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lemonflower's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
Minor: Colonisation, Misogyny, Rape, Violence, War, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Sexism
aliiloue's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
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
4.5
Brilliantly written with a sure and engaging style. The characters leapt off the page and had clear voices throughout. i had to let go a bit and just go with the vibes but hoo boy did i love the ride. this felt so fresh and unique. i loved the concept and it was really interesting to see how it was developed. the ending felt a little rushed but i'm interested in checking out the second one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia and Racism
shoshin's review against another edition
The ableism got to be too much for me.
The treatment ofthe Staten Island avatar's panic attacks and abuse history were bad, but I was willing to give Jemisin more of a chance because sometimes it takes more than one time showing a character to work through complicated issues. Then the fact that making buildings accessible makes them "not New York enough" so that the enemy can attack them made me pause reading. I usually read a few reviews when I'm considering quitting a book. What I found out is that the treatment of the Staten Island character gets even worse . I'm not willing to invest more time in this series based on that, and I'm reconsidering whether I ever read other Jemisin books.
The treatment of
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Homophobia, Ableism, Racism, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Sexism, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Bullying, Police brutality, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
sofia_santana's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Racism, Transphobia, and Homophobia
dawntin's review against another edition
adventurous
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
2.0
This book was not for me. The message was good but heavy-handed. Each character was introduced with the traits that made them special (race, ethnicity, sexuality, occupation, etc.) and they all had superpowers, due to being the avatars of major cities. There were also pop culture references and snappy dialogue. This was cool and all, but I felt like the author tried way too hard to be quirky and inadvertently ended up playing into some stereotypes in the process of making these super-quirky diverse characters. Like, did the main Indian character really need to have math-related superpowers? The avatar of Hong Kong literally being named Hong Kong and his accent being described as “Chinese-inflected British English” was straight up weird. The Black characters were fine though, maybe because the author is Black herself. Pacing was weird and the book wrapped everything up in like the last 20 pages. It felt like there was so much build-up before they saved the day, and when they did, I wasn’t even sure what was happening.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Child abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
book_gremlin42's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Racism, Misogyny, Classism, Sexism, Homophobia, Colonisation, and Xenophobia
artemis7's review against another edition
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 against another edition
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.
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.fin_pilot's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
secre's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- 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
2.5
I really enjoyed Jemisin's 'The Broken Earth' series and was really looking forward to reading this one. Unfortunately, it just didn't catch me in the same way. Don't get me wrong, it's interesting, it has interesting characters and a tantalising narrative... but it didn't grip me. I don't think it helped that I found the opening chapters of the novel confusing and it took me a significant period of time to work out what was going on, but I think it's also down to the pacing and the constant switching between characters which made it difficult to pin down a narrative.
It's unique, I'll give it that. Set in a city trying to be born, New York has chosen five avatars, or protectors. Five individuals who will in turn become the city. Manny, or Manhatten, cold and ruthless, somehow threatening even though he doesn't remember his original identity. Bronca, or Bronx, with her mistrust and doubt, even as she becomes a community leader. Brooklyn, musician, lawyer and caretaker. Padmini, Queens, a quiet academic. And Aislyn, Staten Island, isolated and easily manipulated. Each hold a different power, each are rooted to a different section of the city. It's a multi-cultured mixing hub of individuals, as Jemisin points out, much like New York itself.
It's clever and holds a powerful message, but sometimes Jemisin falls into the trap of preaching rather than displaying and the moralising is too overt and self conscious. It's thought provoking and innovative, but it becomes bogged down in the message rather than the plot and therefore loses a lot of what could have been a tautly written plot. There's a lot of repetition as we see the same events through different characters eyes and a lot of bouncing around when it would have been better to be held by two or three main perspectives to pull the narrative forward.
In essence, this has a lot of potential. It's unlike anything I've read before, but it's trying to do too many things and suffers from a lack of cohesion leading to a lot of waffling before we get to the narrative. It's nowhere near as good as Jemisin's Broken Earth series which was frankly, spectacular.
It's unique, I'll give it that. Set in a city trying to be born, New York has chosen five avatars, or protectors. Five individuals who will in turn become the city. Manny, or Manhatten, cold and ruthless, somehow threatening even though he doesn't remember his original identity. Bronca, or Bronx, with her mistrust and doubt, even as she becomes a community leader. Brooklyn, musician, lawyer and caretaker. Padmini, Queens, a quiet academic. And Aislyn, Staten Island, isolated and easily manipulated. Each hold a different power, each are rooted to a different section of the city. It's a multi-cultured mixing hub of individuals, as Jemisin points out, much like New York itself.
It's clever and holds a powerful message, but sometimes Jemisin falls into the trap of preaching rather than displaying and the moralising is too overt and self conscious. It's thought provoking and innovative, but it becomes bogged down in the message rather than the plot and therefore loses a lot of what could have been a tautly written plot. There's a lot of repetition as we see the same events through different characters eyes and a lot of bouncing around when it would have been better to be held by two or three main perspectives to pull the narrative forward.
In essence, this has a lot of potential. It's unlike anything I've read before, but it's trying to do too many things and suffers from a lack of cohesion leading to a lot of waffling before we get to the narrative. It's nowhere near as good as Jemisin's Broken Earth series which was frankly, spectacular.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism