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A review by saucy_bookdragon
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The City We Became is a really fucking cool concept. Cities have the capability of coming to life and choosing superpowered avatars to represent them. There's a multiverse. The cast is a diverse group of likable characters who are taking on the physical manifestation of white supremacy. The writing style is witty. The novel is clearly a love letter to New York itself, specifically the BIPOC and queer people who make it up.
The worldbuilding is the best aspect of this. Having read Jemisin's Broken Earth Trilogy and this, I like how she combines elements of both sci-fi and fantasy. It adds both a uniqueness and richness to her worlds. As previously stated this has a multiversal element (they don't travel to any parallel worlds but it is relevant), it's an urban fantasy, there's a bit of Lovecraft involved, and it's a reflection of a city's culture. It's an extremely ambitious world that I'll likely be thinking about for awhile.
And for the first hundred pages, I was having a blast. They're mostly from Manny's POV as he wakes up with amnesia and discovers he's now Manhattan itself and there are tentacle monsters he has to fight. However, after about a hundred pages there are a few too many POVs and they aren't evenly paced with each other. Just when I felt I was really getting into Manny and expecting him to be the protagonist, we jump to the other boroughs who did not all need to be protagonists. Manny becomes a side character drowned in a large ensemble, his interesting storyline the reader is introduced to becomes a subplot out of nowhere.
As the book is set in a contemporary world, it does deal with contemporary themes. As I'm not a New Yorker, I can't really speak for how accurately this represents the city, only that there seems to be a passion for it. I will say I don't think you can distill a city down to its core personality traits but whatevs. I also wish the themes of bigotry went a little deeper than "wow! Racism exists! And it's bad!" Like I know. The target audience should know too.
I also have a few qualms with the ending. Without spoiling, I found it anticlimactic and rushed. With spoilers,I really wished the plot twist with New Jersey wasn't so sudden, especially as it fucked with the established magic system and also was just kind of stupid how they were all like "oh wait New Jersey exists-" like if it's established Staten Island is needed to awaken New York, it's unsatisfying for New Jersey to just randomly be revealed to work in her place. And are we not going to actually unpack whether New Jersey is a valid borough? Are we not going to consider how it's status being tenuous would really act with the magic system? Or expand on that as a theme around cultural identity?
It also muddles the messaging if the Woman In White wants to stop the city from being born because cities being born destroys universes. I like the idea of cities destroying universes in theory as it makes the worldbuilding kind of fucked up. But it gave the Woman In White, the very on the nose manifestation of white supremacy, a little too noble of a motive for comfort. Also the fact cities being born has a death count beyond comprehension is never unpacked which idk that seems like a pretty big deal :/
The City We Became is filled with incredible worldbuilding and a passion for New York City, but its characters deserved better development and the plot is in need of some restructuring. I don't think I'll read the second book, but I definitely want to explore N.K. Jemisin's work more and would say The City We Became is worth checking out if the premise interests you.
The worldbuilding is the best aspect of this. Having read Jemisin's Broken Earth Trilogy and this, I like how she combines elements of both sci-fi and fantasy. It adds both a uniqueness and richness to her worlds. As previously stated this has a multiversal element (they don't travel to any parallel worlds but it is relevant), it's an urban fantasy, there's a bit of Lovecraft involved, and it's a reflection of a city's culture. It's an extremely ambitious world that I'll likely be thinking about for awhile.
And for the first hundred pages, I was having a blast. They're mostly from Manny's POV as he wakes up with amnesia and discovers he's now Manhattan itself and there are tentacle monsters he has to fight. However, after about a hundred pages there are a few too many POVs and they aren't evenly paced with each other. Just when I felt I was really getting into Manny and expecting him to be the protagonist, we jump to the other boroughs who did not all need to be protagonists. Manny becomes a side character drowned in a large ensemble, his interesting storyline the reader is introduced to becomes a subplot out of nowhere.
As the book is set in a contemporary world, it does deal with contemporary themes. As I'm not a New Yorker, I can't really speak for how accurately this represents the city, only that there seems to be a passion for it. I will say I don't think you can distill a city down to its core personality traits but whatevs. I also wish the themes of bigotry went a little deeper than "wow! Racism exists! And it's bad!" Like I know. The target audience should know too.
I also have a few qualms with the ending. Without spoiling, I found it anticlimactic and rushed. With spoilers,
It also muddles the messaging if the Woman In White wants to stop the city from being born because cities being born destroys universes. I like the idea of cities destroying universes in theory as it makes the worldbuilding kind of fucked up. But it gave the Woman In White, the very on the nose manifestation of white supremacy, a little too noble of a motive for comfort. Also the fact cities being born has a death count beyond comprehension is never unpacked which idk that seems like a pretty big deal :/
The City We Became is filled with incredible worldbuilding and a passion for New York City, but its characters deserved better development and the plot is in need of some restructuring. I don't think I'll read the second book, but I definitely want to explore N.K. Jemisin's work more and would say The City We Became is worth checking out if the premise interests you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Car accident, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment