stormeno's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Deportation, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Xenophobia, and Mass/school shootings
grets_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Gun violence, Classism, Police brutality, Cursing, Mass/school shootings, and Colonisation
Minor: Deportation, Mental illness, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
azrah786's review
4.25
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I received a copy from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, gun violence, blood, gore, body horror, hate crime, police brutality, racism, racial slurs, xenophobia, transphobia, homophobia, deportation, toxic friendship
--
Another Jemisin gem, The World We Make is an action packed finale to the wonderfully whacky Great Cities duology.
The conflict between the boroughs of New York and the eldritch being that is hellbent on destroying them comes to its head, and with the Woman in White’s chaos putting the entire planet at stake the other Great Cities of the world are called upon to join the fray.
I loved being back with the avatars and with them being together more in this sequel we get a chance to appreciate the little found family they have formed. There are a lot of moving parts to the plot around the ongoing dispute at the heart of the saga including a dash of modern day politics, some character backstories, a continuation on the apt commentary on real world social issues, as well as multiverse shenanigans. It all makes for an entertaining conclusion to the story.
As ever Jemisin’s writing and storytelling immediately transports you, immersing you right back into the colour and noise of "the city that never sleeps". I mentioned in my review of The City We Became that being someone who has never visited New York myself I didn’t feel like I was able to appreciate all the nuances and allusions to the place but you definitely get a very vivid picture.
I absolutely loved that even more city avatars from around the world were introduced! Tokyo, Turkey, London – the handful of pages in the perspective of these other cities were so much fun and further displayed the vibrancy of Jemisin’s imagination. I just wish we could have had more time with them.
The only major let down for me was the final showdown that occurs as a result of everything that went down. It felt a little lacklustre and rushed.. However, considering the fact that the length of the series was reduced and the direction of the overall story was shifted (a completely understandable decision made by the author) I feel like everything was adequately wrapped up.
If you liked book 1 then this one is just as enjoyable! And if Jemisin ever decides to return to this series or world in the future I just want to put it out there again that this kind of story would be pretty cool in graphic novel form.. 👀
Final Rating – 4.25/5 Stars
**I received a copy from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, gun violence, blood, gore, body horror, hate crime, police brutality, racism, racial slurs, xenophobia, transphobia, homophobia, deportation, toxic friendship
--
Another Jemisin gem, The World We Make is an action packed finale to the wonderfully whacky Great Cities duology.
The conflict between the boroughs of New York and the eldritch being that is hellbent on destroying them comes to its head, and with the Woman in White’s chaos putting the entire planet at stake the other Great Cities of the world are called upon to join the fray.
I loved being back with the avatars and with them being together more in this sequel we get a chance to appreciate the little found family they have formed. There are a lot of moving parts to the plot around the ongoing dispute at the heart of the saga including a dash of modern day politics, some character backstories, a continuation on the apt commentary on real world social issues, as well as multiverse shenanigans. It all makes for an entertaining conclusion to the story.
As ever Jemisin’s writing and storytelling immediately transports you, immersing you right back into the colour and noise of "the city that never sleeps". I mentioned in my review of The City We Became that being someone who has never visited New York myself I didn’t feel like I was able to appreciate all the nuances and allusions to the place but you definitely get a very vivid picture.
I absolutely loved that even more city avatars from around the world were introduced! Tokyo, Turkey, London – the handful of pages in the perspective of these other cities were so much fun and further displayed the vibrancy of Jemisin’s imagination. I just wish we could have had more time with them.
The only major let down for me was the final showdown that occurs as a result of everything that went down. It felt a little lacklustre and rushed.. However, considering the fact that the length of the series was reduced and the direction of the overall story was shifted (a completely understandable decision made by the author) I feel like everything was adequately wrapped up.
If you liked book 1 then this one is just as enjoyable! And if Jemisin ever decides to return to this series or world in the future I just want to put it out there again that this kind of story would be pretty cool in graphic novel form.. 👀
Final Rating – 4.25/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Transphobia, Racism, Violence, Hate crime, Body horror, Racial slurs, Gun violence, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Gore, Deportation, and Blood
sreddous's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The thing that kept book 1 of this series from deserving 5 stars, IMO, is this America-centrism that I think doesn't make a ton of sense -- the framing implies that only New York is a city special enough to have separate avatars for its different sections, and that other cities like London, and I quote, "ate... the things that made [other neighborhoods] an aspect of London... the city latched wholly onto [her and her] alone."
To me, that 'nah, different areas of other cities aren't actually too different from each other, only New York is that diverse' framing feels like the kind of thing someone who doesn't live in/understand the other cities would say, instead of a legitimate comment on how other cities operate. This 'nah other cities are one unit' is probably the same kind of thing someone who doesn't live in/understand New York would say about all the separate boroughs of NYC too. Honestly, it feels like bad research.
So that's an aspect of the worldbuilding that continued to annoy me in this book. But I complained enough in my review for book 1, so I was able to just deal with it in this book.
Because, boy, overall, this is darn good. It's uncomfortable and challenging exactly when it needs to be. It's detail-oriented on the granular ways different people from these different neighborhoods communicate and problem-solve. Even the slower character-focused and introspective chapters are full of wisdom and good moral dilemmas. I'm personally a huge fan, as a reader, of characters mulling over their moral problems, and it was super cool to see that here, with pretty much every POV character getting a good hard-hitting chapter.
This is an 'easy-to-get-into-flow-with' writing style too. The dialogue is natural and all the different characters' voices and the ways they interact with each other are distinct and fun. I liked meeting all the different cities in this book -- characters like Paris are fun, and the final battle with the group is satisfying and well-built-up to.
Really cool stuff!
To me, that 'nah, different areas of other cities aren't actually too different from each other, only New York is that diverse' framing feels like the kind of thing someone who doesn't live in/understand the other cities would say, instead of a legitimate comment on how other cities operate. This 'nah other cities are one unit' is probably the same kind of thing someone who doesn't live in/understand New York would say about all the separate boroughs of NYC too. Honestly, it feels like bad research.
So that's an aspect of the worldbuilding that continued to annoy me in this book. But I complained enough in my review for book 1, so I was able to just deal with it in this book.
Because, boy, overall, this is darn good. It's uncomfortable and challenging exactly when it needs to be. It's detail-oriented on the granular ways different people from these different neighborhoods communicate and problem-solve. Even the slower character-focused and introspective chapters are full of wisdom and good moral dilemmas. I'm personally a huge fan, as a reader, of characters mulling over their moral problems, and it was super cool to see that here, with pretty much every POV character getting a good hard-hitting chapter.
This is an 'easy-to-get-into-flow-with' writing style too. The dialogue is natural and all the different characters' voices and the ways they interact with each other are distinct and fun. I liked meeting all the different cities in this book -- characters like Paris are fun, and the final battle with the group is satisfying and well-built-up to.
Really cool stuff!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia and Racial slurs
travelseatsreads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
3.0
The City We Became was a fantastic read which tugged at my heartstrings for all things NYC, so I was very excited to get my hands on The World We Make. While I did enjoy it, unfortunately it wasn't the long awaited page-turner I was expecting.
Pretty much all the things I loved from TCWB have crossed over into TWEM including all the boroughs and the magic of the city itself. However, the author notes in her acknowledgments that she struggled to finish this book and it can be felt within the pages. Jemisin, like us all, has been drained by the effects of the pandemic and the many other unfathomable things occurring within our world over the last couple of years and sadly this therefore story suffered. It completely makes sense why, when the reality is in ways stranger than the fiction she was trying to write.
So a trilogy became a duology and while at times this condensing can be felt, all is not lost. It was still a really enjoyable book full of emotion and tension and the quirkiness of her well-developed characters. Sure some plotlines were left unfinished but I am hoping that maybe this was a subconscious thing and that someday she will come back to fill in the blanks.
Reading both TCWB and TWEM has shown me what an amazingly skilled writer Jemisin is, especially how well she crafts her characters and her world building, so I know I will definitely be checking out her back catalogue and keeping an eye out for what's to come!
Pretty much all the things I loved from TCWB have crossed over into TWEM including all the boroughs and the magic of the city itself. However, the author notes in her acknowledgments that she struggled to finish this book and it can be felt within the pages. Jemisin, like us all, has been drained by the effects of the pandemic and the many other unfathomable things occurring within our world over the last couple of years and sadly this therefore story suffered. It completely makes sense why, when the reality is in ways stranger than the fiction she was trying to write.
So a trilogy became a duology and while at times this condensing can be felt, all is not lost. It was still a really enjoyable book full of emotion and tension and the quirkiness of her well-developed characters. Sure some plotlines were left unfinished but I am hoping that maybe this was a subconscious thing and that someday she will come back to fill in the blanks.
Reading both TCWB and TWEM has shown me what an amazingly skilled writer Jemisin is, especially how well she crafts her characters and her world building, so I know I will definitely be checking out her back catalogue and keeping an eye out for what's to come!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Violence, War, Hate crime, and Xenophobia
bi_n_large's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Classism, Deportation, Gun violence, and Racism
Moderate: Violence, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, and Mental illness
Minor: Sexual content and Emotional abuse
rmperezpadilla's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
Minor: Police brutality, Hate crime, Deportation, Gun violence, and Deadnaming
Re: deportation, there is a scene early on whereSpoiler
ICE threatens the character through the closed door of the family's apartmentSpoiler
paintball guns with frozen ammunition
More...