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bookishperseus's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, and Stalking
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
sas_lk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Racial slurs, Rape, and Police brutality
immovabletype'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, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Rape, Police brutality, Abortion, Death of parent, and Colonisation
britgirlreading'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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Drug use and Rape
breadwitchery'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
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Police brutality, and Abortion
qcontinuum's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Minor: Rape
readwithria's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
I have a few complaints that I can voice, and many that I can’t. Here’s my “I just finished this fucking book” review.
1. I don’t like Lovecraftian horror. That’s not the book’s fault
2. There are too many POV characters for a 435 page book, and while they (mostly) have distinct voices they don’t have actual personality traits because they’re the personification of places
3. What exactly is the plot? The characters don’t know what they’re doing for 75% of the book
4. Aislyn, even as an Americanization of Aislin, would not be pronounced anything like island. It’s ASH-lyn. Ais makes an ash sound in Gaelic.
5. Speaking of Aislyn, she’s so stupid. This woman is not in her 30s, there’s absolutely no way. She doesn’t feel like a complete adult (or a complete person)
6. There are some, I don’t know exactly what to call the parenthetical but maybe asides is the right word? Anyway there are asides in this book that made me really dislike the writing style. I also don’t like how vague the writing is. I think this book would have benefitted from being in third person instead of first person.
Okay, now on to the couple of things I did like. I really liked Aislyn’s mom. I think she was one of the most compelling characters in the whole book. Give me a piece of literary fiction about that entire family and I’d be happy. I also liked Veneza a lot, she was great.
Note: the characters I like are all secondary characters. I have exactly no thoughts about most of the boroughs. Bronca is fine though.
Anyway, I will not be reading the sequel. I will, however, be reading The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms later this month.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexism
Moderate: Rape, Antisemitism, and Sexual harassment
sarah984's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
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.
Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Cannibalism, Stalking, Car accident, Colonisation, and Classism
laurenkimoto'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
4.25
- 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.
Moderate: Addiction, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism
marissasa'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
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Cancer, Drug abuse, and Drug use