Readalongs

City of Nightmares Readalong: Day 3!

Shannon

Beautiful photo by @xenatine!

Hello my fairy friends!

I hope that you’re all loving The City of Nightmares so far! It’s now day 3 and things are really getting interesting!

But before we start reading, we have our secret giveaway! What’s that? Oh, just a chance to get your next FairyLoot for free as a reward for reading! Doesn’t really get better than that! And your chances are so good too! We don’t really announce this anywhere else as we truly want the person from the readalong to win! If you’d like to try your luck, all you need to do is follow these steps!

  1. Take a photo of our edition of The City of Nightmares
  2. Include the hashtag #FairyNightmares (very important!)
  3. Do all of this by the end of April 9th
  4. Mention down below in your comment that you have entered and include your Instagram handle (also super important!)

Good luck!

Today we’ll be reading from Chapter 14 to the end of Chapter 20, let’s jump in!


Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for The City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer, from chapters 14 to 20. Please only read on if you’ve finished this section!

-!SPOILERS!-

Ness and Priya are off for dinner at Priya’s sisters. Along the way, Ness finds out that after Priya’s heroics, she’s been accepted onto Nightmare Defense.

The dinner doesn’t go terribly, but Priya does get a lot of grief from her sister about her choices, and Ness gets a little “you need therapy” talk on the side, but they all make it out in one piece.

Since Priya is off on Nightmare Defence duty, it’s Ness’s job to take flowers to the funeral of the Nightmare who died at the beginning of the book and pay respects on behalf of the cult – oops sorry, I mean Friends of the Restful Souls. It doesn’t go well though… not for any of the reasons that Ness is worried about, but because whoever it is that’s at the funeral… is an assassin, with her eyes and knife set on our main character.

Luckily, Ness is quick, she manages to get away and escapes into the city. She can’t go back to the Friends of the Restful Souls though, the assassin knew where she came from. Ness starts to realise someone is angry that she survived the boat explosion, and they’re trying to make sure she doesn’t survive much else. Ness goes to the police, but they’re not the most trustworthy…

Her seemingly last option is Cy. Estelle thinks Ness is trying to get hold of Cy to sell him blood. Oh how wrong she is!

Alas, Estelle gets in touch with him and Ness is given directions to Cy’s apartment.

Cy seems happy to see her, a little less happy when he sees the note Estelle wrote basically accusing him of being a murderer. 

Cy tells Ness how his father became a vampire, which is the nightmare story that eventually turned him into one. I think this chat has definitely made Ness more trusting of Cy, she can see now that Cy doesn’t want to be anything like his father and his father seems like a run of the mill, stereotypical vamp!

Ness tells him it’s not Cy she’s afraid of, but rather she has an irrational fear of all Nightmares. Despite that, she wants to be friends.

Ness opens up to Cy about the assassin and they’re both thinking the same thing, someone within the not-a-cult-cult is trying to have Ness killed, otherwise how would the assassin have known where to find her?

Knowing she has nowhere else to go, Cy offers his home. To his surprise AND mine, Ness says yes!

I’d wager that when Cy offered his home, he didn’t think Ness would be sleeping on the floor in a small empty closet. Each to their own though, if that makes you more comfortable, Ness, you do you!

When she sees a paper listing all who lost their lives on the boat, Ness seems to realise something, they all had reasons for being targets. The boat wasn’t exploded to kill one person, it was exploded to kill them all.


What a revelation to leave off on, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop reading. ?

Do you think there’s a potential for friendship (or more *wink wink*) between Ness and Cy?
Who at the not-a-cult-cult do you think wants Ness killed?
Any theories on what Ness and Cy will do now that they both have targets on their backs?

See you tomorrow for day 4!

Love,
Shannon

Conversation

30 Comments

Comment

  • Samantha Westgate

    Loving this book! Wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I have been. I added the tag and posted my picture! My Instagram is @bookish_westie

  • akacya23

    my thoughts while reading:
    – the assassination attempt?? whoa??
    – poor cy, not even sure if his friend purposely lured him to his death 🙁
    my answers to your questions:
    – i def think cy and ness could be love interests ??
    – maybe it’s a person we haven’t met yet? not sure!
    – well they definitely have to figure out who wants them dead so that they can put a stop to them!

  • ladymeg

    1) I know romance is a big part of most books, but honestly after Cy’s earlier story about losing his friend, I really would love to see him and Ness just become besties. A romance wouldn’t bother me, but man the boy needs a friend.

    2) Cindy? I don’t know man, we don’t exactly know a ton of people there. Cindy does seem a little shady to me, but then Ness hasn’t really given her any reason to be nice to her either.

    3) Run away and hide seems like the easiest answer…after all, that seems to be kinda their m.o. Just get out and reinvent themselves somewhere else. BUT that might be a bit boring, so my next guess is that they’ll try to investigate some of the important people who were killed and look for clues as to who was behind it all. I’m really curious how the nightmare stuff (Ness’s aborted dream and the concept of people choosing to become nightmares) will play into it all.

    0
  • mirliya

    I suspect Cy will become a lot more to Ness, because he’ll help her overcome her fears. I’m suspicious that the Director wanted to get rid of Ness. We haven’t really met many others of the Friends other than Priya and Cindy, and while Cindy might not like Ness, I don’t think she would have been capable of that.
    My only theory is that Cy and Ness are going to get detective hats to try and work out what is going on in the town.

    I will be entering the giveaway. My insta is @mirlyah

    • mikaylazm

      I’d definitely like to see their friendship develop more first– I think specifically because she does need to work on herself so much more. Are you hoping for an eventual romantic connection? I’m still unsure myself!

  • feedmefairytales

    I’m not sure if there will be a romance between Ness and Cy because I think there’s a lot of emphasis on their friendship, but I think they would be a good match and I would like to see them end up together! Who knows.

    As for who wants Ness dead… I’m not sure! She doesn’t have a lot of friends at the “not-a-cult” so who knows! Maybe Cindy?

    I hope Cy and Ness figure out who is after them!

    I entered the giveaway!? my IG handle is @feedmefairytales

  • Bec @Booktineus

    I was someone who couldn’t stop reading after all these twists ?. I’ve finished the book now so it’s extra hard to answer questions because I now have most of the answers… kind of.

    Everyone at the cult is suspicious. I trust no one in this city. I will say that the person who wanted to kill Ness was NOT who I expected so that was a good twist at the end.

    As for Cy and Ness being more, there is definitely potential there (and I hope there will be!). It’s going to be very very slowburn though, as in it will develop over multiple books. Which, honestly, is exactly how I like my romance in series to develop.

  • Samantha Fairbanks

    I hope Cy and Ness get together! I doubt it will be this book put potentially in the sequel?
    The director seems like he’s upto something so he could be the one to watch.
    No clue what they will do next, looking forward to find out.

  • Lisa Spanu

    1. Most definitly! While I do hope for more between them, I also hope the progression is believable with Ness being so afraid of Nightmares. Maybe becoming friends (or more) will help her with her fear. I just hope it won’t be unbelieable for them to get together while Ness is still to afraid of all the other nightmares.
    2. The director, he is just very suspicious to me, with the hidden wall and having given away her room immediately.
    3. Hide hahaha. No, they’ll probably try to find out who wanted Cy dead and why the people on the boat were all targetted and who is behind it all.

    I posted on my Instagram @lisashelves

  • Kaitlyn

    I’m a little behind on the readalong but I’m hoping to catch up soon! I would love to enter the giveaway @figthecav

  • Sof

    first, I want to say that this book keeps going into directions that I don’t see coming. Cy and Ness’s conversation about how vampires are shown in media is such a great and interesting commentary about consent and predatory behavior. So well done and natural in the story to discuss it.

    I love the huge conspiracy of everyone on the boat being a target, but does that mean Cindy was a target as well? She was supposed to be on the boat in the first place before Ness quickly, suddenly took her place. So I wonder.

    I don’t know if the director wants Ness dead, like he made the call, but I think he’s in on it for sure. He’s at least helping the main person who wants Ness dead.

    Also, i have this crazy theory that is Ness overcomes his fear of his father/ being like his father, he’ll be human again. So, maybe the woman in the beginning of the novel was right about the Nightmares still being the people they were deep inside, and they just need to calm down and overcome their fear to be back to normal. Maybe. We’ll see!

  • agsing

    Ness and Cy are becoming friends! This is all I want, if nothing more happens that’s totally fine with me. I love that Ness is working past her phobia and Cy is open to letting someone be his friend! Ness can feel safe inside her own closet and finally be able to get some much needed rest since losing her room at the cult.z
    I wonder when she will confide in Cy of her own past since he has shared so much of his now.

    As for who put the hit out on Ness; I would guess unintentionally the director. I hope he is not evil cause it could feed back into Ness’ fears. I wonder though if Cindy was not the intended target originally since she was supposed to be on the boat and seemed to hold saying something back to Ness when she came back. Something is up with that girl.

    I have no idea what Ness and Cy are gonna do next. Take info to the police? Probably wont go well just like this last time. Ness seemed to have some sort of plan which is good.

    Posted on instagram @ramble_reads

  • meg2131859

    I dont think that her and Cy will be in a romantic relationship but I do think they will be good friends if they both end up surviving. I believe the director is the one leading the assassination but I don’t know what his motive is. Cindy was supposed to be in that boat instead so was she just someone innocent who had to die? But I don’t understand what makes the mc so important. She didn’t see anything so why are they trying to kill her?

    • meg2131859

      I have entered the giveaway my Instagram handle is @anythingisabookmark

  • mikaylazm

    So got caught up on day three and four today and WOOOO amazingness. For some reason this book is hitting every area just right for me– the dark, heartfelt elements and the zany adventure and the intense need for survival and the relationships!

    I think there’s potential for romance but to be honest I am loving the development of Cy and Ness’s friendship and would just love to see her a lot more comfortable with herself (and same for him) before anything developed. I know it’s the beginning of a series so I’m hoping that the books will follow the same characters and we get to see more of their journeys!

    The whole hidden wall thing was absolutely suspicious and the fact that Ness was so easily like “oh yeah everything is just shady and weird here” I think calls into question her survival instincts in a big way ?

    Hitting post now and my handle is @madamepincers ?

  • TupaKitty_Reads

    I KNEW they’d end up rooming together somehow! So, was it Cindy who should’ve been assassinated because she was the 1 who originally had the tickets? Thinking that way, was the assassin looking for Cindy after Cindy said Ness was the boat survivor (not that she’d traded places) while answering phone calls? If so, was it intentional or inadvertent?
    Daily Q&A:
    Q:
    1.) Do you think there’s a potential for friendship (or more *wink wink*) between Ness and Cy?
    2.) Who at the not-a-cult-cult do you think wants Ness killed?
    3.) Any theories on what Ness and Cy will do now that they both have targets on their backs?
    A:
    1.) Absolutely. (Here’s hoping! ??)
    2.) I think the Director is suspicious, but I think it would’ve been opportunistic of Cindy. I don’t know enough about anyone else to say
    3.) Ness sounds like she knows who needs to know what they know, so hopefully, Cy can help her with that (keep her naïvety in check).
    *I’ve already posted my #FairyNightmares photo under @TupaKitty_Reads ????*

  • karoliina.laakso

    It went as I thought it would and I’m so happy Priya is okay. I think the director did it. I don’t think it is anybody we weren’t intoduced to. I like Cy and I hope there is going to be a romance but I’m not sure. I have no idea what’s going to happen next and I’m so excited to continue reading. I’m really enjoing this book!

    I posted a picture on instagram and handle is @aleinaaareads.

  • hbaileyw17

    I posted a picture to Instagram and my handle is @read.ingbee

  • Peachy

    I entered @bookboxsherlocks 🙂

    I really really think Cy and Ness has great chemistry so they better turn *more than* friends! Just like Ness, I did think the Director’s eagerness to send her off + the secret room was suspicious so I think he wanted her killed… just can’t think of why yet.
    As for Cy and Ness’ next steps, they’ll probably stay in Cy’s apartment together for a while and maybe involve the media? Maybe Cy has some powerful friends they can ask help from? I’m not convinced it’s Cy’s father that wanted everyone dead, but maybe there’s an actual cult he is a part of that wanted all those people dead… and maybe in that Cult the Director is part of it. I’m thinking the Friends of the Restful Soul is indeed some sort of a cover for something else, and maybe Ness was risking that cover to be blown which is how she became a liability to the Director?

  • Kennedy G

    My interest in this one seems to be dwindling a little bit, I’m just sort of annoyed how many times Ness brings up her sister or someone calls Friends a cult. It’s just starting to fee repetitive. And the fact that during gang shoot outs on the streets and things like that Ness has no emotion for us making me have little emotion for them too. I’m going to push through and try and read the next portion but who knows if I’ll finish.

    1. I really hope not, at first I thought a romantic relationship between Ness and Cy would be cute but now I think I’d much rather them have a friendship.

    2. I think it is probably the Director but to make a wild accusation maybe Priya? That would be a shocking twist!

    3. I feel like they’ll maybe do some stake outs? Like I said my interest is dwindling and I don’t know what this book can do at this point to keep me wanting to read so I have no idea ?

    I entered on Instagram with my username @mybookishbeing

  • ASHLEY KALATUSHA

    Do you think there’s a potential for friendship (or more *wink wink*) between Ness and Cy?
    I kind of hope so.
    Who at the not-a-cult-cult do you think wants Ness killed?
    I think the director or Priya.
    Any theories on what Ness and Cy will do now that they both have targets on their backs?
    I think they will work together to take everyone down! Haha

    • ASHLEY KALATUSHA

      My handle on instagram is @mangapenguin

      I always forget this part!

  • Jennifer

    For some reason I see Ness as Demisexual or asexual. I think that if she does develop romantic feelings for Cy it will be slow burn.
    I’m happy with them either being friends or more as long as it is well developed & not rushed. Ness has a lot of trust issues/fears to overcome first.

    The director seems dodgy. If he arranged an assassination it could have been on Ness or Cindy. He certainly knew Ness was going on the boat in Cindy’s place.

    Hopefully Cy and Ness will lie low. They will probably need to investigate the “not a cult”, Cy’s father, Cy’s friend and maybe look into some of the more famous victims of the explosion.

    I have posted my readalong photos to my IG Jenthebookishbakernz

  • Alex Shaffer

    I wasn’t prepared to like this book as much as I did. I’m not usually a fan of Batman. And it caused me anxiety when I found out this book had like hints of Gotham in it. But this book is chaotic! In a good way!

    I finished it a couple days ago. I’m just behind in participating discussions online.

    My instagram handle is stardancer2014

  • Vivien Brauer

    I’ve entered as @v.m.brewster ! ☀️?

  • kaythesuperstar

    I really love that Ness found Cy during this section. I love their banter but I don’t think it’s going to get romantic in this book, maybe future sequels?
    I’m really suspicious of the Director. With how fast he was to give away her room and how he kept dodging her. I also think something important is going to be about that secret room otherwise why tell us about it?
    I’m not really sure what they are going to do but I hope we get to see more about this scary guy in the dream and potentially how she can use her lucid dreaming to her advantage!

    I entered a picture and my username is @artsywithabby 🙂

  • Natasha Pedersen

    1. Do you think there’s a potential for friendship (or more *wink wink*) between Ness and Cy?: it definitely feels very allies to friends to lovers coded in my opinion.

    2. Who at the not-a-cult-cult do you think wants Ness killed?: I honestly have no clue

    3. Any theories on what Ness and Cy will do now that they both have targets on their backs?: Lie low and maybe investigate what’s going on?

    • Natasha Pedersen

      Also, nearly forgot, but my Instagram handle is @Kratist0 and I’ll have a post up shortly!

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