A review by alanathehangry
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
5.0
N.K. Jemisin does it again. She landed herself as one of my favorite authors just from reading her Broken Earth series. The way she writes a story is so unique, crass, and served in your face. But also subtly, palm to palm.
This book is a love letter to New York City. It truly, truly is. I felt that as soon as I read the first few pages. Jemisin pours her love, hatred, and experience into this book, and from it, we get the unlike-any-other-place feel of New York.
The concept itself is such a creative idea. Not just the boroughs of New York, but how cities come to be, how they come alive. I loved the different powers of the boroughs too, and how they fit with what the borough embodies. I know this is vague, but I'm trying to avoid spoilers.
This book also reveals how important diversity is, how corporations are ruining mom and pop stores, and how racism is systemic. It doesn't do it in a preachy way, but it's there, living in the words on the pages as the characters try to figure out what the crap is going on.
This book is a wonderful clash of New York and sci-fi. It made me miss New York so much, living there, struggling there, being in it. New Yorkers will love this book, SFF fans will love this book. And if you're both, boy, you're in for a treat.
And now I have a book hangover about it.
This book is a love letter to New York City. It truly, truly is. I felt that as soon as I read the first few pages. Jemisin pours her love, hatred, and experience into this book, and from it, we get the unlike-any-other-place feel of New York.
The concept itself is such a creative idea. Not just the boroughs of New York, but how cities come to be, how they come alive. I loved the different powers of the boroughs too, and how they fit with what the borough embodies. I know this is vague, but I'm trying to avoid spoilers.
This book also reveals how important diversity is, how corporations are ruining mom and pop stores, and how racism is systemic. It doesn't do it in a preachy way, but it's there, living in the words on the pages as the characters try to figure out what the crap is going on.
This book is a wonderful clash of New York and sci-fi. It made me miss New York so much, living there, struggling there, being in it. New Yorkers will love this book, SFF fans will love this book. And if you're both, boy, you're in for a treat.
And now I have a book hangover about it.