Gorgeous photo by @bookish_euphoria!
Hi Fairy Friends!
Welcome back to day 2 of our readalong of The City of Nightmares. I hope you’re all loving the book so far! We left off in a rather tense spot, so I’m excited to see what will happen today!
Today we’re reading from chapter 8 to the end of chapter 13. Let’s go!
Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for The City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer, from chapters 8 to 13. Please only read on if you’ve finished this section!
-!SPOILERS!-
Ok, so Ness doesn’t have a plan…
They find an abandoned ship (when I say abandoned, they never actually abandoned the boat… they were just killed by a Nightmare) to make home for the night so they can rest. Ness doesn’t have the pills she keeps to stop her dreaming though, so once she drifts off… the nightmare begins.
Her dream is freaky, but she wakes up in time. Cy realised she was having a nightmare and thought it best to wake her up. I like him. For the second time, Cy has saved her life.
Cy and Ness are trying to work out what happened on the boat. Cy seems convinced it wasn’t an accident. He even points the finger at Ness at one point… until she tells him who sent her on the boat. Then comes the cult questions!
Cy thinks it could be his father who blew up the boat. Interesting. He thinks the friend who asked him to meet up might have sold out his location to his father.
They spend some time discussing friendships and the more they talk, the more I’m seeing that there’s potential here for them to be friends too. What do you think? Can Ness manage her PTSD to give Cy the friendship he’s hoping for? Maybe he can help her heal.
Once they get onto a train, they find a newspaper. The boat explosion has already hit headlines, with a fuel tank rupture as the suspected cause. Cy still isn’t buying it though.
It’s almost time for them to head their separate ways, but Cy has a favour to ask before they do. He asks Ness to keep him out of any stories. If she tells the press what happened, she swam to shore alone. She was the only survivor.
Cy tells her how to find him, if she ever wants to, and in turn she tells Cy how he can get a hold of her. On that parting note, Ness is home.
What a slap in the face, the cult has already given her room to a new initiate. She has nowhere to go. It’s been two days.
She sleeps in Priya’s room and when she wakes she fills everyone in on what happened. While she waits for the Director, she sees one of her sister’s old teachers. Mr Columb says what happened to her sister is such a tragedy, such a shame… and then says he wonders if she did it on purpose??? Why would anyone do that?
Ness is shocked too, she demands answers but Mr Columb says he has to go and hurries off. Ness is left to wonder what he might have known about Ruby that Ness never did, and what made him think her sister would want to become a Nightmare.
Revelations are happening, fairies!
What do you think Ness will do now that she has no home at the Friends of the Restful Souls?
Do you think Ness and Cy will meet again?
Do you think Ruby intended to become a Nightmare like Mr Columb suggested?
I hope you’re all enjoying the book so far, I’ll see you tomorrow for day 3!
Love,
Shannon
I am not going answer the first two questions because I’ve read ahead (I’m up to day 5’s section oops. It’s just so good!!)
But as for question 3: I am so intrigued by this little tidbit Mr Columb dropped!! WHY would anyone try and intentionally become a Nightmare by having a nightmare they can’t control (actively seeking out a contagious strain is a bit different). Part of me wonders if Ruby thought she could lucid dream (like the mysterious Nightmare Demon Dude suggested to Ness) and wanted to test it out, or maybe she was trying to find the source of the Nightmares.
Either way, that little info drop and the very small mention of lucid dreaming from Nightmare Demon Dude has created so many questions. I want to know more!
I cannot believe they gave her room away so quickly! This is definitely a cult ?
I really like Cy so hopefully she will seek him out.
I am baffled as to why Ruby would purposely turn herself into a nightmare, and how?
Intrigued to continue ☺️
I feel like giving the room away definitely tracks more if we believe everyone else taking about Friends as a cult… Their desire to recruit more and quickly with the offer of basic sorts of lures a predatory group might have and the whole moving wall thing definitely pinged my interest sfk
I feel sad for Ness that she doesn’t have her room (her safe space) anymore! I hope the director can arrange something for her to get a private room again. For now, luckily, she can stay with Priya. I liked reading more about how Priya experiences her friendship with Ness, and Ness realizing it really is a two way street.
And I like Cy! I hope Ness contacts him so they can be friends. I think they could both use a new friend 🙂
The comment by Mr. Columb was intriguing! So mysterious… he obviously knows something. I wonder if Ruby did intend to turn into a nightmare, but maybe she expected to be a different nightmare? Something less consuming?
Must keep on reading!
This book keeps going in different directions than I think it will! I totally forgot to theorise on my last post if the Nightmares are from a curse that someone did, or it’s so sort of science thing that everyone got exposed and the people in power were trying to cover it up! But then Ness sleeps and we get the answer or some of the answer! The Nightmare guy is interesting… I wonder what his deal is… Giving Morpheus from The Sandman vibes.
In my first post, which I made about an hour ago and have finally caught up with today, I said that I would be shocked if Ness and Cy didn’t get into a romance, but after their conversation about romantic relationships and how they impact friendships, I’m having second thoughts. Instead of 100% certain, I’m more like 50-50 now. I still think an enemies to friends to slowing getting feelings for each other by the end of the second book would be a great love story, but I’m also here for a really good, male-female friendship! But Ness constantly wondering why everyone thinks vampires are sexy, makes me think it’s leaning more towards romance.
Since needs to leave her “cult,” she’s going to meet up with Cy once something more triggering happens. For example, as soon as people realize she’s the “only” survivor, they’re going to go after her, and she’ll have to meet up with Cy.
I could definitely see people purposely turning in Nightmares! The fear of the Nightmare is overpowered by the want of power maybe… or desperation from their situation (like to get out of a toxic family or they’ve been kidnapped). I think there could be interesting reasons for wanting to be what you fear (this is also giving me Batman vibes). But Ruby seemed to be in a good situation, so I wondered what her reason may have been if she did do it on purpose.
Now, I’m going to read tomorrow’s so I can be ready to talk about it in the morning!
So the intentional nightmare tidbit was so interesting and I can’t wait to keep reading — it was difficult to pull myself away last night and even more so today so I might read ahead tomorrow ?
I think that there’s definitely more to the story with her sister, or there wouldn’t be much of a book here. The aftermath of the boat explosion and all of the theories is super compelling and I’m guessing the lack of home + this issue will end up prompting a relationship between Ness and Cy and lead them to become unlikely allies.
The bit about Cy’s dad also really interested me (I’m wondering if he’s someone we already know?!) and I am just very excited for all the Priya stories…she’s such a badass!
my thoughts while reading:
– it’s so sad how the director gave up ness’s room so quickly, but as she said he was definitely waiting for that opportunity
– the teacher thought ruby turned into a nightmare on purpose??? what???
my answers to your questions:
– i’m not sure what ness will do now that she doesn’t have a room. maybe reach out to cy…?
– i’m sure they’ll meet again, just not 100% sure on how!
– it’s wild to think a thirteen-year-old would want to become a monster. i’m not sure what to think about that, but the teacher must have a good reason to even suggest that?
I really hope Ness gets her room back but I’m guessing she doesn’t…so she’ll contact Cy and go bunk with him and learn whatever life he’s been part of.
As for Ruby, I think there’s definitely something Ness doesn’t know about her, and there’s a strong possibility that Mr Columb is correct, but also Ruby never meant to become an aggressive giant spider and was trying to become a different sort of Nightmare, one that retains its awareness and ‘humanity’.
The story really gets better the more you get into it! I think maybe Cy’s dad is someone important for him not to want to be mentioned by Ness to the police and to think that he would put a bomb just to kill him.
I really enjoy Cy’s character and the way him as a vampire is way different as seen before and I am glad that Ness even thought that it may be possible for her to become friends with him even been a nightmare!
Friends of the restful souls truly give cult vibed for sure and i good now Ness with her not having a proper room there anymore she will give herself the chance to get out of her comfort zone and try to find a solution as she cant stay with Priya forever.
As for the second question i think they will meet again maybe Ness will seek him out.
I mean what the heck Mr.Columb!! He knows something for sure for him to mention that Ruby may have wanted to become a nightmare. We were not given enough background for Ruby to understand if she truly wanted to be a monster. There has to be a reason for that but i can’t figure it out yet. We will see hoepfully it will be explained by the end of the book!!
1. I think she’s very desperate at this moment and will do something in that state to get it all back. I am not sure what exactly that will be, but it won’t be good for her and will not get her the results she wants.
2. Definitly!
3. I think maybe she did, but didn’t expect to turn into the giant spider. Maybe she thought she was afraid of something else (like a vampire) and had expected to turn into a nightmare, but still be herself. I also think she might’ve done it for Ness, like she didn’t want to leave her alone and if she were a nightmare, maybe the scholarship would fall through and she could stay home with her family.
I am curious to see where the story will go! I also had expected it to take longer for Ness and Cy to get back to Newham. Almost a shame that they didn’t spend as much time together yet.
I also feel like the fact that Ness can lucid dream will mean she can’t become a nightmare. She spoke to the person who changes the people and I think they are intruiged by her just as much that they want to get to know her more. Ness’s fear is nightmares, so I do wonder if she’ll change into one in the end but will become a better and stronger version of herself and overcome her fear like that.
1) Go find Cy!
2) See #1 haha
3) This was a plot twist that really surprised me and I’m *fascinated* to see how it develops. Why would anyone want to become a nightmare, esp someone like Ruby who was on her way up in life?
First off, the Nightmare was horrid and I loved it! I really thought her worst nightmare would be ending up like her sister but seems like it’s always being afraid. She could have lost all her fears if Cy had not woken her up in time. I’m glad he did though. Ness needs to work through those feelings on her own.
Im with Ness though on how does turning someone into a giant spider alleviate them from their fear of them?
Ness and Cy’s trip home was sweet. I need them to have to seek each other back out once back in the city. Maybe now that Ness is gonna be thrown into the spotlight for being the only survivor she will be targeted by whoever blew the shop up and she will need Cy’s help. Hopefully she keeps her word to Cy though and does not say anything about his involvement.
Mr Columb laying down some serious opinions! Just…why would you say that though? I can’t imagine why she would have intentionally turned herself into a nightmare unless maybe she saw the Nightmare like Ness did in a previous lucid dream and thought she could somehow control the change or just talk with the demon? So many questions!
Maybe she’ll have a reason to reach out to Cy after all. The math teacher, Mr. Columb, really threw a new twist out there. Maybe that’s somehow tied into the Nightmare boy. Also, I’m wondering if Cy gets his blood in transfusion bags rather than directly from a person since he hates who/what he turned into (his worst Nightmare).
Daily Q&A:
Q:
1.) What do you think Ness will do now that she has no home at the Friends of the Restful Souls?
2.) Do you think Ness and Cy will meet again?
3.) Do you think Ruby intended to become a Nightmare like Mr. Columb suggested?
A:
1.) See if Cy has a room for her.
2.) Yep. No doubt about it.
3.) Maybe, like the Nightmare boy said, she wanted to conquer her greatest fear, maybe she was self-sabotaging for some reason, but I don’t think she intended to eat her father (almost her sister, too) before getting killed while continuing her murderous rampage through the town as ginormous icky spider.
I think Ness needs to leave the “not a cult” completely. I think she is safe sticking with Priya, I don’t think Priya would betray her.
I hope Ness will track down Cy.
I do wonder what exactly the teacher Mr Columb was doing at the “not a cult”. His being there just seems really odd. IF Ruby did change deliberately what could possibly be her motivation?
I’m curious about why Ness grieves for her sister so much more than her father? He is barely mentioned outside of getting eaten by spider Ruby.
He was always working and didn’t seems to really have the time for her. Ruby showed her love and warmth
Okay. I’m positive Ness will have to leave soon and then she is going to reunite with Cy. But I wonder, what about Priya? I’m not sure she would stay if they kick Ness out. Maybe she gets invited to the nightmare defence. I really hope nothing happens to her.
Maybe Ness has to run because who ever blew up the boat is coming after her? I also do find that cult to be suspicious.
There are quiete a few mysteries going on. The comment about Ruby becoming a nightmare has to mean something. But I have no idea what that could be.
I am hooked and can’t wait to read more!
I’m still really enjoying this book and I may not sleep while trying to catch up haha
I think it was so wrong that they gave away her room! Plus from the sounds of it who would even want/like that room in the way she does?? I also felt that the explaining of the hidden room may lead to something interesting…piqued my interest there.
I really hope that Ness connects back with Cy because they have great banter and I just want more of it haha
That last little section just came out of nowhere! Her sister doing it on purpose??? What??? I had been having the thought on the side that how could people use this to their advantage and become like super humans with their nightmare but I never thought maybe her sister was thinking that way and then turned into a spider like what the heck ? I guess we shall see!
It is very clear that the friends must have set Ness up and probably put a bomb in her luggage. That alone makes me want to check my luggage and I don’t even have any! I’m sure that she’s going to meet cy again because she doesn’t really have a future with the friends anymore and she’ll probably hear the director say something that makes her run. And it does seem as though ruby made herself a nightmare maybe she was overwhelmed by all the success that she had in front of her and that’s why their father was so calm and let himself be eaten
I think that Ness will have to reach out to Cy when she has nowhere else to go. Maybe Priya will even help her get there. I do think there’s something there about Ruby maybe doing it on purpose… maybe she lost her scholarship? I don’t know enough at this point. So I’ll keep reading!
I feel like something isn’t adding up with the director. Maybe he set up the explosion and knew no one would survive so he was able to give up Ness’ room quicker? I’m hoping Cy and Ness meet up again soon and I can’t wait to see what Ness’ sisters old sister has to say
What do you think Ness will do now that she has no home at the Friends of the Restful Souls?
I think she will reconnect with Cy and work with him to figure out what happened on the boat.
Do you think Ness and Cy will meet again?
Yes! To great not to have them get back together.
Do you think Ruby intended to become a Nightmare like Mr Columb suggested?
I think there is a background with her and the father that we don’t know about so possibly.
1. What do you think Ness will do now that she has no home at the Friends of the Restful Souls?: I think she might seek out Cy.
2. Do you think Ness and Cy will meet again?: oh absolutely. He seems like too important a character to drop out the story like that.
3. Do you think Ruby intended to become a Nightmare like Mr Columb suggested?: I have a hard time imagining why someone might choose to become a monster, but I think he might be onto something and I think he knows more than Ness does.