The City We Became

So I had this carefully calibrated to-read list, and then the world ended, and I didn't feel like reading anymore. But in my head, I just kept repeating: “everything changes in a season”, so I figured if I could read anyone, I could read Jemisin.

I had thought that Jemisin was the epic fantasy writer of my generation. I was wrong: I'm pretty sure N.K. Jemisin is THE speculative fiction writer, in general, of my generation. This is an urban fantasy that redefines what it means to be urban fantasy. This is a book about the fantasy of cities. It's a love poem to cities. (a much needed ode, when currently living in a city seems like a death sentence, weaving around masked figures on the sidewalk.). I've never been a fan of New York, but through Jemisin's eyes, I found myself loving it. (Jemisin notes herself: there are NYC people and there are London people; I'm a London person). Even before the fantastic elements, Jemisin's NYC is alive.

And Jemisin's NYC is alive, in one of the most inventive modern fantasies I've read. Full of relatable, human characters, who also manage to slip to just the other side of inhuman. There is a villain who is relatable, understandable and also completely evil. It's the best modern take on Lovecraft: acknowledging and incorporating his racism

Read while in the mood for something fun during a long weekend. This is indeed fun; an assemble-the-avengers action-filled adventure with a ton of deliberate representation. Special call out for the Tamilian with H-1B lottery problems from whom I learnt a new Tamil phrase: kan kettu piragu Surya namaskaaram. Favourite quote: “Home isn't where the heart is, it's wherever the wind feels right.”

Started with the audiobook. While my interest was piqued it wasn't a great listening experience because of the multiple POVs so picked up the ebook instead. Would have finished it in one sitting if I could.

What a fantastic plot. I'm enthralled. Also made me feel homesick for my own city, Bombay. Because I am Bombay in so many ways & Bombay is me.

So weird. So wonderful. If Murakami was American, he'd write something like this. And in my world, there is no higher compliment.

What good does it do to be valuable, if nobody values you? - Chapter 1

Severe, brutal, blatant commentary on society, racism, prejudice, the default nature of humanity to form cliques and to hell with those unlike you. And at the same time, full of unfettered joy and unrestrained pride and the beauty of humanity in all their flaws and triumphs. Unique in story and also so familiar in other ways that I found myself laughing out loud even as I had tears on my cheeks from the truth of the words. 

If you've ever been to New York, you'll feel the pulse of the city in every word of this book, and if you haven't, you'll still feel it because that pulse can be found in all cities, in all towns, in all groups of people. This book is every bit a glorious love letter to the city that never sleeps, and truly all cities and humanity itself. I've rarely read something this incredibly distinctive, with each character's voice so special in its own way. 

Yes, it will force you to confront your internal prejudice (and we've all got it, even you) and yes, it does not hide the message in some soft, easy metaphor. This is a clear, vibrant, loud call to arms, merciless in many ways as it shows the vitriol that minorities face, as well as the environments that foster and fuel and create that narrow minded culture that The Woman in White personified so well throughout this book. Truly a masterpiece and I'm so eager to read more by N K Jemisin now. Read this. 

I love N.K. Jemisin and I love the idea of this book, but the execution fell flat for me. I think the characters being stereotypes of their neighborhoods, although it makes perfect sense for the concept, didn't help me connect with the characters and I found each one pretty obnoxious. I think that if the book had been longer, I would have been able to see more redeemable qualities in the characters and been more invested in the outcome of each of them.

I also might not like urban fantasy, which I never knew before. Combining such fantastical elements with a real world setting was difficult for me to get into. Also, all the New York insider knowledge required to understand the references was annoying to me.

Overall, the concept will stick with me and the story moved at a quick enough pace for a three star rating for me.

This was an absolutely brilliant novel about New York, about the joys and struggles of city living, and about how our environment can shape our identities. It was a little difficult reading this in a year when so much of what makes cities amazing has been robbed of us due to COVID, but it's a good reminder of the energy that they can give us.

In lesser hands, I don't think I would have liked this book. I love Jemisin, but I primarily love her for the intricate worlds and cultures that she builds in her high-fantasy. She always has something to say about our world in them, but they are such intense, fully-realized places that I love exploring. So when I heard she was doing an urban fantasy about cities who become realized through people avatars, I wasn't instantly hooked. I don't really like cities, and the concept seemed a little goofy. But hey, it's quarantine and my FLB needs me to buy books, so I picked this one up. Damn, I'm glad I did.

First of all, Jemisin is just as talented at realizing our world and subspace alternate realities of our world as she is fictional ones. Her characters are sharply-realized, more real than some actual people I know, I swear. What might feel like ham-fisted attempts at representation by someone else is nuanced, complicated, well-researched and just a beautiful example of how to write characters that are not from your own culture. Staten Island (who literally has my paternal grandmother's last name) definitely made me shudder. She's deeply frustrating, and still so real and understandable. I hope more white feminists read this and see how frustrating a person like this can be.

Also, is there a word for fan-fiction when the writer is definitely not a fan? Subersive-Fic maybe? Jemisin's distaste for H.P. Lovecraft is well-known, and the idea that she would do a lovecraftian spin on anything seemed strange until I realized she is part of that movement that rather than removing the racist and xenophobic bits and keeping the cool stuff, actively tears down those ideas. I didn't expect the reveal of the Woman in White, but it makes so much sense. Lovecraft's fearmongering and white supremacy are the villains in this book, and our heroes are each a testament to how beautiful the world can be when we reject it.

The Lovecraft takedown is part of the text, but I think I caught some Tolkien criticism too. So much of fantasy draws from Tolkien in that nature = good, industrialism = bad. It's an easy argument to make. So it's definitely weird to read truly urban fantasy that is glorifying cities. But Jemisin makes the point that cities are where we learn to share. Foods, fashions, stories, attitudes, religions... cities make us have to live and learn together. If the hobbits never leave the shire, they never grow out of their own community. I don't think I've read another fantasy that depicts modern urban life as an ideal. I love Tolkien, but the time has come to think outside the shire.

I think this is the longest review I've written in a long time. I just want to talk about this book so much. Even if like me you've never been to New York and generally dislike big cities, I'd still recommend this book. It's a fascinating perspective shift. And if you do love New York? This is a love letter like no other.

Promising idea; disappointing execution. The villains were cartoonish, full-on evil with no depth or nuance whatsoever; I kept hoping for a mustachio twirl, it would've made them more believable. Going with the Lovecraft mythos—not just inspired-by, but literal straight-out-of-his-books stuff—annoyed me; it brings attention, indirect validation even, to someone who doesn't deserve it. And, far too many convenient little miracles: even with the handwavey “the city takes care of its own” rationalization, the improbabilities were too much for me. So were the plot inconsistencies.

Possibly fun for a resident of New York, especially someone with tribalistic attachment to one of the subdivisions (Brooklyn, Bronx, whatever). Probably a lot of insider references that they can enjoy and relate to. For the rest of us, fun light reading with interesting, likable, strong female characters and passable tension. Just don't expect anything as rich and complex as Jemisin's earlier work.

Here's the basic premise: An epic battle is forming between a newly “born” New York City and an entity from another dimension in this novel. As a part of the birth process, the city of New York is suddenly personified by five people who represent, or embody, each of its five boroughs, and a mysterious sixth who is supposed to bring them all together. The city of Sao Paulo (the city's avatar, or personification, that is) is on the scene to manage the struggle and help New York come through its birth unscathed.

In this first volume of a planned trilogy, the people who personify the five boroughs of New York have the fact thrust upon them. It just happens while they're going about their business doing other things, so they have to adjust and figure out what it means and how they should proceed. Much of this book is about the process of discovery and banding together of these New York super-heroes. The characters are distinct from each other and meant to be representative of the boroughs they personify: Manhattan, a young, charming guy of uncertain heritage who comes to the city to start grad school. Brooklyn, a black city councilwoman with a past as a rapper, now a single mother to a 14 year old daughter. Bronx, a Native woman in her 60's who runs an arts foundation in her neighborhood, is a Lesbian, and deeply connected to the Native past of the land New York occupies. Queens is an immigrant from India, living with relatives, working a job while she also goes to grad school. Staten Island is the Irish American daughter of a domineering cop and a homemaker, brought up to be suspicious of the city and of foreigners. Some of these characters are more fully developed than others. I found Queens to be pretty thin, for example.

The enemy in this book is pretty creepy, and there are plenty of enemy encounters, even though the team of superheroes isn't fully assembled yet. There is a nod to (and critique of) H.P. Lovecraft, and the evil that the enemy brings is entangled with white supremacy, misogyny, and anti-semitism.

Overall, this was an enjoyable book that was especially timely to read during a global pandemic and in the midst of a struggle for justice for people of color in my home city and my country. I've never read anything by N. K. Jemisin before, but I will be putting her other books on my reading list post haste, and watching for the second volume of this series.

Imagine a world where great cities lay slumbering, waiting for the time they become something else, something sentient. New York City is waking, and it’s chosen six avatars to bring about its rise. But another being is trying to take over the city for its own gains. Planting seeds of distrust among the people and bringing their darker intentions to the surface. The avatars will find citizens of their boroughs turning against them as their adversary moves between bodies, searching for a proper foothold in their world to destroy them.

N.K. Jemisin has embodied New York City in a creative and startling way. The avatars are walking and talking human representatives of their borough. Even though they are all from the city, each of the avatars is surprisingly different. The attitudes and cultures of those within the boroughs influence how the avatars react to different situations. Readers are also given background information on each borough and how the people within them have grown to be so different from each other. I loved the drops of history and world-building woven into the story to create a complete picture of each borough. The amount of detail and attention that is given to each borough’s perspective fascinated me.

I also enjoyed the vague and mysterious antagonist. Leaving the reader in the dark about the extent of its power and abilities gave an added layer of complexity. As the boroughs struggled to learn their new responsibilities they were also forced to defend themselves. And the battle wasn’t just on a metaphysical front. The antagonist infected people with racist and bigoted views. It sent these people to spew their hatred through various public displays and acts of violence. But the avatars went toe to toe with them and used public support to fight back as well as their latent powers given to them by the boroughs.

The characterization of the boroughs was stunning. Each avatar’s personality matched their borough’s people and the way they interacted with one another. Their separate histories were laced with emotion and explained the biases they carried. As some came to realize their biases, they inwardly began to work on re-evaluating how they viewed one another, but not everyone was able to do so. From their dialogue to their mannerism, and even how they presented themselves, everything came together to showcase New York City’s diverse culture. And I loved every minute of it.

The City We Became is an amazing deep dive into modern society and all its complexity and nuances. The depth of imagination in this book and the brilliant way N.K. Jemisin portrayed prejudice is astounding. If you have the chance, listen to this one as an audiobook. The narration was fantastic. Being able to hear the different dialects used in New York City will add to your experience. Not to mention the wonderful audio effects added when characters were hearing audio cues differently. I highly recommend this to fans of complex world-building.

DNF at 48%. It wasn't bad, but I had to return it to the library. When it became available again, I let it pass, realizing I didn't feel any investment in finishing the story.

It's an interesting concept, but I found the Power Rangers-style mechanics a bit juvenile and the politics kind of incoherent. It's a novel dealing with racism and New York City in which Lovecraft gets name-checked 9 times and Robert Moses not once. Overall, a rather surface-level take on both Lovecraftian horrors and social justice.

I was so disappointed.

Keep in mind, personally when I read a story, its characters will always be the most important element to me.

That being said:
1. The characters here have no agency. They never get an opportunity to do what they want to do rather it's always what they HAVE to do.
2. They are barely three dimensional, they all feel like caricatures, especially the villains.
3. There is no chemistry between any of them, it's even expressed multiple times that they dislike one another.
4. There is MINIMAL character development for each of them.

Other complaints include:

A lot of exposition through dialogue. Like, a lot.

A lot of “how do I know that? I guess I just do.” THAT IS NEVER EXPLAINED.

There are no clear rules to the magic in this universe, including the use of the character's powers. It's just whatever is convenient for the the plot at the time.

Just a nitpick at this point, but there were a lot of “quirky” one liners or lines that were clearly put in to feel heavy and badass but just feels flat and unearned in the context of the story.

Speaking of trying to be badass, GOD that ending was cheese. To have all the buildup then be saved by divine intervention? Climax killer. RIP.

It's not garbage but I had much much higher expectations and was let down less than gently.