I was looking for a light-hearted, adventurous storyline to gallop through and this book really delivered. I haven't read any sci-fi or fantasy for a while, although I have always loved it, so this was just a joy to read. It's not high fantasy, in that it's set in our world today, but has a lot of fantastical elements which are handled both with Lovecraft-ian seriousness and plenty of humour, so that the regular human characters react in fear but also relatable incredulity to the magical parts. 

The idea here is that when a city reaches a certain, unspecified point at which its history, culture and character is so well established and defined, enlivened by a burgeoning population that calls it home and enriched by a collective culture borne of stories and individual identity, it will be 'born' as a sentient entity and personified in an unwitting human avatar. In this case, the city is New York City and its avatar is split across a diverse collection of people who represent its five boroughs. In classic quest format, the shocked and (to varying degrees) unwilling boroughs-in-human-form must learn their fates, find one another and battle an ancient enemy that, in true horrific Attenborough documentary style, preys on fledgling cities during their difficult birth and emergence into the world. 

It's a really enjoyable story, with chapters that race with action and some twists along the way. It's an imaginative plot device and one that will appeal to any city lover (this city girl was delighted), or anyone who has spent considerable time in a major city with a strong sense of self. I have only been to New York City once, but recognised most of the references to its quirks and particularities - and learned about those I didn't. It made me long for a London story! It is the start of a trilogy, but as the author is American (and clearly in love - albeit an eyes-wide-open love - with New York) I doubt that the location of the central storyline in the future instalments will be anywhere else. It's an almost endless opportunity to reference other cities though, and we meet some other 'cities' in this book. Do you need to have intimate knowledge of the cities that feature to get the most from it (including the in-jokes)? Yes, probably. I'm not sure I would have been so swept along if I had no experience of New York, though that's a minor quibble. The writing is so engaging - and some of the themes so universal, for all of the book's claims about NYC's uniqueness - that I don't think it comes off as exclusive. 

But plot is not the only driver: the characterisation is great and I found myself willing the central characters on. They made me laugh, surprised me, frustrated me - all the things full-bodied characters should do. This leads to an ending I wasn't expecting, which nevertheless felt satisfying and ripe with sequel material. There is a lot of metaphor in the shape the monsters take and the powers that each character can draw on to defeat them, which clearly shows that this isn't a reductive tale of 'good' versus 'evil'. This is a story about human society and so is layered and complex, with the multiple battles usually having an undertone (sometimes heavy-handed but not off-putting) reflective of conflicts and tensions in the world as we know it today. It's no coincidence that the boroughs are represented by people of different races, sexualities, genders and faiths and that only when they unite do they have the strength to fight off the threat. Like all good fantasy, it has something to say about our relationships with each other, with our habitat, with our myriad pasts (depending on your position and perspective) and with our future. 

Bonus points for a cool Google lens activated jacket too which animates the cover image and opens an introductory author video from the blurb. Colour me impressed.