself, but struggles upholding her end of the bargain.
i loved city of nightmares when i read it last year, so i couldn’t wait to continue ness’s story in this book. i do think this book was a bit slower-paced, which made it less exciting, but it was still enjoyable overall. i loved ness’s character growth (even though she pretty much stayed a scaredy cat). i definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the first book!
March 3, 2024
um so. i was wrong. i dont think this duet is for me.
preread: oh there’s a cover! hoping this one is better than the last one…
preread: oh there’s a cover! hoping this one is better than the last one…
September 28, 2023
Meh.
It didn't live up to the first one if you liked the first one.
The story had many, many places where it repeated itself, reminding the reader of a fact that it just told us 2 pages ago. It also has redundant dialogue. (I'd use examples but the two I have would be clues to the plot.)
It ties up quickly and neatly... and we still have questions. It all felt anticlimactic.
Like the mayor is suppose to be super evil, but she just seems sorta angry and not so formidable. The nightmare phantom is... not scary at all... misunderstood .
I read 75% of the book and wondered if there was a another book... nope.
It ties up the nightmare phantom, the mayor, Cy's father, the Director of Friends cult, and The undercover anti-friend at Friends cult... oh and Priya's storyline .... in the last Few pages.
The book says the F word but otherwise this is clean. No romance. Friendships yes.
I hoped for something kinda Joker evil and then a resolve....and this book was like getting a speeding ticket evil... and it didn't feel wicked or debauched like this city is suppose to be
It didn't live up to the first one if you liked the first one.
The story had many, many places where it repeated itself, reminding the reader of a fact that it just told us 2 pages ago. It also has redundant dialogue. (I'd use examples but the two I have would be clues to the plot.)
It ties up quickly and neatly... and we still have questions. It all felt anticlimactic.
Like the mayor is suppose to be super evil, but she just seems sorta angry and not so formidable. The nightmare phantom is... not scary at all... misunderstood .
I read 75% of the book and wondered if there was a another book... nope.
It ties up the nightmare phantom, the mayor, Cy's father, the Director of Friends cult, and The undercover anti-friend at Friends cult... oh and Priya's storyline .... in the last Few pages.
The book says the F word but otherwise this is clean. No romance. Friendships yes.
I hoped for something kinda Joker evil and then a resolve....and this book was like getting a speeding ticket evil... and it didn't feel wicked or debauched like this city is suppose to be
June 7, 2024
3.5 stars - rtc
January 16, 2024
This was marketed as a "thrilling" conclusion to the duology, but I must have accidentally skipped those chapters because I found this sooo dull. I'm pretty disappointed, as the first book was okay and I could see the series' potential to become better in the sequel.
My favorite part of City of Nightmares (the MC's humorous cowardice and witty internal dialogue) was somewhat lacking in Cage of Dreams, which was unfortunate.
Disclaimer: I'm not a fan of duologies. And this sequel confirmed my biggest complaint about the increasing popularity of them: pacing. While City of Nightmares delivered a fast paced plot and good character and relationship development, Cage of Dreams seemed messy from the beginning. The first half of the book seemed normal, then the latter have went wild and not in a good way. At some points, it seemed pretty directionless.
But rarely do I find duologies with great pacing. Most of the time, duologies fall in 1 of 3 categories:
1. Popular Authority: It began as a standalone, but because of popularity or a publisher signing an author for a 2-book deal, it's needlessly extended into 2 books (and the sequel has a weak ass plot)
2. A Plot and a Half Syndrome: The author thinks it's a standalone, but then writes it, and it ends up being too long (about 1.5 books worth of content), so they split it in two. But then we're stuck with wacky pacing and can tell that both installments have been filled with pointless fluff because the plot alone can't sustain two full books.
3. Modern Aversion to Trilogies: For some reason, the author/publisher are now allergic to trilogies, so they decide everything must be crammed into 2 books instead of three, then we have way too much happening way too quickly and I sob (looking at you Blood Trials -- but I'm pretty sure N.E. Davenport wanted that to be a trilogy, but was only given a 2-book deal by her publishers. I stg tho, that would have probably been my favorite trilogy of all time if it got the page space and pacing it deserved).
Cage of Dreams definitely fell into #2, in my opinion. The sequel was an unfortunately boring conclusion to an otherwise full-of-potential series with a unique magic system and a very engaging, relatable female main character. Despite the harsh levity this review might give off, I am truly saddened by this, as I was expecting to at least have a good time.
My favorite part of City of Nightmares (the MC's humorous cowardice and witty internal dialogue) was somewhat lacking in Cage of Dreams, which was unfortunate.
Disclaimer: I'm not a fan of duologies. And this sequel confirmed my biggest complaint about the increasing popularity of them: pacing. While City of Nightmares delivered a fast paced plot and good character and relationship development, Cage of Dreams seemed messy from the beginning. The first half of the book seemed normal, then the latter have went wild and not in a good way. At some points, it seemed pretty directionless.
But rarely do I find duologies with great pacing. Most of the time, duologies fall in 1 of 3 categories:
1. Popular Authority: It began as a standalone, but because of popularity or a publisher signing an author for a 2-book deal, it's needlessly extended into 2 books (and the sequel has a weak ass plot)
2. A Plot and a Half Syndrome: The author thinks it's a standalone, but then writes it, and it ends up being too long (about 1.5 books worth of content), so they split it in two. But then we're stuck with wacky pacing and can tell that both installments have been filled with pointless fluff because the plot alone can't sustain two full books.
3. Modern Aversion to Trilogies: For some reason, the author/publisher are now allergic to trilogies, so they decide everything must be crammed into 2 books instead of three, then we have way too much happening way too quickly and I sob (looking at you Blood Trials -- but I'm pretty sure N.E. Davenport wanted that to be a trilogy, but was only given a 2-book deal by her publishers. I stg tho, that would have probably been my favorite trilogy of all time if it got the page space and pacing it deserved).
Cage of Dreams definitely fell into #2, in my opinion. The sequel was an unfortunately boring conclusion to an otherwise full-of-potential series with a unique magic system and a very engaging, relatable female main character. Despite the harsh levity this review might give off, I am truly saddened by this, as I was expecting to at least have a good time.
September 28, 2023
I was really looking forward to this book because I really liked the first one, but I had to DNF it because it was just so BORING. Like I'm sorry, but I picked this up because I wanted a cool story about nightmares and monsters and a city like Gotham on steroids, not a self help book. Ness' internals take up 80% of the story as far as I read, and they are SO repetitive and circular. Whenever there's a moment that can be passed off as character growth, we circle back to the beginning, which is ofc realistic but this should be a book not a fucking therapy session. The other characters feel paper thin, their role reduced to different masks for the author to dispense therapy advices. And like I'm all for tackling mental health in books but not to the point it eats everything else. The plot is barely there. The characters are ghosts. The setting is the only thing that still has some punch but the way the author presents it gets tiring quickly. Yes, we got it, Newham is terrible, can we move on?
Bah.
Bah.
August 26, 2023
3.5/5
the first 2/3 of the book felt stretched. Ness seemed less intelligent at first.
but then suddenly, at the last 1/3 the story went way too fast. like rushing through all the still-open questions. it was nice that there weren't any questions left at the end...
...but the epilogue sounded like an opening to a third book or a spin off.
the first 2/3 of the book felt stretched. Ness seemed less intelligent at first.
but then suddenly, at the last 1/3 the story went way too fast. like rushing through all the still-open questions. it was nice that there weren't any questions left at the end...
...but the epilogue sounded like an opening to a third book or a spin off.
October 13, 2023
2.75 stars
I'm somewhat disappointed with this book, especially more so since I was expecting a different type of chaos. I feel like there was not much plot going on, and the characters are just grasping at whatever to propel the story further : (
I love how some moments made me question whether the book was satire or just a fantasy book ngl 💀 Plus, the audiobook was great!
The ending was good, but the second half of the book was just full of convenient moments and solved so easily??? Like my girl has been running away from lizard man since book 1, and she managed to beat him with pepper spray 😭
Moreover, if you didn't like how the MC kept being repetitive in the first book with her trauma, you won't like her long "me me me me" monologues. Like, girl, please, you aren't the only one in existence.
Also, turtles are not amphibians. They're repltiles 💀
I'm somewhat disappointed with this book, especially more so since I was expecting a different type of chaos. I feel like there was not much plot going on, and the characters are just grasping at whatever to propel the story further : (
I love how some moments made me question whether the book was satire or just a fantasy book ngl 💀 Plus, the audiobook was great!
The ending was good, but the second half of the book was just full of convenient moments and solved so easily??? Like my girl has been running away from lizard man since book 1, and she managed to beat him with pepper spray 😭
Moreover, if you didn't like how the MC kept being repetitive in the first book with her trauma, you won't like her long "me me me me" monologues. Like, girl, please, you aren't the only one in existence.
Also, turtles are not amphibians. They're repltiles 💀
Want to read
August 22, 2023I can't wait for this one, I loved the first book sm. Hoping it's not the last one.
Read
August 14, 2025I WANT MORE
September 14, 2024
This is the most silly and thought provoking book I've ever read.
This world is filled full of nightmares come to life and we follow Ness as she delves through her mental challenges to get her life back.
I absolutely adore this series and I wish more people would read these books!!!
This world is filled full of nightmares come to life and we follow Ness as she delves through her mental challenges to get her life back.
I absolutely adore this series and I wish more people would read these books!!!
April 6, 2024
3.5 stars
While not as good as the first book, it still was a pleasure to read. It picks up right where the first book left off. It does take a bit before it finally gets going which made it a struggle in the beginning. Once it did get moving, it was quite fun.
While the first book had lots of different themes and cool ideas, this one was mainly the same substance. The background on the Nightmare Phantom and the mayor was interesting stuff though.
While not as good as the first book, it still was a pleasure to read. It picks up right where the first book left off. It does take a bit before it finally gets going which made it a struggle in the beginning. Once it did get moving, it was quite fun.
While the first book had lots of different themes and cool ideas, this one was mainly the same substance. The background on the Nightmare Phantom and the mayor was interesting stuff though.
September 27, 2023
cyrus 🤝 nita
having horrible, psychopathic parents and later killing them
having horrible, psychopathic parents and later killing them
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2025
1.5 (generous, if you ask me)
hilariously my copy of book has, for some unknown reason, cut off most of the author’s acknowledgments so all I have is half a page! because of this error, I didn’t realise the book had ended and I was wondering why the nightmare phantom was thanking his publisher
originally, I was going to give this book a three as, while it was not amazing, it at least was somewhat entertaining. but the more I read, the worse it got which was REALLY disappointing considering this was labelled as having more action and being more interesting than the first book. uhm, where? 80% of the time I was bored or irritated by ness’s obnoxious behaviour and the other 20% was spent wondering how the author was going to wrap this shitstorm up
I’m trying to think of something good about this book but there’s just… nothing. It wasn’t offensively bad, which is why it’s not rated one star, but there’s still nothing I can really say about it that was particularly good. which is kind of sad, really. hm, I guess there’s at least two things that were good
1. the reveal of the pterodactyl’s identity + Priya & Ness freeing and riding on the pterodactyl. surprisingly an interesting reveal that tied neatly into cindy’s side plot and freeing the pterodactyl from the asshole mayor was very satisfying
2. both cindy and the director were a step up from their characters in CoN. I thought the director was really sassy and even made me chuckle a little and cindy’s no-bullshit/ serving cxnt attitude had me wishing she was the main character instead of little miss pick-me Ness
aaaand, that’s it. yup. before I dissect this book I want to talk about WHY I think this book’s pacing, plot, structure was so bad. and by bad I mean all over the place and so full of filler, the main plot felt like a side plot
it’s something I like to call book 1 1/2 syndrome.
book 1 1/2 syndrome occurs when an author writes too much content for one book but not enough for two, so the second book ends up feeling long and stretched thin. another 70 or so pages could’ve easily tied up the loose ends of CoN, but instead, the author chose to do a sequel and it was painfully clear though that she did NOT have enough material to make it engaging for the full story. and this is why I think the pacing felt so weird. it felt more like a bunch of directionless events tangled awkwardly together rather than a coherent story.
okay now i’m going to go through everything wrong with Cage of Dreams. spoiler alert: everything.
1. I despise ness. I wanted to get this point out of the way since ness and her character assassination is what irked me the most. I say irked but, really, I mean enraged. ness was a coward in CoN. she lost her sister and the memory continued to haunt her—picking her apart until she was nothing but bone. she became afraid of almost everything and became severely distrustful. but her whole arc in CoN was her learning how to trust again and finally heal. at the end of CoN, it seemed she was slowly leaving her trauma behind her. especially after learning her sister became the spider on purpose to kill their evil father.
so why did the author think regressing ness was a good idea? she was not only a coward again but she didn’t even have her witty humour.
I think the thing that pissed me off the most was her treatment towards cy. throughout the book, there are a number of instances where she is shown to be doubting cy’s kindness towards her and worried he will somehow ending up having power over her and hurt her. the worse instance was when cy was opening up to ness about how abusive his father was and how he ultimately killed his mother. cy spoke about his guilt and how he wished, even as a child, he could’ve saved her.
and what does ness think about in her internal monologue?
Right now, I’m almost as reliant on cy as his mother was on his father. And I’d like to make sure my sanctuary doesn’t become a gilded cage.” pg 234
dial it back, ness!! so cy is pouring his heart out to you and all you’re worried about is cy somehow turning on you despite him never laying a finger on you or giving you any reason to suggest he’d ever do this?
I get her fears are irrational but this made my stomach turn. another moment was when ness finally voiced her fear to cy.
I’m afraid that I’ll start feeling pressured to offer you blood for rent, even if I don’t want to.” pg 320
she did go on to explain that she knew he would never make her do this, but I don’t think it excused her mistrust towards him. also I saw a few reviewers complain ness and cy didn’t get together and I don’t understand why. hetero? how about hete-no. people can be good friends and care deeply for one another without it having to be romantic. plus, ness was an ungrateful little bxtch who didn’t deserve cy!
2. the writing was still juvenile but, now, it’s also painfully repetitive and there are even a few instances where the writer repeats nearly the exact same sentence!
Finally, I stop hesitating and do what cy was trying to get me to do all along. I run. pg 251
I do exactly what cy tried to tell me to do. I run. pg 252
I cannot believe those sentences are but a mere page out and no one spotted this obvious blunder. even if the author was writing those pages on two hours of sleep, how did her editor not notice? or even a beta reader?
there were more repeated/near-repeated sentences I noticed but I’m too lazy to find them.
the repetition wasn’t just on words but themes and ideas too. majority of ness’s internal monologue consisted of the following things:
a. the friends of the restful soul deceived her and she’ll never be safe again.
b. ness calling herself a ‘newham girl’ or saying ‘newhamite’
c. ness reminding the reader 24/7 that newham is filled with dangerous gangs, human traffickers and an insanely corrupt police force who regularly cover up crimes and are often bribed by local gangs or by those in power.
d. priya is strong & brave and ness is not. even though ness already knows that priya too has her own weaknesses
e. she’s scared of everything and will not hesitate to remind you of the fact every couple of pages.
this made the prose feel repetitive and a slog to get through.
3. the plot, what plot? there was no plot. CoN ended with ness freeing the nightmare phantom so I expected him to play a significant role in cage of dreams. while he was present, he ended up being pretty lame and uninteresting. the main plot consisted of the nightmare phantom and, by extension ness, teaming up to defeat the mayor who for some reason had become the main villain. the nightmare phantom directed ness to try destroy the mayor with a sentient killer napkin but it obviously failed and she ended up hitting the director instead. then later on, they tried again but failed and the nightmare phantom ended up back in the dream world. and that’s the main plot covered. we also had a multitude of side plots such as ness getting a new job as this stuck-up, elite restaurant for the wealthy, ness helping cy avenge his mother’s death by turning his father to mush using silver nitrate and turning him into a turtle, cindy trying to find the missing heiress and ness trying to find the director’s lair and find the kidnapped victims.
you’d think at least one of these plots would be sort of interesting but they just weren’t. though cy’s revenge was the best of the bunch since he deserved respite for what he went through.
4. cy was just there. priya too. I already complained about cy’s lack of presence or personality in my CoN review, but here he was even worse. I don’t think the author knew what to do with his character because he spent most of the book being a shoulder for little miss pick-me to cry on. sometimes he’d get involved in the plot such as when they sought out the director’s supposed ‘lair’ but that’s pretty much it. priya was the same character as she was in the first book. that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I think if the author gave priya a conflict of her own to overcome, it would’ve deepened her character and allowed for some interesting exchanges between herself and ness.
5. everything was resolved way too easily. I was really excited to find out the truth behind why the director was involved in some human trafficking ring, but the reveal was lackluster and ness broke out all the victims in like one night anyway. if the author wasn’t trying to juggle 593268417 different plots it would’ve allowed for a smoother execution of the rescue. it didn’t help that the stakes never felt very high. I never felt worried something would go awry because none of the characters ever were shown to hit their breaking point. I think the closest ness was to hitting rock bottom was when cy and priya were spirited away and she realised she was alone, but even then, it didn’t feel like this visceral devastation tearing through her limbs but a thing she wallowed on for two seconds before picking herself back up
I’ve already spent a good hour writing this review so let’s end this already. cage of dreams is a boring, lacklustre sequel that fails to capture the essence of the first book. it had a juvenile, painfully bland prose that felt like a first draft the author wrote while heavily sedated, the characters were either dumbed down or made incredibly annoying or jarring (cough, ness) and there was no real main plot.
this book was the equivalent of elevator music. and I am just going to forget it exists.
hilariously my copy of book has, for some unknown reason, cut off most of the author’s acknowledgments so all I have is half a page! because of this error, I didn’t realise the book had ended and I was wondering why the nightmare phantom was thanking his publisher
originally, I was going to give this book a three as, while it was not amazing, it at least was somewhat entertaining. but the more I read, the worse it got which was REALLY disappointing considering this was labelled as having more action and being more interesting than the first book. uhm, where? 80% of the time I was bored or irritated by ness’s obnoxious behaviour and the other 20% was spent wondering how the author was going to wrap this shitstorm up
I’m trying to think of something good about this book but there’s just… nothing. It wasn’t offensively bad, which is why it’s not rated one star, but there’s still nothing I can really say about it that was particularly good. which is kind of sad, really. hm, I guess there’s at least two things that were good
1. the reveal of the pterodactyl’s identity + Priya & Ness freeing and riding on the pterodactyl. surprisingly an interesting reveal that tied neatly into cindy’s side plot and freeing the pterodactyl from the asshole mayor was very satisfying
2. both cindy and the director were a step up from their characters in CoN. I thought the director was really sassy and even made me chuckle a little and cindy’s no-bullshit/ serving cxnt attitude had me wishing she was the main character instead of little miss pick-me Ness
aaaand, that’s it. yup. before I dissect this book I want to talk about WHY I think this book’s pacing, plot, structure was so bad. and by bad I mean all over the place and so full of filler, the main plot felt like a side plot
it’s something I like to call book 1 1/2 syndrome.
book 1 1/2 syndrome occurs when an author writes too much content for one book but not enough for two, so the second book ends up feeling long and stretched thin. another 70 or so pages could’ve easily tied up the loose ends of CoN, but instead, the author chose to do a sequel and it was painfully clear though that she did NOT have enough material to make it engaging for the full story. and this is why I think the pacing felt so weird. it felt more like a bunch of directionless events tangled awkwardly together rather than a coherent story.
okay now i’m going to go through everything wrong with Cage of Dreams. spoiler alert: everything.
1. I despise ness. I wanted to get this point out of the way since ness and her character assassination is what irked me the most. I say irked but, really, I mean enraged. ness was a coward in CoN. she lost her sister and the memory continued to haunt her—picking her apart until she was nothing but bone. she became afraid of almost everything and became severely distrustful. but her whole arc in CoN was her learning how to trust again and finally heal. at the end of CoN, it seemed she was slowly leaving her trauma behind her. especially after learning her sister became the spider on purpose to kill their evil father.
so why did the author think regressing ness was a good idea? she was not only a coward again but she didn’t even have her witty humour.
I think the thing that pissed me off the most was her treatment towards cy. throughout the book, there are a number of instances where she is shown to be doubting cy’s kindness towards her and worried he will somehow ending up having power over her and hurt her. the worse instance was when cy was opening up to ness about how abusive his father was and how he ultimately killed his mother. cy spoke about his guilt and how he wished, even as a child, he could’ve saved her.
and what does ness think about in her internal monologue?
Right now, I’m almost as reliant on cy as his mother was on his father. And I’d like to make sure my sanctuary doesn’t become a gilded cage.” pg 234
dial it back, ness!! so cy is pouring his heart out to you and all you’re worried about is cy somehow turning on you despite him never laying a finger on you or giving you any reason to suggest he’d ever do this?
I get her fears are irrational but this made my stomach turn. another moment was when ness finally voiced her fear to cy.
I’m afraid that I’ll start feeling pressured to offer you blood for rent, even if I don’t want to.” pg 320
she did go on to explain that she knew he would never make her do this, but I don’t think it excused her mistrust towards him. also I saw a few reviewers complain ness and cy didn’t get together and I don’t understand why. hetero? how about hete-no. people can be good friends and care deeply for one another without it having to be romantic. plus, ness was an ungrateful little bxtch who didn’t deserve cy!
2. the writing was still juvenile but, now, it’s also painfully repetitive and there are even a few instances where the writer repeats nearly the exact same sentence!
Finally, I stop hesitating and do what cy was trying to get me to do all along. I run. pg 251
I do exactly what cy tried to tell me to do. I run. pg 252
I cannot believe those sentences are but a mere page out and no one spotted this obvious blunder. even if the author was writing those pages on two hours of sleep, how did her editor not notice? or even a beta reader?
there were more repeated/near-repeated sentences I noticed but I’m too lazy to find them.
the repetition wasn’t just on words but themes and ideas too. majority of ness’s internal monologue consisted of the following things:
a. the friends of the restful soul deceived her and she’ll never be safe again.
b. ness calling herself a ‘newham girl’ or saying ‘newhamite’
c. ness reminding the reader 24/7 that newham is filled with dangerous gangs, human traffickers and an insanely corrupt police force who regularly cover up crimes and are often bribed by local gangs or by those in power.
d. priya is strong & brave and ness is not. even though ness already knows that priya too has her own weaknesses
e. she’s scared of everything and will not hesitate to remind you of the fact every couple of pages.
this made the prose feel repetitive and a slog to get through.
3. the plot, what plot? there was no plot. CoN ended with ness freeing the nightmare phantom so I expected him to play a significant role in cage of dreams. while he was present, he ended up being pretty lame and uninteresting. the main plot consisted of the nightmare phantom and, by extension ness, teaming up to defeat the mayor who for some reason had become the main villain. the nightmare phantom directed ness to try destroy the mayor with a sentient killer napkin but it obviously failed and she ended up hitting the director instead. then later on, they tried again but failed and the nightmare phantom ended up back in the dream world. and that’s the main plot covered. we also had a multitude of side plots such as ness getting a new job as this stuck-up, elite restaurant for the wealthy, ness helping cy avenge his mother’s death by turning his father to mush using silver nitrate and turning him into a turtle, cindy trying to find the missing heiress and ness trying to find the director’s lair and find the kidnapped victims.
you’d think at least one of these plots would be sort of interesting but they just weren’t. though cy’s revenge was the best of the bunch since he deserved respite for what he went through.
4. cy was just there. priya too. I already complained about cy’s lack of presence or personality in my CoN review, but here he was even worse. I don’t think the author knew what to do with his character because he spent most of the book being a shoulder for little miss pick-me to cry on. sometimes he’d get involved in the plot such as when they sought out the director’s supposed ‘lair’ but that’s pretty much it. priya was the same character as she was in the first book. that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I think if the author gave priya a conflict of her own to overcome, it would’ve deepened her character and allowed for some interesting exchanges between herself and ness.
5. everything was resolved way too easily. I was really excited to find out the truth behind why the director was involved in some human trafficking ring, but the reveal was lackluster and ness broke out all the victims in like one night anyway. if the author wasn’t trying to juggle 593268417 different plots it would’ve allowed for a smoother execution of the rescue. it didn’t help that the stakes never felt very high. I never felt worried something would go awry because none of the characters ever were shown to hit their breaking point. I think the closest ness was to hitting rock bottom was when cy and priya were spirited away and she realised she was alone, but even then, it didn’t feel like this visceral devastation tearing through her limbs but a thing she wallowed on for two seconds before picking herself back up
I’ve already spent a good hour writing this review so let’s end this already. cage of dreams is a boring, lacklustre sequel that fails to capture the essence of the first book. it had a juvenile, painfully bland prose that felt like a first draft the author wrote while heavily sedated, the characters were either dumbed down or made incredibly annoying or jarring (cough, ness) and there was no real main plot.
this book was the equivalent of elevator music. and I am just going to forget it exists.
October 3, 2023
3'75-4
If you want to know what I think of this one, you can catch my review on October 11, 2023 here https://youtu.be/O7HMZD6Ed7A :)
If you want to know what I think of this one, you can catch my review on October 11, 2023 here https://youtu.be/O7HMZD6Ed7A :)
January 3, 2024
I was so excited to read Cage of Dreams because I absolutely loved City of Nightmares. But Cage of Dreams was just very disappointing.
The repetitive inner dialogue had me exhausted after reading one chapter. Ness repeats the same thoughts over and over. It got so bad that I peaked at the next few pages quite often, looking for speech marks so I knew how long I would be in her head for before she had a conversation with someone.
The napkin thing. Like what? Anything else could have worked, but a napkin? 😭
The only thing that kept me going was Cy 🥲✊ But my favourite scene was Ness getting out of the closet to sleep next to Cy. So cute. 💅
Anyways, I have given Cage of Dreams 3 stars instead of 2 stars because I will never get over how much I enjoyed City of Nightmares.
#nightmarephantomlookingfineeee
The repetitive inner dialogue had me exhausted after reading one chapter. Ness repeats the same thoughts over and over. It got so bad that I peaked at the next few pages quite often, looking for speech marks so I knew how long I would be in her head for before she had a conversation with someone.
The napkin thing. Like what? Anything else could have worked, but a napkin? 😭
The only thing that kept me going was Cy 🥲✊ But my favourite scene was Ness getting out of the closet to sleep next to Cy. So cute. 💅
Anyways, I have given Cage of Dreams 3 stars instead of 2 stars because I will never get over how much I enjoyed City of Nightmares.
#nightmarephantomlookingfineeee
November 14, 2023
First one was better. This one felt like a lecture on feelings, and could have been cut in half if you removed all the times Ness said something about Newham being corrupt and murderous. Like we get it.
I also felt like her and Cy’s relationship was unresolved? He just kind of existed to be supportive in this one.
I also felt like her and Cy’s relationship was unresolved? He just kind of existed to be supportive in this one.
April 25, 2024
DNF ~7%
I'm sorry this book lost me when it went into a spiel about a vampire movie maker romanticizing his own crimes in movies because it's so ridiculous. Imagine a citizen of fake gotham watching a movie and being like "actually murder is ok bc i saw it in a movie". I feel like they woulda already been ok with doing crime before seeing a random vampire movie.
I'm sorry this book lost me when it went into a spiel about a vampire movie maker romanticizing his own crimes in movies because it's so ridiculous. Imagine a citizen of fake gotham watching a movie and being like "actually murder is ok bc i saw it in a movie". I feel like they woulda already been ok with doing crime before seeing a random vampire movie.
October 17, 2023
4.4
I NOW UNDERSTAND THE TURTLE.
*Review to come*
Pre-review comments below
already so OBSESSED
(also there's bats on the cover what a special treat specifically for me 😍😊)
I NOW UNDERSTAND THE TURTLE.
*Review to come*
Pre-review comments below
already so OBSESSED
(also there's bats on the cover what a special treat specifically for me 😍😊)
January 5, 2024
3.5🌟
This is the second and finale book in the City Of Nightmares duology and it was a nice conclusion to the story.
This book starts off quite frustrating as the last book was brilliant and this one starts off feeling quite juvenile. It felt like we had just gone backwards with Ness’ character progression and that the second book was just repeating the whole plot of the first. It takes quite a while to feel like something is happening and that’s when it starts to get much better.
Don’t get me wrong, I like that fear and anxiety are a major plot point as it’s such an important topic to talk about and so relatable but it felt like that was all we read about for the first half of the book. It became quite repetitive. However, the story itself is written in a way that you can’t put it down even in the moments that weren’t amazing.
I really wish we had more moments with Cy, he was such a big part of the first book and we go from seeing him for nearly a whole book to seeing him in in maybe a third of the second - I like the way Cy and Ness bounce off of each other and how they have both survived a massive trauma and have each other now. I loved their ending and how open ended their relationship was. It was such a sweet ending.
The main story plot was average at best but the characters were great as always, I also love that this book is just wild. The scenarios that Ness gets herself in are crazy but that’s what makes this is book so unique. Where else am I going to read about someone’s sister turning into a giant spider and eating their dad. Or turning your evil vampire father into a tiny turtle. Not many other books🤔
That epilogue was so ambiguous, what’s going to happen in Newham City? What does the nightmare phantom want Priya to do? Intriguing.
Overall I’d give this series a 4🌟 as a whole and definitely recommend reading this.
This is the second and finale book in the City Of Nightmares duology and it was a nice conclusion to the story.
This book starts off quite frustrating as the last book was brilliant and this one starts off feeling quite juvenile. It felt like we had just gone backwards with Ness’ character progression and that the second book was just repeating the whole plot of the first. It takes quite a while to feel like something is happening and that’s when it starts to get much better.
Don’t get me wrong, I like that fear and anxiety are a major plot point as it’s such an important topic to talk about and so relatable but it felt like that was all we read about for the first half of the book. It became quite repetitive. However, the story itself is written in a way that you can’t put it down even in the moments that weren’t amazing.
I really wish we had more moments with Cy, he was such a big part of the first book and we go from seeing him for nearly a whole book to seeing him in in maybe a third of the second - I like the way Cy and Ness bounce off of each other and how they have both survived a massive trauma and have each other now. I loved their ending and how open ended their relationship was. It was such a sweet ending.
The main story plot was average at best but the characters were great as always, I also love that this book is just wild. The scenarios that Ness gets herself in are crazy but that’s what makes this is book so unique. Where else am I going to read about someone’s sister turning into a giant spider and eating their dad. Or turning your evil vampire father into a tiny turtle. Not many other books🤔
That epilogue was so ambiguous, what’s going to happen in Newham City? What does the nightmare phantom want Priya to do? Intriguing.
Overall I’d give this series a 4🌟 as a whole and definitely recommend reading this.
March 11, 2024
4.5 stars. Great end to the duology.
January 30, 2024
Just as weird and entertaining as the first one. I like that we got some more character growth this time!
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