Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

6 reviews

jaysaysnope's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny inspiring mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I want to love a place the way N.K. Jemisin loves New York City. The ending was a little anticlimactic for me, but

the betrayal of Staten Island

was so good (and honestly, realistic to the character), I cannot wait to find out how it’s dealt with in The World We Make.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Cultural appropriation, Body horror, and Violence

Moderate: Classism, Islamophobia, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Colonisation, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Police brutality

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book is near perfect for me. Some dings for variable pacing and maybe wrapping up a bit too cleanly and vaguely abruptly. Overall, I loved this adventure steeped in what makes NYC the city it is. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Confinement, Grief, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Stalking, Violence, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Xenophobia

How hard these triggers hit will vary person to person, hence why I put all of them in moderate, not that they were all moderate to me. Nothing kept me from wanting to read the rest of the book. I can’t wait to get to the next 2.

druppelregen's review

adventurous challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

leannanecdote's review

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Antisemitism, Lesbophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Misogyny, Classism, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Racism, and Homophobia

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Drug use, Child abuse, and Police brutality

Minor: Miscarriage, Cancer, and Abortion

sarah984's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

I just can't see what seemingly everyone else saw in this book. Bland prose (everyone’s thoughts and motivations are listed like we might otherwise miss them, like "[character] thinks dark things are evil because she sees that in the media" is essentially an actual sentence in this novel) padded with pointless bickering and boring New York in-jokes. Every character is an ethnic stereotype and they all sound so similar to one another that I kept forgetting one of them was supposed to be 70 until she brought up Stonewall again. The antagonist’s minions are like cartoon villains and they're all written in the most cringe-inducing way possible.

I did like the idea behind how the antagonist’s plan worked, and using white and light colours as something dangerous. Unfortunately, the one interesting city formation concept is dropped almost immediately after it comes up and the ending didn't make any sense with what was already established.

I feel like the author could have saved me a few hours of reading time by just typing up a Tumblr post about how much she hates Staten Island and leaving it at that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, and Antisemitism

Minor: Car accident, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Stalking, Cancer, Cannibalism, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Mental illness

lisacanteven's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is a couple of things that I have had trouble finding in a book: unique and abstract. I loved the plot of this book and the use of personification. As unique as it was, I never had trouble understanding. Jeminison writes so beautifully and clearly. I have lined up some of her other books to read this year.

The only reason I took off a star is because the pacing seemed a bit off. For 3/4 of the book they are going in circles and having the same conversations over and over for pages and pages at a time. It felt very slow and very redundant. The last 1/4 of the book was a punch in the gut and a great setup for sequels.

I finished the last 50 pages on audio because I was just struggling to keep going. It was very enjoyable on audio, and if I ever reread for the sequels I will do so on audio. The audiobook is a production and more than a reading. I definitely recommend the audio. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Mental illness, and Homophobia