Reviews - The City & The City

3.32k reviews for:

The City & The City

China Miéville

3.9 AVERAGE

captainfez's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

alilfish's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I realised when I reached half way though I had no idea what was going on ... That was because I was reading before bed and missed half the plot. I re read the bits I missed and I understand a bit more. I love the whole idea of these two cities and their dynamic.... And the weird conspiracy. It was very weird, but that's what made it fun. But my guy Tyador Borlú really got the short end of the stick here, he doesn't deserve that :(

ericaland's review against another edition

2.0

The premise of the book was interesting and I heard such rave reviews. But holy hell did I struggle to finish this. Probably partly because I’m not interested in police procedural stories. But also because I found the characters themselves so … dull.

tddrdfrd's review against another edition

4.0

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: No

lowardy's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Plot/story: 5
Writing: 4
Characters: 4.5*
Theme: 5
Enjoyment: 4.5
Re-readability: 5

I've read two books by Miéville in the past and this was different from what I lives in my head as his style, but it was still done in a skillful way.

The characters were not gripping me at the beginning, but that's on me, I've had a hard time focusing this week.

Noir murder mystery x 1984's Thoughtcrime x Fringe (the tv show), set somewhere in Eastern Europe.

It's twisty, a unique blend of genres that you can't shove into a single genre and wash your hands after.

I think that's what I love most about Miéville's writing.