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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Police procedural set in a fascinating context: two adjacent cities in which the citizens must ignore each other. Areas of the cities overlap, with citizens on one side of the street "unseeing" citizens of the other city a few steps away. Any recognition of a person from another city or stepping over the crosshatched boundaries results in an Orwellian organization, Breach, "disappearing" the person. Police in the two cities have to figure out how to solve a murder that spans both, without invoking Breach. The crime itself isn't that interesting, but the world building and social norms are original and thought provoking.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The City and the City is a kind of detective novel set in an alternative world. It revolves around the murder of an unknown woman. She was found in Beszel, a city that is separate but also kind of in the same place as Ul Qoma. The two cities are in separate countries, each with its own customs, currencies, architecture, styles of dress, and languages. Nationalism and the suppression of minority groups are present in both cities. ‘Unseeing’ the other city is a significant aspect of the book, which can be linked to the ‘unseeing’ we do in our cities, such as overlooking homeless people or minority groups, or structural inequality. The world-building is excellent and you get immersed in the language and new words. As a reader, you get new information bit by bit and the storyline is well-constructed. The book made me think of 1984 by George Orwell.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
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:
No