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A review by artemisg
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
adventurous
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
3.5
Ok, this is a hot take, and I need you to hear me out, but this book would’ve been better as a tv show or movie. I know, a borderline blasphemous opinion, but I just think this would’ve worked better as a visual medium - still a good book but not my favourite of Jemisin’s works.
This book follows five New Yorkers as they transform into human manifestations of the boroughs of New York. The city of New York is being born - like thousands of cities before it- but something is different this time, and it’s not just the five avatars to the average city’s one. The Enemy is more powerful, the people are more problematic, and the rag-tag group of New Yorkers need to work together, despite their biases against one another, etc. Now, I love a rag-tag group forced together because of a common goal, this goal was just really confusing, and none of the group members were particularly loveable.
Everything was a bit too on the nose for me, and I found a typo. Please, put your books through several rounds of editing before publishing them without a necessary quotation mark. I will admit that one typo does not make a book drop several stars, but it made me wonder how thoroughly this book was vetted before publishing.
Jemisin is a great writer, but this book didn’t quite hit the spot for me. Maybe that’s because I’m from New Zealand and have literally no connections to New York City (let alone any influential city). Maybe, the world just wasn’t built out enough for me. A lot of the lore was confusing and wishy-washy, and I think Jemisin tried to add that to the story (having the characters not know wanting alongside the readers). However, even once a character got info dumped on, I still struggled to understand some of the history and lore. It’s a wonderful idea and has the potential to be a great world, but I think it just needed some refining.
Also, not a fan of the Uncensored Use of Slurs that Jemisin cannot reclaim (ch*nk).
((As an aside, maybe the bar for Magical Avatars of New York City has just been placed really high due to my love of The Unsleeping City, everyone go watch that.))
This book follows five New Yorkers as they transform into human manifestations of the boroughs of New York. The city of New York is being born - like thousands of cities before it- but something is different this time, and it’s not just the five avatars to the average city’s one. The Enemy is more powerful, the people are more problematic, and the rag-tag group of New Yorkers need to work together, despite their biases against one another, etc. Now, I love a rag-tag group forced together because of a common goal, this goal was just really confusing, and none of the group members were particularly loveable.
Everything was a bit too on the nose for me, and I found a typo. Please, put your books through several rounds of editing before publishing them without a necessary quotation mark. I will admit that one typo does not make a book drop several stars, but it made me wonder how thoroughly this book was vetted before publishing.
Jemisin is a great writer, but this book didn’t quite hit the spot for me. Maybe that’s because I’m from New Zealand and have literally no connections to New York City (let alone any influential city). Maybe, the world just wasn’t built out enough for me. A lot of the lore was confusing and wishy-washy, and I think Jemisin tried to add that to the story (having the characters not know wanting alongside the readers). However, even once a character got info dumped on, I still struggled to understand some of the history and lore. It’s a wonderful idea and has the potential to be a great world, but I think it just needed some refining.
Also, not a fan of the Uncensored Use of Slurs that Jemisin cannot reclaim (ch*nk).
((As an aside, maybe the bar for Magical Avatars of New York City has just been placed really high due to my love of The Unsleeping City, everyone go watch that.))
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Transphobia, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Racism