Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

55 reviews

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book is near perfect for me. Some dings for variable pacing and maybe wrapping up a bit too cleanly and vaguely abruptly. Overall, I loved this adventure steeped in what makes NYC the city it is. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Confinement, Grief, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Stalking, Violence, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Xenophobia

How hard these triggers hit will vary person to person, hence why I put all of them in moderate, not that they were all moderate to me. Nothing kept me from wanting to read the rest of the book. I can’t wait to get to the next 2.

lizsurber's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexism

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Fire/Fire injury, Islamophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Cancer, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Abortion, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Classism, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, and Rape

gardens_and_dragons's review

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Racism

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Police brutality

purechaos's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Sexism, Xenophobia, Racism, Stalking, Violence, Misogyny, and Police brutality

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

harpoonholly's review

adventurous emotional hopeful informative reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Audiobook review. First thing, Robin Miles is an amazing actor who puts so much passion in the words written, even the post-credits and IP legalese. She is a full cast in a single person, her characterizations are so good. I'll be getting the sequel to this book, "The World We Make" to hear her act again.

I'll also get the sequel because NK Jemisin is an amazing writer. I'm fascinated in the personification of concepts and to personify cities is to maximize adds greater complexity because of course it has to. I also like how she goes about acknowledging Lovecraft's literary contributions (northeastern U.S. sublime, dread, and monsters) and shining a scalding light over his overt bigotry that was startling even for his time. 

10/10, would recommend, especially the audiobook. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Homophobia, Racism, and Body horror

Moderate: Misogyny, Police brutality, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Addiction, and Alcoholism

tangleroot_eli's review

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?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Racism, Classism, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, Body horror, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Abortion, and Fatphobia

judicatorypedant's review

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Colonisation, Abortion, Genocide, and Police brutality

sas_lk's review

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Xenophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Racial slurs, Rape, and Police brutality

immovabletype's review

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Cursing, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Violence

Minor: Drug abuse, Abortion, Cancer, Colonisation, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Fatphobia, and Rape

dannythestreet's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Police brutality, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Dementia, Homophobia, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Cancer, Car accident, and Kidnapping