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bookiecharm's review
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Classism, and Deportation
rainbowyeticorn's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and War
Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
I really loved this series so much. The narrator does such a fabulous job bringing all the characters to life. I highly recommend reading the audiobook version over the print version or maybe reading and listening to both at the same time because in my opinion this is the best way to experience this fabulous book!therainbowshelf's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Classism, and Deportation
a_kt's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Like many other reviewers on here I did find the ending of this book to be somewhat anticlimactic, and I really wish this series was going to be a trilogy as originally planned. However, after reading the Acknowledgements at the end I understood why Jemisin felt such burnout on this series and decided to make this end instead. I really love the premise of these books, and Jemisin's writing is top notch (as usual), I can only hope that we get a spin off or some type of sequel at some point in the future, although I will be happy to read whatever she feels like publishing.
If you read and enjoyed the first in the series, I would definitely recommend giving this one a go. If you were on the fence about the first one, you can probably skip this sequel but you would be missing out in my humble opinion.
Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Body horror and Police brutality
thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition
5.0
Also, Manny's family KNEW about Cities?? AAAHHH.
Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, Police brutality, and Deportation
Minor: Death
debthebookworm's review
- 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? No
5.0
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Racism, Xenophobia, and Police brutality
scrubsandbooks's review
- 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
While I was reading the physical copy, I also had the audiobook and Robin Miles does such a superb job that I listened to the audiobook AND read the physical hardcover at the same time. If you're a fan of a book with special effects and background noise and even the BOSS BATTLE MUSIC during action-packed scenes, go for the audiobook, for sure.
N.K. Jemisin's writing is absolute magic. This addresses a lot of topic Real Life Situations like deportation threats from ICE, white supremacy and racism built into systems such as real estate and policing, gentrification, even family dynamics that are rough to deal with like a bigoted father and an ultimatum-setting mother. While it was rough going reading through some of it, other aspects like the dialogue, and introductions to other city avatars were a delight to read. I mean, she even gives NYC subway rats dialogue: "We caused the Black Plague, bitch, who the fuck you think you are?"
Even if it seems like the second book was rushed (I couldn't tell but others could?) I highly recommend this duology if you love: amazing narration in audiobooks, NYC, found family tropes, QUEER found family even, stories featuring amazing middle-aged women, BIPOC stories, anything that gives a middle finger to racist ass Lovecraft.
Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Gun violence, Police brutality, War, and Deportation
catapocalypse's review against another edition
- 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
Looking forward to what she does next, as ever!
Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Police brutality and Deportation
ethen_rey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, and Police brutality
Moderate: Genocide and War
Minor: Transphobia
zone_a3's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
While there were certainly elements I enjoyed, (every glimpse at other Cities was excellent), when I look back at this book and compare it to its prequel, its faults become very apparent.
In Book 1, there is clear, pervasive, present danger. In Book 2, any time danger starts cropping up, it is immediately resolved with no consequences. In Book 1, a lot of effort is made to humanize all sides of the conflict. Jemisin makes it very clear that the villain doesn't "turn people evil", but rather people with certain (bigoted, hateful) beliefs are susceptible to evil influence. Useful idiots, if you will. If the villain disappeared in Book 1, many of the problems facing the heroes would persist. In Book 2, however, this nuance is completely gone. Useful idiots have been replaced with brainwashed zombies; and when the villain is defeated, it magically fixes all of the massive institutional problems the heroes were facing. A large portion of the conflict in this book stems from mature (in many cases, literally multiple centuries old) adults deliberately failing to communicate. This is attempted to be justified, but I don't think it worked. And of course there's the issue of pacing and the unavoidable plot rush of crunching a planned trilogy down into a single (significantly shorter) sequel. There just wasn't time to explore the ideas Jemisin had set up in Book 1 before Book 2 was over. It really felt like we gasped over the finish line; or maybe more accurately, we stopped short and just moved the finish line up.
I've been really harsh in the spoiler tags, so I want to pull back a bit and reiterate that the book does have good qualities; it just wasn't what I've come to look for from Jemisin as an author.
If you are largely discouraged/depressed by the state of the world, and want to have a bit of escapism to a version of reality where bad people get what's coming to them and evil is an external force which can be defeated, you'll probably have a good time with this book. If you prefer a more difficult, nuanced view of humanity and the nature of evil, with fewer clean, easy answers, you're probably better off sticking with Jemisin's other works.
Moderate: Body horror, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Deportation
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia