Reviews with content warning for Colonisation - The City We Became

interesting premise and complex characters though there were some things i didn’t enjoy- though i might be just nitpicking. curious to see where the series goes

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kshertz's review against another edition

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challenging informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Definitely take this review and rating with a grain of salt. I have heard so much about this author and this book so I definitely wanted to read it. The concept is brilliant and there are so many brilliant lines in this book. I really feel like a lot of it probably went over my head but I did enjoy the parts of it that I understood and caught. It was a little bit too slow of a read for me and very long but overall definitely glad I got to experience this writer and their writing style.

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harpoonholly's review

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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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tangleroot_eli's review

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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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judicatorypedant's review

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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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