Reviews with content warning for Religious bigotry - The City We Became

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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macknificent's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful medium-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

3.0

It pains me to say it, but this was a 3 star read. There were issues with pacing and the author didn't trust the reader enough in some areas. I loved the concept, the characters, and what the story was speaking on; the execution was just a little off.

Still, Jemisin is like pizza, even when she's bad it's still pretty good.

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queenie_ofthe_void's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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

Daaaaang this book is great. But NKJ os always good. I definitely didn't like it as much as Broken Earth, but I think that's only because I'm not a New Yorker. I can't even pick a favorite character, even though everyone's least favorite should be obvious

Spoiler

fuck you Staten Island

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skudiklier's review against another edition

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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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its_van_vulpen's review

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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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5aru's review

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adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious fast-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

4.5

It always takes me a few chapters to get settled in for a Jemisin book. She just drops you into the fantasy world completely from the very first sentence you read, and good luck figuring it out; which you always do, because she’s just that good at worldbuilding. But it takes a while to *get* it, which is why I often have to go back and re-read the beginning of the book knowing what I know after having interiorized it. The City We Became was no different in that regard, but ho boy wasn’t it a ride. And I loved it.

I mean, a proud Black female writer, with her unapologetically queer protagonists of colour, doing the things that this book does with Lovecraftian motifs and horror — all the while referencing Lovecraft as the ridiculous bigot he was? You just know Lovecraft would’ve hated it, and that just makes it so much better. The hard truths about living as a queer person of colour in America are never concealed, and in fact quite openly protested; the fact that bigotry and hatred are tendrils of the Enemy won’t be lost on anyone. And the intricate lore built around the cities is simply a treat to read. I really wish I could understand all the references to New York history and culture better, since I’ve never been and truthfully know rather little — but that’s not even a problem. I enjoyed myself deeply regardless.

I was actually hoping for a standalone this time, but it’s a trilogy again — and hey, you won’t catch me complaining.

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azrah786's review

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4.0

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

CW: racism, racial slurs, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, sexual assault, rape threats, violence, body horror, gore, police brutality, religious bigotry, emotional abuse, doxxing, hate crime, abortion, addiction/alcoholism, attempted drowning

My first N. K. Jemisin book and I can only really describe it as wonderfully whacky.

The City We Became is more or less a story about the 5 boroughs of New York being personified to fight off an eldritch being that is hellbent on destroying the city. How cool of a concept is that?!
It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea as it is a little strange and slow going and took me a lot longer to get through that I expected but I did enjoy it.

Jemisin’s writing is absolutely fantastic. The atmosphere created immerses you right in, from the creeping elements of Eldritch/Lovecraftian horror to the rich descriptions of the life, diverse cultures and stereotypes of New York that meticulously shape both the setting and the characters that embody it. One downside though is that as someone who has never seen or experienced the city in person, I did feel like I couldn’t fully appreciate every aspect of the book.

The storyline gave me major comic book vibes – The Wicked and the Divine or Watchmen were some that came to my mind - with how it focuses on a bunch of individuals being reluctantly bestowed powers and coming together to save a city. So although the written novel form worked well to vividly portray all of this in lieu of a comic strip, I can’t help but think it could have worked even better in graphic novel form – it would have particularly helped with the pacing.

The ending was also quite abrupt and hence gave the overall feeling of a prequel novel setting up a bigger story. All that aside however, it was still an impressive work of fiction as well as an immense homage to the city of New York and I can definitely see why Jemisin is such a big name in modern sci-fi and fantasy. I look forward to the sequel and picking up her other work.
Final Rating – 4/5 Stars

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