Reviews

City of a Thousand Feelings by Anya Johanna DeNiro

irasobrietate's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a very conceptual story, the kind of story that I feel like I'm going to need to read a few times to really appreciate everything this has to offer. But it's also a really compelling story about trans women trying to find a safe place, somewhere to belong that fully accepts them. It's about the aching longing for a true home, the fear of and reality of loss, the transcendent joy that an open and accepting community can provide. This is a book that's going to linger in the back of my mind for a long time.

briarrose1021's review

5.0

Taking place over thirty years, this story of trans women seeking acceptance when they are consistently denied entrance to the spaces where others are accepted was incredibly profound. Indeed, it is one that I will be reading again, as I can see that this is a story that will reveal something new each time it is read. This is especially true of the ending, when the main character is able to gain entrance into the city, to find that perhaps it is not what she thought, and that perhaps she doesn't need the acceptance of those in the city after all.

nicasio's review

5.0

Incredibly beautiful. The language, the imagery, the characters, the world, everything. The amount of feeling (lol, yes, but it's true) and creativity packed into this short novella is astonishing.

vortacist's review

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

mariahaskins's review

5.0

City of a Thousand Feelings has a strong allegorical bent. Most obviously, there’s the City of Feelings itself, a place with gatekeepers and walls, that does not allow the trans women to enter, and which turns out to be quite different on the inside than what those on the outside believed it to be. The novella also has riveting fight scenes full of magic and mayhem that recall the allure of classic sword and sorcery tales. There are eye-popping monsters, dead angels, dazzling spells, fiendish corpse-mongers, and the scenes set inside the City itself are stunning in their imaginative power.

What makes the story even more compelling, is that DeNiro gives you all this, allegory and action, without ever losing sight of the heart of the story: the fundamental bond and evolving relationship between two characters who choose different ways to survive, and yet find a greater power, and maybe even a new kind of salvation, when they come together.

Full review: https://mariahaskins.com/2020/02/13/book-review-city-of-a-thousand-feelings-by-anya-johanna-deniro/