Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

65 reviews

artemis7's review

adventurous mysterious reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia

Minor: Violence

brekaboujie's review

adventurous mysterious 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? No

3.75

I'd like to rate this book higher than I have, because I'm pretty sure I should have enjoyed it more than I did. 
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.

---

Content Warnings

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.

kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective 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? No

4.0

This is one of the coolest books I've ever read.

It's so unique and innovative. The way Jemisin personified each borough of NYC was brilliant. The writing is descriptive and the world building is excellent, bringing each borough and character to life in this metaphor for gentrification. Each avatar had a separate and distinct voice from one another, and it's hard to choose a favorite (although the least favorite is obvious 😂 IYKYK).

Although I've never lived in the city, it's just a train ride away, so I'm sure it helps having experience with NYC and understanding the references. But if you've never been here, you can still enjoy the book for sure. The connections to the city are just a bonus for us New Yorkers.

This was just so damn cool and N.K. Jemisin is a genius and I need to get my hands on book two immediately.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Cursing, and Homophobia

heini's review against another edition

dark hopeful medium-paced

• 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,

(eräs lempparihahmoni oli perinteisen Checker-taksin kuljettaja Madison, tosin luultavasti siksi, että kuvittelin hänet Roundabout-pelin Georgioksi ("the worlds first revolving limousine driver"). Heillä oli samanlaista hällä-väliä ja auttamisen asennetta. 

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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 creatures

itsame_dio's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• 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

I liked it but:

- 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,

they each experience something weird happen earlier that day, half of them meet up, then the next day they meet another one, come up with a plan (that doesn't work), they meet "the heart" then they have the "final battle"  and that's the end

the plot literally happens over 2 days max and it's mostly them running around confused. 

- 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 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Homophobia, Police brutality, Xenophobia, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Domestic abuse and Abortion

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.

---

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

holly_hock's review

adventurous 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

---

Content Warnings

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

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Colonisation and Police brutality

readbycarina's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Racism, Violence, Misogyny, and Xenophobia

Minor: Homophobia

jakepasseri's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

A really good read that flips (and critiques) the Lovecraftian ideas over the fear of the unknown to critique and comment on modern political issues (though it can be ham-fisted at times)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Pregnancy, Abortion, Alcoholism, and Colonisation