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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.5
I wasn’t quite as captivated by this book as many others.
I wasn’t quite as captivated by this book as many others.
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Friends. I get it now. I get why N.K. Jemisin’s books are cornerstones in modern SFF now.
This book was… an experience. I really, really like gothic and eldritch horror—the bone-chilling terror that can only come from facing primeval, cosmic entities too vast for the human mind to comprehend—but I’m also frustrated that so much of the genre is bogged down by racist allegories from the legacies of writers past.
This book allayed all of my fears with a truly searing story about a New York that is alive—like, literally alive! Think of bridges as limbs, as connective tissue, imagine the cars on the roads as blood cells carrying oxygen in and out of the body—and the guardians that rise to protect it from a malicious oncoming invader. The prose is so engaging and liquid-smooth, and it reads very obviously as a devoted love letter to New York—to its charisma and velocity, as well as to the diverse communities that call this radiant, flawed city home.
Honestly nothing I say will ever come close to the sheer force and ingenuity of Jemisin’s writing, so I’m just going to direct you now to Jemisin’s short story The City Born Great (which you can read online for free!) that serves as a prologue to the novel/series. Please read it, and come back to yell with me.
This book was… an experience. I really, really like gothic and eldritch horror—the bone-chilling terror that can only come from facing primeval, cosmic entities too vast for the human mind to comprehend—but I’m also frustrated that so much of the genre is bogged down by racist allegories from the legacies of writers past.
This book allayed all of my fears with a truly searing story about a New York that is alive—like, literally alive! Think of bridges as limbs, as connective tissue, imagine the cars on the roads as blood cells carrying oxygen in and out of the body—and the guardians that rise to protect it from a malicious oncoming invader. The prose is so engaging and liquid-smooth, and it reads very obviously as a devoted love letter to New York—to its charisma and velocity, as well as to the diverse communities that call this radiant, flawed city home.
Honestly nothing I say will ever come close to the sheer force and ingenuity of Jemisin’s writing, so I’m just going to direct you now to Jemisin’s short story The City Born Great (which you can read online for free!) that serves as a prologue to the novel/series. Please read it, and come back to yell with me.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Having spent some time in NYC, this book made me feel like I was there again (even tho it was under attack from the Enemy). And I loved it. This book had a slow pace, and I think in some ways it may be a set up for what’s to come in the following books. I’m very curious where Jemisin will take this story.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It could be a little corny. But if you're a New Yorker there are tidbits that make it funny and not to hard of a read if you can let yourself get lost in the writing style.
adventurous
challenging
funny
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
adventurous
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated