Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

44 reviews

catastrophic's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-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? Yes

4.75

It's like Marvel but fantasy and set very firmly in the post-2020 culture wars. It has the Marvel elements of "the city is doomed if us team of ragtag heroes don't stop the big bad" but with incredible layers of Jemisin's nuance and rich characters. So evocative and descriptive, it feels impossible that she was able to describe the visuals so clearly with words. And very contemporary in a way no other works have yet captured. Slightly too Marvel and heroic at times 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Police brutality, Hate crime, Violence, Racism, Xenophobia, and Homophobia

samthereader's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Police brutality, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Racism, Homophobia, and Sexual harassment

jjstallone's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

travelseatsreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I've always been in love with New York City so when I saw the cover for The City We Became and then read the blurb I knew instantly this was one I wanted to read. TCWB is a powerful and entertaining piece of urban speculative fiction/fantasy which takes multiple no holds barred punches at societies' issues leaving the reader with a lot to think about.

The world building and characterization are absolutely sensational. Jemisin's portrayal of each of the city's boroughs as humans with their own very unique personalities is absolutely spot on and so captivating and entertaining. It's hard not to be automatically drawn to some characters and then to take an immediate dislike to others. The people, culture and vibes of each individual borough are portrayed so well in their human form it's almost uncanny.

While I really enjoyed reading it and found it so hard to put it down, there were definitely sections where I did feel a little bit disconnected. Jemisin goes in hard repeatedly on so many issues such as prejudice, gentrification, racism, xenophobia and homophobia and while all her points raise fantastic questions for discussion at times due to the intensity and nature of her commentary it did become to feel a little preachy.

There's so much to unpack that I think maybe I would have enjoyed it more as a buddy read to have someone to bounce thoughts off of and to discuss themes with. However, overall I loved this book and its characters and I cannot to read The World We Make.

A captivating, gritty, speculative fantasy love letter to NYC with so much to discuss and ponder. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Classism, Hate crime, Violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Abortion

kirstenf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Death, Police brutality, Genocide, and Racism

Moderate: Colonisation, Ableism, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Xenophobia, Sexism, Alcohol, Cursing, and Domestic abuse

voxelbee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual violence, Classism, Sexual assault, Sexism, Racism, Misogyny, Death, Xenophobia, Violence, Hate crime, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Blood, Cancer, Transphobia, Kidnapping, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol

brycestevenwilley's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

Amazing concept, and really well fleshed out and thought through. Loved the characters and writing as well, genuinely enjoyable to read. The only downsides were that sometimes things came off as a bit cliche or stereotypical, even if they weren't too bad and still well researched, but I can't really see the concept working without those cliches.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment

Minor: Antisemitism, Genocide, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Alcoholism, Classism, and Colonisation

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

As per usual some disjointed thoughts about this book 

• 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. 

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Content Warnings

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

gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I will admit I wasn't sure I was going to like this book, and with the first couple of chapters leaving me lost and confused, I was really not confident. I am pleased to be wrong about this.

This book will catch you right away with such a rich and unique cast, not only in design, but also in personalities, goals, fears, and struggles. I love how each character has a unique power to fight the "Woman in White". Each of them embody not only the borough they represent but also different minorities that can be over looked and harassed as the book touches on with each character. Each of them the boroughs are funny and loveable (well mainly) to read, the car scene in chapter 14 made me laugh.

As I was reading I thought this was a standalone book, when I learnt it wasn't I was so relieved as I has way too many questions. I want to know more about this world and its lore, how does everything work?

What happened to Stranton Island? Both the island and the avatar? Will we see a redemption arc?

What are the other cities like? Do cities get a second chance? I just want to see more of these characters and I cannot wait.

I will say this book does take a couple of chapters to get into, so keep that in mind if you are wanting to read it. Once you do get past the confusing beginning, it is really easy to get sucked into the story and love the characters as they are introduced. You also get the appreciate how much the first couple of chapters have set up. I think the magical realism and soft sci-fi is also good for those readers that want to get into the sci-fi fantasy genres but are intimidated by what is out there already and are unsure if they will like it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Hate crime

Minor: Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Abortion

grets_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Racism, Antisemitism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Hate crime

Moderate: Bullying and Domestic abuse

Minor: Genocide, Colonisation, Abortion, Cancer, Classism, Police brutality, and Body shaming