The City We Became - N.K. Jemisin

⭐ 7.0/10

(Originally written by Magdalene)

This book is really hard for me to review, because it is so weird and original and mind-blowing... but I didn't enjoy it that much. I almost quit reading it a few times because I just didn't feel like continuing, and I don't know what wasn't working for me. Jemisin is obviously an amazing writer with a very creative mind. This is speculative fiction more than anything else, and maybe it just got too weird for me, I don't know.

In this universe, when a city is mature enough, it is "born" and gets a human avatar. It's New York's turn, but New York isn't one person, it's five - one for each of the five boroughs. All five of the boroughs get attacked by an inter-dimensional fungus-type thing that occasionally turns into a white woman, and they have to find each other and band together to save the Heart of New York so that they can save the city, and maybe the universe? I was always a bit foggy on what the enemy actually was, and what they needed to do, but that's my bad.

So like, very weird, and a huge departure from her Broken Earth trilogy. A city personified as a person? I've never been to New York, but Jemisin obviously knows it intimately, and the five boroughs all felt very distinct. As the boroughs try to fight this creature thing, they encounter lots of the problems in New York, like racism, sexism, homophobia, rent hikes, gentrification, etc etc. I don't have much to say about the plot because it was just so weird, but Jemisin's writing really does leap off the page. It has such a rhythm to it, and feels very alive. So even though it maybe wasn't for me, I would still recommend it for the strong writing, unique premise, and interesting world-building.