Reviews

The City & the City by China Miéville

iblamewizards's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

While The City & the City had a stellar concept, but I found the plot itself to be a rather pedestrian murder mystery. The vibes will stay with me for a while, and the underlying theme is one that was definitely thought-provoking, it wasn't enough for me to really adore this book the way I wanted to.

erlend_viggen's review

challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

hnells's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

jdanielson's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

themshelves's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective 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

sarah_dietrich's review against another edition

3.0

First read, 2013: 4 stars
Second read, 2022: 3 stars. Fun and entertaining. The ending tells us what happened rather than showing us, spelling things out too clearly & exactly for me.

indigooryx's review

challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

rhonataylor22's review

3.0

2.5. The concept was brilliant, the overarching themes and social commentary was so profound and interesting, you could pick apart this world and all the metaphors forever. But WOW the police procedural plot was f*cking boring. I mean YEESH. I actually started to resent turning each page. Apparently China Melville wrote this for their dying mother who loved the crime genre, which I appreciate and respect. But yikes, this was a slog by the end. I wanted to love this. I did love it, for the first half. Then woof. I HATE to say it but big fat flop, left me sour.

owleyedjoe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

jan_gaunt's review against another edition

2.0

A total slog for me and only finished it because it was a Book Group read. I read, reread, reread and reread pages over and over. Full of sentences that I didn’t understand. My ‘time left in book’ didn’t seem to diminish as my usually fast reading pace ground to a halt. Full of made up words as well as obscure ones.
Once I had consulted Wikipedia to work out the premise of the cities (should this be necessary?!!), I could wade through the book. The concept was intriguing, but the execution was like wading through treacle. I’m just not literary enough to appreciate this, maybe?