Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

17 reviews

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

jjstallone's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Cursing, Sexual harassment, and Police brutality

Minor: Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Ableism, Cannibalism, Homophobia, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Cancer, Deportation, Genocide, Misogyny, Abortion, Antisemitism, and Blood

blewballoon's review

funny inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I read this with a couple friends as a sort of impromptu mini book club. I would recommend it for a book club as there are a lot of interesting concepts in terms of the fantasy and social commentary. As one of my friends put it, this book definitely goes by the idea that "subtlety is for cowards" and most of the social commentary is completely overt. Our group was mixed in how much they liked how heavy handed it was. Some found it refreshing, others found it broke immersion in the story. One of the characters, to me, was especially unbearable and I would groan when I got to her chapters. The fantasy aspect of the human avatars of cities was amazing and I loved the concept of using constructs to channel their power. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Homophobia, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Classism, Islamophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Abortion

voxelbee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual violence, Classism, Sexual assault, Sexism, Racism, Misogyny, Death, Xenophobia, Violence, Hate crime, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Blood, Cancer, Transphobia, Kidnapping, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol

sarah984's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• 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 just can't see what seemingly everyone else saw in this book. Bland prose (everyone’s thoughts and motivations are listed like we might otherwise miss them, like "[character] thinks dark things are evil because she sees that in the media" is essentially an actual sentence in this novel) padded with pointless bickering and boring New York in-jokes. Every character is an ethnic stereotype and they all sound so similar to one another that I kept forgetting one of them was supposed to be 70 until she brought up Stonewall again. The antagonist’s minions are like cartoon villains and they're all written in the most cringe-inducing way possible.

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, and Antisemitism

Minor: Car accident, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Stalking, Cancer, Cannibalism, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Mental illness

joisaddler's review

funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Classism, Colonisation, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Ableism

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

As per usual some disjointed thoughts about this book 

• 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. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Abortion, Body shaming, Addiction, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Rape, Transphobia, Bullying, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Biphobia, Classism, and Violence

marissasa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

This wasn't a book I think I'd pick up on my own but I'm glad I did for the Read in Color Book Club's February pick and stepped out of my usual reading genres. I genuinely enjoyed the weirdness and creativity of the concept of cities in the world personified, despite the story being a little slow at the start. Once we got a look into each character and their personalities I started to enjoy the book and felt compelled to know what would happen once they all came together. I love "found family" tropes, especially ones where the characters have to work to trust each other and build relationships. It was also great to see a diverse range of protagonists not just in ethnicity, but sexuality, age, and general walk of life too. The enemy in this narrative is so fascinating that it can be so foreign and alien-like yet also all too familiar in the way it uses white-supremacist and colonizer language as weapons. Overall I'm intrigued and curious to see what happens in the next installments of the series, especially when the scope gets wider and we learn more about the summit what effects a city's birth or downfall have on the rest of the world. Also, the audiobook played a huge part in my enjoyment of this one and I don't think I would have been as immersed in the story without it. The narrators were great and did a lot for the overall characterizations of the main cast, as well as great world building with the sound effects and editing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Body horror, Colonisation, Rape, Alcoholism, Classism, Cursing, Misogyny, Violence, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

Minor: Cancer, Drug abuse, and Drug use

skudiklier's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

4.5

By the end of this book I really enjoyed it! For a while there it felt a little too slow and repetitive, and like I just didn't appreciate it enough because I don't know NYC at all. But it was definitely interesting and engaging overall and I'm glad I read it. I love the idea here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, War, Cursing, and Death

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Cannibalism, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Homophobia, and Grief

Minor: Sexual content, Ableism, Cancer, Car accident, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Gun violence, and Genocide

its_van_vulpen's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Murder, Police brutality, and Sexual assault

Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Confinement, and Genocide