Huge fan of Jemisin's other work but this one took me a really long time to get into. If you don't have any prior knowledge of or interest in New York City, you have to wait through half a book of conceptual introduction to get to any amount of characterization. I enjoyed it by the end but if I didn't already love and trust Jemisin there is no way I would have finished this. I prefer more character-driven to plot-driven stories and this was not that. Would recommend to people who love NYC and/or plot-driven modern fantasy. It's well-written but not my thing.