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readwithria's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
This book was 👏🏻 not 👏🏻 the 👏🏻 vibe 👏🏻
I have a few complaints that I can voice, and many that I can’t. Here’s my “I just finished this fucking book” review.
1. I don’t like Lovecraftian horror. That’s not the book’s fault
2. There are too many POV characters for a 435 page book, and while they (mostly) have distinct voices they don’t have actual personality traits because they’re the personification of places
3. What exactly is the plot? The characters don’t know what they’re doing for 75% of the book
4. Aislyn, even as an Americanization of Aislin, would not be pronounced anything like island. It’s ASH-lyn. Ais makes an ash sound in Gaelic.
5. Speaking of Aislyn, she’s so stupid. This woman is not in her 30s, there’s absolutely no way. She doesn’t feel like a complete adult (or a complete person)
6. There are some, I don’t know exactly what to call the parenthetical but maybe asides is the right word? Anyway there are asides in this book that made me really dislike the writing style. I also don’t like how vague the writing is. I think this book would have benefitted from being in third person instead of first person.
Okay, now on to the couple of things I did like. I really liked Aislyn’s mom. I think she was one of the most compelling characters in the whole book. Give me a piece of literary fiction about that entire family and I’d be happy. I also liked Veneza a lot, she was great.
Note: the characters I like are all secondary characters. I have exactly no thoughts about most of the boroughs. Bronca is fine though.
Anyway, I will not be reading the sequel. I will, however, be reading The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms later this month.
I have a few complaints that I can voice, and many that I can’t. Here’s my “I just finished this fucking book” review.
1. I don’t like Lovecraftian horror. That’s not the book’s fault
2. There are too many POV characters for a 435 page book, and while they (mostly) have distinct voices they don’t have actual personality traits because they’re the personification of places
3. What exactly is the plot? The characters don’t know what they’re doing for 75% of the book
4. Aislyn, even as an Americanization of Aislin, would not be pronounced anything like island. It’s ASH-lyn. Ais makes an ash sound in Gaelic.
5. Speaking of Aislyn, she’s so stupid. This woman is not in her 30s, there’s absolutely no way. She doesn’t feel like a complete adult (or a complete person)
6. There are some, I don’t know exactly what to call the parenthetical but maybe asides is the right word? Anyway there are asides in this book that made me really dislike the writing style. I also don’t like how vague the writing is. I think this book would have benefitted from being in third person instead of first person.
Okay, now on to the couple of things I did like. I really liked Aislyn’s mom. I think she was one of the most compelling characters in the whole book. Give me a piece of literary fiction about that entire family and I’d be happy. I also liked Veneza a lot, she was great.
Note: the characters I like are all secondary characters. I have exactly no thoughts about most of the boroughs. Bronca is fine though.
Anyway, I will not be reading the sequel. I will, however, be reading The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms later this month.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, and Racism
Moderate: Rape, Sexual harassment, and Antisemitism
voxelbee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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: Body horror, Sexual violence, Classism, Sexual assault, Sexism, Racism, Misogyny, Death, Xenophobia, Violence, Hate crime, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Blood, Cancer, Transphobia, Kidnapping, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol
laurenkimoto's review against another edition
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? Yes
4.25
As per usual some disjointed thoughts about this book
- Amazing cover: the matte city scape with the shiny tentacles and colour detailing ties in so nicely to the story *chef kiss* The person who designed the cover deserves an award
- Chapter titles really should make a comeback
- We love some reluctant heroes who really just want to say to hell with saving the world just let me live my life in peace
- I am a fool I did not realize this was part of a series and now I’m sitting here waiting for the next book :(
- The petty book hill I will die on is that short chapters are superior to long chapters
- This is different than other fantasy books partially because it’s urban fantasy but also because the first half of the book the characters don’t know what’s going on so you don’t know what’s going on. Jemisin doesn’t info dump or use a naive character at the start to explain this world but rather you learn as the characters learn which I find is a fresh take.
- This book has the most diverse set of characters I have ever come across and it does so without any “token” characters because their identity and diversity is tied in to who/what they are. With this comes addressing so many timely and everlasting issues and Jemisin does so without sacrificing plot, pacing or anything else.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Abortion, Body shaming, Addiction, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Rape, Transphobia, Bullying, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Biphobia, Classism, and Violence
marissasa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
4.0
This wasn't a book I think I'd pick up on my own but I'm glad I did for the Read in Color Book Club's February pick and stepped out of my usual reading genres. I genuinely enjoyed the weirdness and creativity of the concept of cities in the world personified, despite the story being a little slow at the start. Once we got a look into each character and their personalities I started to enjoy the book and felt compelled to know what would happen once they all came together. I love "found family" tropes, especially ones where the characters have to work to trust each other and build relationships. It was also great to see a diverse range of protagonists not just in ethnicity, but sexuality, age, and general walk of life too. The enemy in this narrative is so fascinating that it can be so foreign and alien-like yet also all too familiar in the way it uses white-supremacist and colonizer language as weapons. Overall I'm intrigued and curious to see what happens in the next installments of the series, especially when the scope gets wider and we learn more about the summit what effects a city's birth or downfall have on the rest of the world. Also, the audiobook played a huge part in my enjoyment of this one and I don't think I would have been as immersed in the story without it. The narrators were great and did a lot for the overall characterizations of the main cast, as well as great world building with the sound effects and editing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Body horror, Colonisation, Rape, Alcoholism, Classism, Cursing, Misogyny, Violence, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia
Minor: Cancer, Drug abuse, and Drug use
chelseareads's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Minor: Abortion, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, and Rape
sabrinz's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
For everyone who knows Rivers of London the concept will be familiar - and yet this story is different enough from Rivers to not feel like just another version of the same coin.
I loved the concept of cities waking up and creating an avatar through the people living, working, dreaming, being in the city and all the tourists coming and going (and leaving a little somthing of them behind).
The story never gets boring and with the different characters taking center-stage for different chapters you never feel like one of them comes too short.
I am very much intreagued by the other cities and how this trilogy will continue. It is a love letter to New York that also shows the bad sides and the past that this city is built on and influenced by.
I loved the concept of cities waking up and creating an avatar through the people living, working, dreaming, being in the city and all the tourists coming and going (and leaving a little somthing of them behind).
The story never gets boring and with the different characters taking center-stage for different chapters you never feel like one of them comes too short.
I am very much intreagued by the other cities and how this trilogy will continue. It is a love letter to New York that also shows the bad sides and the past that this city is built on and influenced by.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Racism
Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Sexual harassment
its_van_vulpen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
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
azrah786's review against another edition
4.0
**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
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
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
Content Warnings
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
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
The City We Became is magical realism at its finest. One day, New York City is born. Born as a living City, with a living avatar and 5 sub-avatars. But as it's being born, something straight out of Lovecraft attacks it, trying to kill it. The avatar fights it off, and collapses, just as the sub-avatars awaken. And it gets better and more confusing from there.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia
bi_n_large's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, and Colonisation
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Violence, Sexism, and Murder
Minor: Abortion