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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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:
No
I admire this book more than I enjoyed it. It’s a fantastically inventive novel with a real mystery to how the magic works. I already have book two queued up and I’m curious as to how things go. Jemison is a master of perspective but I found every perspective in this book a challenge to get into. I’m not even sure I had a solid grasp of it by the end. This led to making this a difficult read. I rarely got swept up into it the way I like to be, hence the lack of a fifth star.
Overall: 3.25
Liked:
Liked:
- The concept of cities becoming alive and having avatars who can yield city magic.
- Some of the ways the characters use their powers like Manny with the dollar bills and the concept of Brooklyn using music and rapping as her weapons.
- This was actually my first audio book and I thought the narration was excellent along with the production. The accents and voices for each character were distinct but also stereotypical.
Didn't Like:
- The pacing was all over the place. There wasn't a real climax or big battle at the end.
- The ending
(Jersey Ex Machina) was super unsatisfying. - The concept is great, but the execution wasn't, and the logistics of the world were too unclear.
How the hell did New Orleans and Port-au-Prince become (or get the chance to become) Great Cities before New York? The fact that their avatars failing resulted in Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 earthquake is crazy and bothered me. I understand it's to show the stakes of the situation but it took me out of the story for a moment. - The book description made it seem like New York was special because it had multiple avatars but we learn later that other cities gets multiple avatars too.
- I honestly can't say who my favorite character is. Maybe Brooklyn or Bronca.
- The characters spent far too much time talking about wanting to save the city and how they needed to act quickly only to spend most of their time arguing in the art gallery.
Why I Picked This: The concept was similar to Dimension 20's The Unsleeping City campaign. Also, it seemed like a good first audiobook to try.
I'll probably still listen to the sequel because it'll hopefully explain more about how everything works.
I'll probably still listen to the sequel because it'll hopefully explain more about how everything works.
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
tense
medium-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:
No
3.5
I loved the concept of this book. It's so cool and fun. Except, Jemisin was more concerend with delivering inclusivity and diversity lessons than she was with fleshing out the underlying plot.
I really disliked the woke agenda. The characters didn't have any traits other than being woke people of color, or unwoke white people. I couldn't tell you the difference between Brooklyn and Bronca other than their ethnicity and sexual orientation. Queens did not contribute to this book at all except when she decided to say something about Maths (Not stereotypical at all)? The only character that is clearly going to have any growth is Aislyn, the only white main character (aside from the big evil, unsurprisingly called Mrs. White hah) who's a misguided racist living with her abusive extremely unwoke dad.
As a non white person, it's great to see diversity and representation in the fantasy genre and calling out racism and bigotry. But I don't want to be hit over the head with it. It can't be the WHOLE plot and it's really ridiculous to have every single non POC character be utterly repulsive.
I loved the concept of this book. It's so cool and fun. Except, Jemisin was more concerend with delivering inclusivity and diversity lessons than she was with fleshing out the underlying plot.
I really disliked the woke agenda. The characters didn't have any traits other than being woke people of color, or unwoke white people. I couldn't tell you the difference between Brooklyn and Bronca other than their ethnicity and sexual orientation. Queens did not contribute to this book at all except when she decided to say something about Maths (Not stereotypical at all)? The only character that is clearly going to have any growth is Aislyn, the only white main character (aside from the big evil, unsurprisingly called Mrs. White hah) who's a misguided racist living with her abusive extremely unwoke dad.
As a non white person, it's great to see diversity and representation in the fantasy genre and calling out racism and bigotry. But I don't want to be hit over the head with it. It can't be the WHOLE plot and it's really ridiculous to have every single non POC character be utterly repulsive.
This was absolutely amazing. It took me a while to get into the story and understand it, but once I read more than the first few pages it was absolutely amazing. The whole idea of cities being born and needing avatars to survive against an alien evil ist just incredible. As well as the characters that each have their flaws, which makes them all the more likeable - but also real. And the diversity within the people made my heart soar ❤️ All in all an amazingly different take on Fantasy!
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Mobilizing the polycule for city avatar warfare
I liked this but there was something keeping me from loving it. Possibly because I'm picky about contemporary in general. This was one of my favorite short stories in her collection, which is why I branched out. Anyways, well done but not my thing!
I liked this but there was something keeping me from loving it. Possibly because I'm picky about contemporary in general. This was one of my favorite short stories in her collection, which is why I branched out. Anyways, well done but not my thing!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual violence
Moderate: Homophobia