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brekaboujie's review
- 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? No
3.75
The premise is such an interesting idea (though I didn't realise the title wasn't a metaphor for a little while. That's on me) and the way it was written was snappy, packed full of adventure and tense scenes and all very myterious and exciting. All the characters were very unique and the author did a brilliant job of establishing their personalities really quickly. But I just had absolutely NO motivation to keep going. It wasn't even slow paced! I don't know why, but it never clicked with me at all, and I found it such a drag to get through. When I was reading it I was enjoying it and found it interesting, but then I'd put it down again and just not really care to keep going.
I'd definitely recommend it if you enjoy modern takes on fantasy! A really interesting idea that I wish grabbed me more.
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Violence, Rape, Body horror, and Racism
No rape or sexual assualt actually happens, but there is an attempt and there is a scene where they view art depicting that, and the people presenting that art are pretty awful about it.heini's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Suomennos oli hämmentävä. Ehkä ne ovat tyylikeinoja tai en vain ymmärtänyt, mutta lukukokemusta haittaa, kun jatkuvasti ilmaisut särähtävät korvaan. Puhutaan jonkun ensimmäisestä rodeosta; henkilö, jota alkuperäisteoksessa kuvaillaan ja nimitetään sanoilla 'strawberry blond man-bun' suomennetaan mansikanvaaleaksi hipster sämpyläksi; yleinen kirosana on paskapökäle ja joku on hullumpi kuin lepakonpaska (batshit crazy?).
Itse kirjasta: Seuraamme New York Cityn kaupunginosien ihmisavatareja, jotka ilmentävät suurkaupungin monimuotoisuutta.
Hahmot olivat mukavan ristiriitaisia ja oli mielenkiintoista, kuinka välillä ihmisen kauheista piirteistä tuli ominaisia ja "hyödyllisiä", osa tarvittavaa kokonaisuutta.
Tarina oli värikkäiden kertojiensa vuoksi hauska ja myös sivuhenkilöt olivat huippuja,
Valkoinen ja kirkkaus oli pahuuden ilmikuva, mikä on tietysti myös käänteinen kerrontaperinteen musta/pimeys=paha logiikalle, jota on ihonväriinkin sovellettu.
Kirjan yksi ydinkuvaus on, kuinka ennakkoluulot ja oletukset tuhoavat meitä (yksilöitä, yhteisöjä, yhteiskuntia) sisältä päin ja vain ruokkivat yhteisiä vihollisiamme.
Pelko, että ihmisyys tuhotaan kosmisessa maailmojen sodassa / pelko, joka syntyy kaikesta siitä "normaalista" tai normaaliksi hyväksystä (kauheista ja epämukavista asioista), jota arkemme ihmisinä ihmisten keskellä on.
Graphic: Xenophobia, Sexism, Police brutality, Body horror, Racial slurs, Violence, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Racism
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Gaslighting
Minor: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Rape, Addiction, and Abortion
Spiders or spider-like creaturestakarakei's review
- 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
4.5
Now could I explain the dynamics of all that happens in this book? Absolutely not, it's one of those books where you just have to accept the concepts that are being presented to you without a lot of questioning. I mean, people becoming the embodiment of cities? weird concept. You just gotta go with it! Along the way you'll get discussions of race, art, and what it means to "belong" to a place.
If you're a NYC area person I def think this is an interesting read! Very NYC-prideful. I personally am NOT from NYC or know all that much about it, so I couldn't pick up on if there were any inaccuracies in any way, but Jemisin has lived there for a long time and did a lot of research so I trust that she got it right. I really enjoyed all the little history bits of information thrown in about the city.
There's no one out there really writing SFF like Jemisin, and I am very excited to continue with this series.
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Misogyny, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault
Minor: Colonisation, Abortion, and Police brutality
itsame_dio's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
- The chapters were sooo long, I listened to the audiobook and every chapter was at least an hour. It made me feel like I wasn't making any progress in the book, so it was tough for me to stick with it.
- Could be a dealbreaker for you: there's so much racism, and its VERY prominent (one of the POV characters is a racist) so if that's too much for you don't read this book. It was kinda of off-putting for me (a Black Woman), I don't feel like a lot of reviews addressed this. I don't feel like it was put in there willy nilly tho, it was very purposeful.
- Nothing really happened,
- The ending was anti-climatic
- The sound effects seemed to be thrown in at random
- The narrator has a beautiful voice but the accent she uses for some of the characters sound like the accent I do when I make fun of New Yorkers so I couldn't take it seriously lol
- It throws me off that New York would be the first city to become like this in the US, there's a lot of distinct cities in the US so if anything I would think New York would maybe the oldest or the most intense but the only??? IDK about that
Graphic: Antisemitism, Homophobia, Police brutality, Xenophobia, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Domestic abuse and Abortion
bookedbykiki's review
- 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
4.5
- Wanting to try an urban fantasy
- Black future focused fiction
- BIPOC queer representation
- NYC social commentary
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Police brutality
jaysaysnope's review against another edition
- 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
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
hanz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Racism, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault
Minor: Abortion
holly_hock's review
- 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
Moderate: Colonisation, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Racism, War, Xenophobia, and Violence
Minor: Sexism, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual assault
creatinglore's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Colonisation and Police brutality
ceesea's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Hate crime, and Police brutality
Moderate: Sexism and Sexual assault