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azrah786's review against another edition
4.0
CW: racism, racial slurs, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, sexual assault, rape threats, violence, body horror, gore, police brutality, religious bigotry, emotional abuse, doxxing, hate crime, abortion, addiction/alcoholism, attempted drowning
My first N. K. Jemisin book and I can only really describe it as wonderfully whacky.
The City We Became is more or less a story about the 5 boroughs of New York being personified to fight off an eldritch being that is hellbent on destroying the city. How cool of a concept is that?!
It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea as it is a little strange and slow going and took me a lot longer to get through that I expected but I did enjoy it.
Jemisin’s writing is absolutely fantastic. The atmosphere created immerses you right in, from the creeping elements of Eldritch/Lovecraftian horror to the rich descriptions of the life, diverse cultures and stereotypes of New York that meticulously shape both the setting and the characters that embody it. One downside though is that as someone who has never seen or experienced the city in person, I did feel like I couldn’t fully appreciate every aspect of the book.
The storyline gave me major comic book vibes – The Wicked and the Divine or Watchmen were some that came to my mind - with how it focuses on a bunch of individuals being reluctantly bestowed powers and coming together to save a city. So although the written novel form worked well to vividly portray all of this in lieu of a comic strip, I can’t help but think it could have worked even better in graphic novel form – it would have particularly helped with the pacing.
The ending was also quite abrupt and hence gave the overall feeling of a prequel novel setting up a bigger story. All that aside however, it was still an impressive work of fiction as well as an immense homage to the city of New York and I can definitely see why Jemisin is such a big name in modern sci-fi and fantasy. I look forward to the sequel and picking up her other work.
Final Rating – 4/5 Stars
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Alcoholism and Abortion
meganpbennett'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
The City We Became doesn't have the exposition or information dump that a lot of magical realism books have. The reader learns what is happening as the characters learn. I'm very interested to see where she goes with the trilogy, given what happens during the climatic scenes.
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism
ronan_lesh's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Colonisation
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Abortion
sj_54'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? It's complicated
2.25
Two parts 'New York is just the best!'
And one part 'Are you sure you noticed the racism? Let me repeat it again over an extra 10 pages just to be sure. And then apply every racial stereotype to the other characters so you're aware they're not white.'
With a couple of ageist and fatphobic comments to round it all out.
Also the twist at the end? Absolutely predictable.
Graphic: Racism and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Colonisation
Minor: Domestic abuse, Police brutality, and Cannibalism
therainbowshelf'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, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, and Police brutality
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Rape, and Grief
Minor: Body horror, Drug use, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Medical content
samusc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I wouldn't trust any other author to nail characterization perfectly for people representing each borough. I'm (regrettably) from Staten Island, and my parents from Brooklyn, so I loved the nods throughout this work. I'd die for Bronca. I knew this would be wonderful from the moment I saw the Brooklyn neighborhood shout outs on the map.
The concept of diverse people fighting fascist entities from another universe preying on folks already leaning into gentrification and racism is genius. Moments when the borough avatars break down barriers amongst themselves to work together are immensely satisfying.
I'm so excited for the next book in this series.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism
entazis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Also, I listened to the audibook and the narrator Robin Miles did such a great job with vocal modulation, not to mention that the book has different audio effects which makes the production quite epic.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, and Violence
aardwyrm'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: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Body horror, Sexual assault, and Violence
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Abortion
malloryfitz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Abortion
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Police brutality
aasplund's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Sexual assault