smaxdilweed 's review for:

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

3.5

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-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

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This was on my TBR for years, so I was very excited to read it with my book club. I had a feeling that it would be a challenging read for me in some ways, and I was right about that. Loved the fresh premise and cool, at times gritty writing style, but maybe not quite my favorite type of book. I felt like it was a little hard sometimes to keep up with the more fantastical elements as well as the lore of the cities as avatars. I also felt like the story ended very abruptly where in other parts it dragged a little (so pacing was strange throughout). 

 

After finishing the book, I enjoyed reading about the author’s inspirations, drawing from influences as diverse as Lovecraft to DuBois to the Power Rangers, which helped me appreciate the story on multiple levels.