Reviews with content warning for Classism - The City We Became

I just can't see what seemingly everyone else saw in this book. Bland prose (everyone’s thoughts and motivations are listed like we might otherwise miss them, like "[character] thinks dark things are evil because she sees that in the media" is essentially an actual sentence in this novel) padded with pointless bickering and boring New York in-jokes. Every character is an ethnic stereotype and they all sound so similar to one another that I kept forgetting one of them was supposed to be 70 until she brought up Stonewall again. The antagonist’s minions are like cartoon villains and they're all written in the most cringe-inducing way possible.

I did like the idea behind how the antagonist’s plan worked, and using white and light colours as something dangerous. Unfortunately, the one interesting city formation concept is dropped almost immediately after it comes up and the ending didn't make any sense with what was already established.

I feel like the author could have saved me a few hours of reading time by just typing up a Tumblr post about how much she hates Staten Island and leaving it at that.

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brycestevenwilley's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.5

Amazing concept, and really well fleshed out and thought through. Loved the characters and writing as well, genuinely enjoyable to read. The only downsides were that sometimes things came off as a bit cliche or stereotypical, even if they weren't too bad and still well researched, but I can't really see the concept working without those cliches.

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joisaddler's review against another edition

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funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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laurenkimoto's review against another edition

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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.

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boba_nbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book was a delightful trip. It wasn't what I expected, but I don’t think that’s the point of the book. It’s meant to be unexpected and otherworldly, which is what makes it so fun. Being someone who hasn’t been to New York, I still really enjoyed learning about the different boroughs and their “personalities.” It was cool to see each one personified - you don’t usually think of a city as a person, but I loved being able to explore that line of thinking. Not giving 5 stars just because I was confused at times, but I think that also made it fun that I could be confused with the city. Great read!

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marissasa's review against another edition

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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.

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macknificent's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful 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

3.0

It pains me to say it, but this was a 3 star read. There were issues with pacing and the author didn't trust the reader enough in some areas. I loved the concept, the characters, and what the story was speaking on; the execution was just a little off.

Still, Jemisin is like pizza, even when she's bad it's still pretty good.

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grets_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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