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bergha1998's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.25
Fantasy, Found Family, Lovecraftian
“Nothing human beings do is set in stone—and even stone changes, anyway. We can change, too, anything about ourselves that we want to. We just have to want to.” She shrugs. “People who say change is impossible are usually pretty happy with things just as they are.”
Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Gaslighting
mckays's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, and Classism
epen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
I had other issues—I think the plot was messy and slow—but really the big issue for me was the characters. Having felt so invested in the characters of her other books, this was disappointing. I would only recommend this to people who have already read something else by the author (who I think is brilliant!).
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Racism, and Xenophobia
itsame_dio's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
- The chapters were sooo long, I listened to the audiobook and every chapter was at least an hour. It made me feel like I wasn't making any progress in the book, so it was tough for me to stick with it.
- Could be a dealbreaker for you: there's so much racism, and its VERY prominent (one of the POV characters is a racist) so if that's too much for you don't read this book. It was kinda of off-putting for me (a Black Woman), I don't feel like a lot of reviews addressed this. I don't feel like it was put in there willy nilly tho, it was very purposeful.
- Nothing really happened,
- The ending was anti-climatic
- The sound effects seemed to be thrown in at random
- The narrator has a beautiful voice but the accent she uses for some of the characters sound like the accent I do when I make fun of New Yorkers so I couldn't take it seriously lol
- It throws me off that New York would be the first city to become like this in the US, there's a lot of distinct cities in the US so if anything I would think New York would maybe the oldest or the most intense but the only??? IDK about that
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Domestic abuse and Abortion
amsswim's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Cursing, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Dementia
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
jakepasseri's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcoholism, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The worldbuilding is the best aspect of this. Having read Jemisin's Broken Earth Trilogy and this, I like how she combines elements of both sci-fi and fantasy. It adds both a uniqueness and richness to her worlds. As previously stated this has a multiversal element (they don't travel to any parallel worlds but it is relevant), it's an urban fantasy, there's a bit of Lovecraft involved, and it's a reflection of a city's culture. It's an extremely ambitious world that I'll likely be thinking about for awhile.
And for the first hundred pages, I was having a blast. They're mostly from Manny's POV as he wakes up with amnesia and discovers he's now Manhattan itself and there are tentacle monsters he has to fight. However, after about a hundred pages there are a few too many POVs and they aren't evenly paced with each other. Just when I felt I was really getting into Manny and expecting him to be the protagonist, we jump to the other boroughs who did not all need to be protagonists. Manny becomes a side character drowned in a large ensemble, his interesting storyline the reader is introduced to becomes a subplot out of nowhere.
As the book is set in a contemporary world, it does deal with contemporary themes. As I'm not a New Yorker, I can't really speak for how accurately this represents the city, only that there seems to be a passion for it. I will say I don't think you can distill a city down to its core personality traits but whatevs. I also wish the themes of bigotry went a little deeper than "wow! Racism exists! And it's bad!" Like I know. The target audience should know too.
I also have a few qualms with the ending. Without spoiling, I found it anticlimactic and rushed. With spoilers,
It also muddles the messaging if the Woman In White wants to stop the city from being born because cities being born destroys universes. I like the idea of cities destroying universes in theory as it makes the worldbuilding kind of fucked up. But it gave the Woman In White, the very on the nose manifestation of white supremacy, a little too noble of a motive for comfort. Also the fact cities being born has a death count beyond comprehension is never unpacked which idk that seems like a pretty big deal :/
The City We Became is filled with incredible worldbuilding and a passion for New York City, but its characters deserved better development and the plot is in need of some restructuring. I don't think I'll read the second book, but I definitely want to explore N.K. Jemisin's work more and would say The City We Became is worth checking out if the premise interests you.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Car accident, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment
rnbhargava's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
How hard these triggers hit will vary person to person, hence why I put all of them in moderate, not that they were all moderate to me. Nothing kept me from wanting to read the rest of the book. I can’t wait to get to the next 2.torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual content, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Cannibalism, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
harpoonholly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I'll also get the sequel because NK Jemisin is an amazing writer. I'm fascinated in the personification of concepts and to personify cities is to maximize adds greater complexity because of course it has to. I also like how she goes about acknowledging Lovecraft's literary contributions (northeastern U.S. sublime, dread, and monsters) and shining a scalding light over his overt bigotry that was startling even for his time.
10/10, would recommend, especially the audiobook.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Police brutality
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting