In Manhattan, a young grad student gets off the train and realizes he doesn't remember who he is, where he's from, or even his own name. But he can sense the beating heart of the city, see its history, and feel its power. In the Bronx, a Lenape gallery director discovers strange graffiti scattered throughout the city, so beautiful and powerful it's as if the paint is literally calling to her. In Brooklyn, a politician and mother finds she can hear the songs of her city, pulsing to the beat of her Louboutin heels. And they're not the only ones.
Absolutely delightful. Anyone who lives in a city and has to be in constant battle with gentrification and all the other overwhelming machinations of the white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchy will feel this one to their bones.
Lovecraftian horror isn't usually my thing, but this was awesome
Very good book, enjoyed the plot which did not follow tried and true characters and plots for the story. A little slow to get into it, did not want to put the book down by the end.
This book was unlike anything I've read before (which is totes what I say every time I read one of Jemisin's books, but yanno). I loved how far out this one is, and how vividly I could see all of this coming together in my head even when the prose didn't... super make sense. There was some scifi/fantasy plodding at moments, and some of the characters didn't get as much airtime/development as others, but by and large this was a wild ride, exceedingly creative, and highly recommended. PS: I <3 Bronca and I hope she's in the next one!
I rarely think, "this would be better as a graphic novel", but strong vibes in the first third. It improved, unexpectedly, as it wove in heavy threads of current racial injustice and lovecraft-but-confronting-his-racism-head-on. Ultimately, a love story to NYC and tragic superheroes, which I'm just not enough in love with.
A love letter to NYC, which I don't know so that part fell flat. Also a love letter to Lovecraft, except make the bad guys into white dudes instead of immigrants, foreigners, and PoC. Which, you know, fair enough -- scary. The city idea felt new enough that I don't know why all the Lovecraft love was needed. It could have stood on its own without referencing and borrowing from Lovecraft's lore so much.
I don’t know which I loved more, the concept of this breakneck, visionary tale – which makes massive cities intimately human without sacrificing their scale – or the glorious diversity of its cast. This book made me miss New York City even more than I already do, which is saying something. I’m also a big fan of people taking elements of the Lovecraftian mythos and doing things with it that fly in the face of Lovecraft’s prejudices. I wrestle with the concept of “The Death of the Author” on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes it works for me and other times I cannot get past OR financially support a creator, no matter how fond I am of something they created (I’m looking at you, J. K. Rowling). But I love the idea of taking amazing things created by problematic people and doing something wonderful with then, which is exactly what N.K. …
I don’t know which I loved more, the concept of this breakneck, visionary tale – which makes massive cities intimately human without sacrificing their scale – or the glorious diversity of its cast. This book made me miss New York City even more than I already do, which is saying something. I’m also a big fan of people taking elements of the Lovecraftian mythos and doing things with it that fly in the face of Lovecraft’s prejudices. I wrestle with the concept of “The Death of the Author” on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes it works for me and other times I cannot get past OR financially support a creator, no matter how fond I am of something they created (I’m looking at you, J. K. Rowling). But I love the idea of taking amazing things created by problematic people and doing something wonderful with then, which is exactly what N.K. Jemisin is doing with this new series of books.
3.5 rounded up.
Robin Miles gives an amazing performance, having to cover so many accents, NYC or otherwise. Extra kudos to her.
The tale is a little too heavy on the allegory, and I still cannot get into N.K. Jemisin’s action sequences (same for Broken Earth…) but I really did like the anti-Lovecraft stuff, and she has a lot of excellent lines. I have only visited NY, and don’t know it well, but all the Boroughs were recognizable to me (if only through my own stereotypes due to American media). I couldn’t really come to like many of the characters (even though I thought they were really well fleshed out). They are a product of their city I suppose, and have to play to the stereotypes for the story to work out. Soooo many F-bombs! People revere New York in the same way that other people revere Sparta. Reading various …
3.5 rounded up.
Robin Miles gives an amazing performance, having to cover so many accents, NYC or otherwise. Extra kudos to her.
The tale is a little too heavy on the allegory, and I still cannot get into N.K. Jemisin’s action sequences (same for Broken Earth…) but I really did like the anti-Lovecraft stuff, and she has a lot of excellent lines. I have only visited NY, and don’t know it well, but all the Boroughs were recognizable to me (if only through my own stereotypes due to American media). I couldn’t really come to like many of the characters (even though I thought they were really well fleshed out). They are a product of their city I suppose, and have to play to the stereotypes for the story to work out. Soooo many F-bombs! People revere New York in the same way that other people revere Sparta. Reading various histories and accounts it seems like such a brutal place, where survival is paramount — not particularly civilized. Despite that I enjoyed the tour. Surely I missed some of the fine detail, but NK Jemisin’s love for the city definitely came though. This is a protest novel exactly for our times. I don’t know if it will be a classic, but it will certainly serve as a useful snapshot of These Days.
I expected to like this more. I liked parts of it, from the "love letter to New York" feel that reminded me of [a:Jacob Zimmerman|7120055|Jacob Zimmerman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1442890564p2/7120055.jpg]'s [b:The New York Magician|18019533|The New York Magician|Jacob Zimmerman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1370283997l/18019533.SY75.jpg|25290776] to the "people as abstract concepts" theme reminiscent of [b:American Gods|30165203|American Gods (American Gods, #1)|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1462924585l/30165203.SY75.jpg|1970226]. Books I loved!
With that as background, and as someone who lives in New Jersey and occasionally pops into New York for work or fun, I should be a target audience. But the hook never really landed. Ah well.
absolute perfection.
A whisked read, not as polished as The Broken Earth series.
There's a lot in this book. A love letter mainly to NYC but also to cities in general. And at the same time a really powerful allegory about whiteness and the terrible work it does - one which has only felt more timely in the few weeks since I read it. But I also found it kind of a frustrating read, because Jemisin repeatedly interrupts a good, clear story to somewhat condescendingly say "look reader, this bit's about whiteness", when the plot and characters were doing the work and really didn't need that help.[return][return]I do want to read the next in the series, but I hope that in book 2 she's more content to let the storytelling work.
If I only knew how to write a fitting review.
The timing of this book's publication is as perfect as the story itself. This is a beautiful book despite dealing with a prime selection of the most horrible things life can throw at us: hatred, racism, sexism, homophobia, intersectionality, gentrification and even a very little dash of MRM.
Now, we just need to wait for the rest of the trilogy.
This book is a treasure for anyone who appreciates New York
The City We Became is an absorbing, wonderful and troubling book. It is written with all the skill and poetry that I've come to expect from N.K. Jemisin, and I am grateful for it. At the same time, it has to be one of the angriest novels I have read for quite some time; the fury burns through the pages. And in the end, as much as I have strong personal issues with Staten Island (for a variety of reasons, including local political ones that I won't go into here), I've had relatives there and have visited its nature preserves, and so ended the book feeling sorry for the isolation of the borough and its avatar. Perhaps I was supposed to. I'm not sure, and that could be a reflection of either the skill of the author or of my own background. Or both.
