Reviews

The White City by Elizabeth Bear

keyboardandcouch's review against another edition

4.0

Loss and grief. So it must be Elizabeth Bear.

I am so delighted that she managed to give us another story about Jack. And I hope we get to meet Starkad again.

caitibeth's review against another edition

3.0

Another novella in the New Amsterdam series. This one takes the form of two interconnected short stories - one in which Sebastien and a sixteen-year-old Jack visit Moscow together and make the acquaintance of an artist named Irina, and one in which Sebastien revisits the city six years later (shortly after

Spoiler

Jack's death

) with Abby Irene and Phoebe. Both times there is a murder in Irina's circle of acquaintances, and Sebastien and his court attempt to figure out what's behind them.

I enjoyed the short story about Jack & Sebastien a good deal - reading about Jack's determination to progress their relationship (as well as Jack's penchant for getting involved with revolutionaries everywhere they go) was satisfying. The other short story is about grief and Bear's favorite theme in this series, mortality; it's less dynamic without Jack, but the last scene is quite good.

(Although I've separated them here, I should note that the two stories are interwoven in the novella, switching back and forth frequently.)

roytoo's review

fast-paced

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

4.25

tregina's review

3.0

Probably my favourite of the series so far; the story felt much more complete in a way (or rather, stories, since it weaves two of them together). And getting the chance to spend time with Jack again was a real pleasure.

aceinit's review

4.0

I have a soft spot for the subtle sensuality of Don Sebastien and his court, and this tale of two murder set six years apart was both beautifully paced and written. I am also delighted to see Jack reappearing in the novel, though I feel like perhaps the strength of his relationship with Phoebe may have been overplayed. I do not recall such a big deal being made out of them in New Amsterdam. Although, then again, Phoebe never really endeared herself to me the way Sebastien, Jack and Abby Irene did, so perhaps I've marginalized her story accordingly.

tasharobinson's review

3.0

I really wanted to like this novel more, given that the prose style is very pretty and mildly baroque, and Bear does an excellent job of setting a scene when she thinks it's worthwhile to do so. But it was just too slight and oblique, with too much left out. It's sort of a murder mystery, but I kept getting the impression that Bear was more interested in describing Moscow and her characters than in the story; she'll go from a detailed description of a character's feelings in a moment to a bare-bones summary of important events, which makes the book feel lopsided and a bit underdeveloped. Less than 200 pages is not much space for a story that takes place in multiple timelines, introduces so many characters, and then divides its focus between them. It feels like it could have been twice as long — or stayed short, but shifted the focus more toward what was happening and less toward everyone's inner landscape.

qdony's review

5.0

Com és habitual aquesta sèrie em sedueix totalment. No veig el moment de que publiquin el següent.

sarahbotreads's review

4.0

I really struggled with _Seven for a Secret_, but the White City picked my interest back up; I found it really compelling and easy to read. I loved getting more of Jack's POV.

mackle13's review

4.0

3.5

I think this is my favorite in the series so far.

We flit between two time periods in this story, 1897 and 1903, both in Moscow, and both about murders surrounding a woman named Irina.

My favorite part of this story is that we see more of Jack and his and Sebastian's relationship, which also gives more depth to Sebastian than some of what we've seen before. They definitely have an interesting and complicated relationship.

It was also nice to see more of Abbey Irene still active as a detective, though Phoebe seemed pretty ancillary to the story.

And it was definitely interesting to meet

Spoiler

a wampyr even older than Sebastian.

This story has one of the largest senses of closure, as many of the other stories feel a bit too brief and end on notes of wondering what's coming next. While there is still some of that, I appreciated that it felt more contained than some of the other stories.

lottpoet's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75