Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

70 reviews

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
How much do I love this book? I love it so much that when I finished it, I set it down and stared into nothing for a few minutes, just to feel all the weird feels I was feeling. I love it so much that I didn't write down a single content warning while I was reading, because I didn't want to stop long enough to make a note of it. I just... love it, OK?
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

judicatorypedant's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny 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? Yes

3.75

I enjoyed the cast of characters, and wish more time was spent having them interact with each other. The novel started slow, and had a really amazing build up to what turned out to be a disappointing climax. Some characters (Queens/Padmini in particular) feel they could have recieved more focus and development. While Jemisin's prose was high quality as usual, there were points where the modern references made the work feel dated and too on the nose, politically. That said, I enjoyed the overarching allegory and some of the attempts at incorporating contemporary politics. The book also felt somewhat confusing in the beginning, as someone who lives outside of New York.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

sas_lk's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced
  • 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

I don't have words. I want to be in N.K. Jemisin's brain. This novel is the definition of a masterpiece. There are literally no faults, this woman is incredible.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

immovabletype's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-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

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

dannythestreet's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

fox_at_the_circus's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I love the concept of this book, that cities have souls, avatars that protect them, that are them. It's something I've never read before. 
I loved the avatars of New York. They were all well-written and brought their own issues and world views to the table. It was interesting to read all their different ideas and approaches to finding themselves as the chosen ones. They needed a while to figure things out and work together, but in the end they did it because New York is their home and they will fight for it. I also enjoyed the other city avatars and I'm excited to see, who else we'll get to know in the next book in this series.
The Woman in White was a great villain. The way she used the hate people already have in them and oppressing structures that are in our world, to manipulate people and get what she wants, makes her really effective and realistic. It really drove home the points of the book.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ethen_rey's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny tense fast-paced
  • 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? It's complicated

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

accidentallyinspace's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

I'm definitely already biased towards N.K. Jemisin, but this was a fantastic work of urban fantasy and speculative fiction. I believe the first chapter of this book was first published in her book of short stories (or it was revealed to me in a dream, because somehow I recognized it) but the full experience was incredible and so well written. This is one of those books that starts with a concept that makes you groan a little at how corny it might be, but then turns out to be incredibly clever in ways that keep making you stop and reconsider. Or hits you with the magic and scaling system that just click into place so perfectly it's like okay, every new development just makes SENSE. Thank you, I'll have another.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

catastrophic's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional fast-paced
  • 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

4.75

It's like Marvel but fantasy and set very firmly in the post-2020 culture wars. It has the Marvel elements of "the city is doomed if us team of ragtag heroes don't stop the big bad" but with incredible layers of Jemisin's nuance and rich characters. So evocative and descriptive, it feels impossible that she was able to describe the visuals so clearly with words. And very contemporary in a way no other works have yet captured. Slightly too Marvel and heroic at times 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lotharith's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings