Reviews with content warning for Racism - The City We Became

5 ⭐ CW: violence, substance use, homelessness, xenophobia, racism, homophobia, sexual assault

"Don't sleep on the city that never sleeps, son, and don't f*cking bring your squamous eldritch bullshit here."

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin is book one in the Great Cities series. As with everything I've read by Jemisin, this blew me away. Jemisin is an expert worldbuilder, and the fact that she worldbuilt on top of our existing world only serves as another added layer to the story, and there are many layers to this book.

Jemisin imagines a world where cities that are large enough and old enough eventually become sentient and are "born" into the world through the use of human avatars that are literally the embodiment of that city. We focus on the birth of New York City, but something goes wrong with the birth, and the avatar is badly weakened against an interdimemsional eldritch horror of a parasite.

New York is different from other cities. Instead of just one avatar, New York has five, one for each borough: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island. Jemisin has used stereotypes as foundations for each borough's personality, but she reminds us "Lesson one of New York: what people think about us isn't what we really are," and in that way also subverts the stereotypes.

Remember that Eldritch Horror? Or as one of the characters says, squigglebitch. The parasite is also sentient and has taken human form in order to better infect the city to prevent a successful birth. Squigglebitch could be seen as an allegory for gentrification or white feminism.

I honestly could go on about every aspect and detail of this book, it was so incredible. Layers Upon layers of meaning and themes. We also have great diversity among the representatives of the boroughs, including Staten Island being a racist, xenophobic white girl too afraid to get on the ferry. Perhaps people actually from New York might take offense to the way they are portrayed or maybe connect with it?

I will for sure be reading the next book when I can get it in paperback.

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brianneh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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grimmarray's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Possibly one of the most interesting mixes of Lovecraftian horror and, to put it in simplest terms, identity.

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sas_lk's review

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adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-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

5.0

I don't have words. I want to be in N.K. Jemisin's brain. This novel is the definition of a masterpiece. There are literally no faults, this woman is incredible.

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aamna_theinkslinger's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The N.K. Jemisisn hype is so real.

I never expected to feel such a range of emotions from such a seemingly small book. The City We Became's paperback edition looks a very tame, innocent size, but the gut punch that it packs in those 448 pages is mind-blowing.

It is a book that will make you laugh and chuckle with its humor and widen your eyes with its bizarre and unique magic and make you bristle at the uncomfortable yet realistic depiction of xenophobia in our world.

New York City and its boroughs feel like characters in themselves (and not just because they are actual characters), but because the author talks about them with intimacy and fondness, with the awareness of their flaws and history and streets and alleys and its people.

I won't reveal anything about the characters, since I think that would spoil the fun of discovering them as you go. We have 5 main characters, and sometimes we get to be in the head of the villain too. We get chapters from all of their third-person perspectives. You can trust me when I say that all 5 of them were incredibly unique and diverse and lovable.

“This is the lesson: Great cities are like any other living things, being born and maturing and wearying and dying in their turn.”

It covers a wide array of them themes- from racism to homophobia to microaggressions and capitalism. It is bold and to the point when it tackles those issues. It doesn't hold back- yet somehow manages to make its delivery very digestible. Some of the scenes there were genuinely uncomfortable to read because of racism. But that's only proving how well done it was.

We have five main characters, and one of them in particular is very obviously xenophobic. She grew up in a very controlled and manipulative environment- and even though that doesn't necessarily excuse everything she says or what she does- her perspective is so well-done that you always carry this nickel of sympathy for her. She's supposed to be a little unlikeable and make you confront those ideas, but you somehow still find yourself rooting for her. That, I think, was a real feat.

Then there was the magic system, which was so unique and bizarre, and interesting. You have to suspend your disbelief a little bit because it's not a typical one with spells or runes or natural elements. It's based on the multidimensional theory, where when a city is "born", a person living in that city suddenly becomes their avatar, or basically the city in human form. And since the boroughs of New Yor city have such distinct identities, there are five avatars for each borough plus one person which is all of New York as a whole. And that's not even the beginning of the unique and bizarreness.

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immovabletype's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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dannythestreet's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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jessalex610's review

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adventurous challenging funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This was one of the weirdest strangest, and yet most fascinating books I’ve ever read, I think. The premise of these city avatars and re birthing of New York as they fight off this weird extra dimensional Enemy is so weird and so interesting.

the only qualms I have with this book is that 1) the pacing is off. I feel like there were parts where Jemisin lingered too much into the whole, reminiscing of how awesome New York is and then every other important plot point, like the fight scenes, and the encounters with the enemy, feel a little too rushed, especially at the end . I also think 2) that there were some lines that were a little too corny that it took me out of the story entirely because of how ridiculous it was, but that’s just personal taste. also 3) the whole twist with Veneza at the end makes no sense!

and I am so confused as to how she went from this avatar Ally with the same role as Madison and the checker cab, to suddenly: Oh she is now an honorary avatar and honorary borough of NYC as Jersey City right when Staten Island doesn’t want to cooperate like what??

the conclusion is logical, but there was little to no build up to it, so it’s just threw me off entirely, and I really wish that that premise was built more earlier.

Overall, it’s not quite a four-star book but it’s definitely way better than 3/3.5 and I am very excited about the fact it’s a trilogy because I will definitely be reading the sequel . And I think this is a great book for those who want to get into fantasy but are intimidated by the whole “building a whole New World in your head as you also follow the plot “aspect of fantasy reading.

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