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jjstallone's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Colonisation, Cursing, Sexual harassment, and Police brutality
Minor: Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Ableism, Cannibalism, Homophobia, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Cancer, Deportation, Genocide, Misogyny, Abortion, Antisemitism, and Blood
martinatan's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
I could sense a lot of research and creative license went into writing this, and the concept must make it hard to really flesh out the characters, but ultimately the writing voice rubbed me the wrong way with almost all of the characterizations. Especially when
Also, I felt really unbalanced by the amount of “screen time” given to each character, as some did not get many POV chapters and it left me hyperfocused on why. Even if they get more focus in future installments, I wish they had all been developed to the same degrees in the first. Additionally, the ordering and pacing of how information is revealed felt really off to me, there were times where even how a scene was established rattled my immersion in the characters’ point of view.
Slight ramble ahead. On the premise itself, what I started labeling it in my head early on was
Anyway. Being someone from New Jersey who has lived close to New York City all my life, perhaps a contemporary fantasy story with this setting wasn’t the right book for me to pick up. Even though I’ve enjoyed the Broken earth trilogy in the past. Hard for me to say!
I can say overall this is somewhat worth reading if you want to explore the base concept of living cities a little, but because of the reasons above, I ultimately didn’t get too much pleasure or satisfaction out of the story.
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Ableism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Addiction, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Transphobia, War, Cursing, Cultural appropriation, Drug abuse, Abortion, Alcohol, and Cannibalism
breadwitchery'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
4.0
Graphic: Sexism, Xenophobia, Racism, Transphobia, and Homophobia
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, and Violence
Minor: Police brutality, Cursing, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Cancer, Alcoholism, and Abortion
kirstenf's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Death, Police brutality, Genocide, and Racism
Moderate: Colonisation, Ableism, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Xenophobia, Sexism, Alcohol, Cursing, and Domestic abuse
blewballoon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Homophobia, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Classism, Islamophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Abortion
aguattery's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
I also thought some of the author's word choices were odd.
However, once I did understand the concept, I really got into it. I think the ending was spectacular.
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia
Minor: Blood and Cursing
jazhandz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Cursing, and Racism
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Racial slurs
Minor: Lesbophobia and Transphobia
laurenkimoto'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? Yes
4.25
- Amazing cover: the matte city scape with the shiny tentacles and colour detailing ties in so nicely to the story *chef kiss* The person who designed the cover deserves an award
- Chapter titles really should make a comeback
- We love some reluctant heroes who really just want to say to hell with saving the world just let me live my life in peace
- I am a fool I did not realize this was part of a series and now I’m sitting here waiting for the next book :(
- The petty book hill I will die on is that short chapters are superior to long chapters
- This is different than other fantasy books partially because it’s urban fantasy but also because the first half of the book the characters don’t know what’s going on so you don’t know what’s going on. Jemisin doesn’t info dump or use a naive character at the start to explain this world but rather you learn as the characters learn which I find is a fresh take.
- This book has the most diverse set of characters I have ever come across and it does so without any “token” characters because their identity and diversity is tied in to who/what they are. With this comes addressing so many timely and everlasting issues and Jemisin does so without sacrificing plot, pacing or anything else.
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Abortion, Body shaming, Addiction, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Rape, Transphobia, Bullying, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Biphobia, Classism, and Violence
boba_n_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Racial slurs, Cursing, and Racism
Moderate: Homophobia, Classism, and Sexual assault
marissasa'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Body horror, Colonisation, Rape, Alcoholism, Classism, Cursing, Misogyny, Violence, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia
Minor: Cancer, Drug abuse, and Drug use