Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - The City We Became

This is a fantastic book. It's a super-hero fantasy but so anti-racist that white fragility may be very offended by it (if they understand what they are reading). 5 stars does not indicate perfection. I did find it overexplainy in parts and I am not a fan of the multiverse -everything you decide splits realities idea as I think the way it is written in most places (including here) has some logical flaws.

At the same time it's a good fast-paced, original and engaging plot. It's well constructed so you find out what is going on in increments and this keeps you curious. Probably the first half of the book was stronger than the second but by then you are well invested and there is still something of worth. I don't know how to talk about the main point without spoilers. Maybe I will just say that you can feel very sorry for someone and wish they would heal without liking how toxic they have let their pain make them. And I guess all the parts of the city had experienced pain and challenge. Perhaps the toxicity of white people is shown to be even squishing/abusing their own. No accident I would say that the woman wears white.

The terrible artists collective white-male-fragility was all too believable. I don't like to be snide about man-buns as over here they tend to be more lefty and it's right-wingers who mock that (Ok so my kids have sported man-buns)....but the rest of it so true. I've seen a similar scene in poetry circles. Your work is offensive but it is also crude and inept on a technical level. LOL every time there was a scene where racists get blasted or injured I was happy. I would have like more of that TBH.

The city ultimately was not completely loveable...I know this is realism but I was kind of annoyed at the helicopter parents and standardised tests at the end, TBH those seemed like weapons of the "Better New York" society (ie the bad guys). So at that point the author-capable as she is over-reached and her snark degenerated into preciousness...and then the ending was sappy too.

At the end of the day though it's a super-hero story. It would make a good film and is no doubt deliberately written that way. It almost demands a sappy ending doesn't it? With a hint that there may or may not be sequels. 5 stars because there was a lot here.

Make sure you Google-lens the cover. That was fun :)

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breadwitchery'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? It's complicated

4.0

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kirstenf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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jazhandz's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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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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celines_schemes's review against another edition

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2.75

The story telling was objectively good but I found the concept hard to grasp. Also, the plot was VERY slow to pick up. So all in all, a good book but maybe not my cup of tea.

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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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sabrinz's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

For everyone who knows Rivers of London the concept will be familiar - and yet this story is different enough from Rivers to not feel like just another version of the same coin.
I loved the concept of cities waking up and creating an avatar through the people living, working, dreaming, being in the city and all the tourists coming and going (and leaving a little somthing of them behind).

The story never gets boring and with the different characters taking center-stage for different chapters you never feel like one of them comes too short.
I am very much intreagued by the other cities and how this trilogy will continue. It is a love letter to New York that also shows the bad sides and the past that this city is built on and influenced by.

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