Stylistically beautiful lovecraftian (and digs at Lovecraft) tale. I have never wanted to visit every aspect of New York City more, in fact I feel like I already have!

I saw this book recommended everywhere, and it was totally worth it. N.K. Jemison has such a way with word, the descriptions were so vivid. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND listening to the audiobook, it's not just a read it has sound effects, music, and more. Made the descriptions amd story really come to life.

The City We Became is a really fucking cool concept. Cities have the capability of coming to life and choosing superpowered avatars to represent them. There's a multiverse. The cast is a diverse group of likable characters who are taking on the physical manifestation of white supremacy. The writing style is witty. The novel is clearly a love letter to New York itself, specifically the BIPOC and queer people who make it up.

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,

I really wished the plot twist with New Jersey wasn't so sudden, especially as it fucked with the established magic system and also was just kind of stupid how they were all like "oh wait New Jersey exists-" like if it's established Staten Island is needed to awaken New York, it's unsatisfying for New Jersey to just randomly be revealed to work in her place. And are we not going to actually unpack whether New Jersey is a valid borough? Are we not going to consider how it's status being tenuous would really act with the magic system? Or expand on that as a theme around cultural identity?

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.

I think that this was wildly original and engaging! Loved the sci-for love craft Ian weirdness and the concept of people as cities’ avatars. 

Some of the characters fell play like Padmini, Manny and Aislyn. I felt that they don’t really have clear motivations or distinct traits beyond their characterization as the borough they represent. 

I also felt like while the hook talks about a lot of important concepts with racism, gentrification, xenophobia, etc,  the villains are fine being over the top but the normal New Yorkers that they encounter could have had some variety. 

I absolutely loved this book. I love how the diversity doesn't feel forced but is also a major part of their identities. The book reminded me of a Spike Lee film as it deals with gentrification and racism in NYC and also Across the Spiderverse. However I did think the ending was rushed which is why I haven't given it a full 5 stars but I am definitely going to read the sequel and Jemisin's other books.