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skudiklier'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
4.5
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, War, Cursing, and Death
Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Cannibalism, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Homophobia, and Grief
Minor: Sexual content, Ableism, Cancer, Car accident, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Gun violence, and Genocide
its_van_vulpen'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
3.5
Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Murder, Police brutality, and Sexual assault
Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Confinement, and Genocide
thebakerbookworm's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Our characters are introduced to us slowly and without much explanation; we figure out what's happening to them at the same time they do. So there's a fair amount of confusion at the beginning but things start to become clear and we do know more than the characters in that we know they are the embodiment of each of the boroughs—but that's about all we know at first. I loved all of the word play happening in this book—from the character names to the chapter titles, it was making me smile the whole time.
The plot was also intriguing. From the prologue, it moves at a steady pace, and an imminent threat and danger is clear. The ending doesn't end on a cliffhanger but things are definitely not resolved, and I am very anxious for book two!
This book is very New York and if you have any love for the city, you'll enjoy reading it. If you've lived in NYC at all, you'll recognize a lot more references in this book than I probably did. I can't wait to see where this story goes, because honestly the things you could do with the concept of cities as people...I just love a unique fantasy story!
Graphic: Cursing and Racism
Moderate: Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Minor: Cancer, Transphobia, and Abortion
erin_a_ziraphale'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? No
3.5
I can tell that I liked the book, a lot, but at the same time it was a difficult read for me.
Maybe it was the pacing, maybe it is because I found it cartoonish and outlandish at times, it definitly is because it faced me with worst parts of myself, my own biases and my own faults as a person, ironically that was the part that draw me in and made this story one that will stay with me, forever safe in my soul.
This was a beautiful cacophiny, an amazing antithesis and something I will start shoving at all my friends and aquentancies faces' the moment it comes out on my native language.
I am starved for more N. K. Jemsin!!!
"I have hated this city. I have loved this city. I will fight for this city until it won't have me anymore."
Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Racism
We need a content warning for graphic depictions of Al-right bullshit, because only people emotionaly prepared to deal with that should engange.apersonfromflorida'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
3.75
Graphic: Violence and Racism
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Abortion, Transphobia, Stalking, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Hate crime, Colonisation, and Cancer
linaanderson'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? It's complicated
4.0
Minor: Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
kengiedamali's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Racism and Hate crime
troisha'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia
Moderate: Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Body horror
Minor: Ableism, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Violence
azrah786's review against another edition
4.0
CW: racism, racial slurs, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, sexual assault, rape threats, violence, body horror, gore, police brutality, religious bigotry, emotional abuse, doxxing, hate crime, abortion, addiction/alcoholism, attempted drowning
My first N. K. Jemisin book and I can only really describe it as wonderfully whacky.
The City We Became is more or less a story about the 5 boroughs of New York being personified to fight off an eldritch being that is hellbent on destroying the city. How cool of a concept is that?!
It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea as it is a little strange and slow going and took me a lot longer to get through that I expected but I did enjoy it.
Jemisin’s writing is absolutely fantastic. The atmosphere created immerses you right in, from the creeping elements of Eldritch/Lovecraftian horror to the rich descriptions of the life, diverse cultures and stereotypes of New York that meticulously shape both the setting and the characters that embody it. One downside though is that as someone who has never seen or experienced the city in person, I did feel like I couldn’t fully appreciate every aspect of the book.
The storyline gave me major comic book vibes – The Wicked and the Divine or Watchmen were some that came to my mind - with how it focuses on a bunch of individuals being reluctantly bestowed powers and coming together to save a city. So although the written novel form worked well to vividly portray all of this in lieu of a comic strip, I can’t help but think it could have worked even better in graphic novel form – it would have particularly helped with the pacing.
The ending was also quite abrupt and hence gave the overall feeling of a prequel novel setting up a bigger story. All that aside however, it was still an impressive work of fiction as well as an immense homage to the city of New York and I can definitely see why Jemisin is such a big name in modern sci-fi and fantasy. I look forward to the sequel and picking up her other work.
Final Rating – 4/5 Stars
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Violence, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Police brutality, Body horror, Gore, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Abortion and Alcoholism
meganpbennett'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
5.0
The City We Became doesn't have the exposition or information dump that a lot of magical realism books have. The reader learns what is happening as the characters learn. I'm very interested to see where she goes with the trilogy, given what happens during the climatic scenes.
Graphic: Antisemitism, Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia