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A review by lauren_miller
The City in Glass by Nghi Vo
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
the stereotype used to be that demons are indifferent and cruel while angels are loving and compassionate; in recent years, popular media has definitely tried to subvert such expectations, and this one is no different; it subverts expectations spectacularly—centered around an emotionally charged and driven demon that nurtures her home city for centuries, watching empires rise and fall, burying the dead, filling the emptiness with tantrums and tears and heart-wrenching longing, only to begrudgingly accept the next wave of feeble humanity that takes root, like a child picking out her favorites and giving them her best, heedless (willfully ignorant?) of the disappointment that mortality brings, only to start the cycle all over again...
hypocrisy abounds, that's for sure. a demon who loves her city best, so empowered by both the memories of what her city was and also the inner vision of what her city will become that she hates fate, hates change beyond her control, wallows in the perceived perfection of the past and what—who—she has lost while childishly lashing out at who and what it is.
all the while under the watchful eye of a creature so heavenly that he stays with her despite everything. a creature so tainted by the sliver of her that his love, while holy in its strength, is so deep in its devotion that it is nearly human—such an antithesis of sanctity that you could argue it is nearly demonic...
this book spans centuries and yet is about nothing and everything. the pains of humanity mixed with the eccentricity of immortality; so pointless and powerful and pensive, and so wonderful and awful, so very soulful. stunningly written.
hypocrisy abounds, that's for sure. a demon who loves her city best, so empowered by both the memories of what her city was and also the inner vision of what her city will become that she hates fate, hates change beyond her control, wallows in the perceived perfection of the past and what—who—she has lost while childishly lashing out at who and what it is.
all the while under the watchful eye of a creature so heavenly that he stays with her despite everything. a creature so tainted by the sliver of her that his love, while holy in its strength, is so deep in its devotion that it is nearly human—such an antithesis of sanctity that you could argue it is nearly demonic...
this book spans centuries and yet is about nothing and everything. the pains of humanity mixed with the eccentricity of immortality; so pointless and powerful and pensive, and so wonderful and awful, so very soulful. stunningly written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Violence, and Grief
Minor: War