The City We Became: A Novel (The Great Cities, 1)

It’s 4 a.m. and I just finished The City We Became. I can’t remember the last time I stayed up in to the early hours of the morning to finish a book. I’ve never purposely drank an energy drink at 11 p.m. to make sure this happens, but The City We Became deserved it because it is simply one of my favorite books I’ve ever read.Let me back up and give a quick synopsis for the book before we dive in to the review:Five New Yorkers must come together in order to defend their city in the first book of a stunning new series by Hugo award-winning and NYT bestselling author N. K. Jemisin. Every city has a soul. Some are as ancient as myths, and others are as new and destructive as children. New York City? She’s got five. But every city also has a dark side. A roiling, ancient evil stirs beneath the earth, threatening to destroy the city and her five protectors unless they can come together and stop it once and for all.This book excels on every front: it has characters that are simultaneously totally real and complete stereotypes of the boroughs they represent. It has such solid world building in its use of NYC, you can see the sights, smell the streets, feel the living, breathing city ooze off the pages. The plot is such a great tale of unification, a celebration of a city but also just humans as a whole, of the strength of evil and what it takes to overcome it. The writing is, of course with N.K. Jemisin, of the highest caliber.This book is a legitimate piece of art. It’s heart and soul are bared for the world to see and it absolutely shines. What has been crafted and so tightly, excellently written here is nothing short of brilliance. There have been so very few books that have left me with this feeling, I can’t even think of what the last one was.There is so so much I want to say about this book. The use of diverse, real people in a city like NYC is entirely perfect and fitting but stands out for how well written and used they are, especially when their nemesis brings out the alt-right, shitty racist cops and gentrification as a form of its evil. The evils that really face NYC and, to an extent, all big cities in real life are superbly used and fit in to the narrative effectively. There’s a sequence towards the end of the book – around the 75% mark – that by total coincidence feels oddly prescient of current conditions with Covid19. You know no one could have seen this coming but, like, how is it so scarily accurate? And it just feels wonderful to say I finally feel like someone has given Lovecraft and all his horrible racist views the justice and send off he deserves.Something small but also super awesome I wanted to point out that shows the level of care and craft Jemisin has put in to this novel – the one character from England, Bel, is so realistically written. Jemisin has him using language and slang I haven’t heard since I was a kid living in England, and it was surreal to see it so accurately used. I’ve read plenty of English authors who haven’t used slang so well.I honestly don’t know where to go with this review from here other than to say to anyone at all that may read this: please please please go buy this book. It is absolutely astonishing and wonderful and you won’t regret a second of the time you spend with it. It is one of my personal favorite books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I will be talking to anyone and everyone I can about this story for a long, long time to come.

This is THE SINGLE BEST first chapter of a book I've ever read. What an earth-shatteringly great, poetic first chapter. The rest of the book's writing is very good, too, but, man, that first chapter's writing style makes me want to read everything this author ever writes. The parts of this book -- the characters' distinct personalities, the overall plot and the way the bad guys are fought with, are all excellent. This is a very creative idea. The plot isn't exactly fast-paced but I don't mind that since we get space to explore each "borough's" personality and difficulties -- each character gets time and space to be developed and I LOVE that. I truly could feel and hear the funky art and music and accents of New York City.The reason why this book is a 4 out of 5 for me personally: In my opinion, the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts.There's a weird American Exceptionalism here that really sort of took me out of the experience as a bigger-picture thing. The entire premise is that New York's "birth" situation is unique. But... the thing is, even though this is fantasy, when you bother to bring in other world cities as comparison -- NYC is awesome and I love it too, but MOST big world population centers have 'different neighborhoods with different art and different vibes' and, honestly, NYC isn't THAT special! Especially when in this book we bother to meet other cities like Hong Kong and Sao Paulo -- why doesn't Hong Kong get to explore its VERY-different neighborhoods with multiple avatars/etc? The answer to that question isn't really explored, so it feels like "NYC is generically special" and that's annoying.In a weird way, I think the "message about New York City's very unique state of being" would be a lot more impactful if NYC's "helpers" were... say, smaller cities in the USA that really do have "fewer boroughs" than NYC, instead of cities like Hong Kong or Sao Paulo (or the referenced Lagos or London who we don't meet) that have long histories and diverse interactions between their individual neighborhoods that aren't at all explored in this book. The message I took away from this book is: no other city in the world other than NYC has "different relationships between its different boroughs" and I just...disagree with that! I think I wish the "scope" of this story was smaller and didn't include other highly-populated, complex international cities, in order for a message like "NYC is extremely special" to work.Based on this author's gorgeous writing style, I'll definitely check out the next books in this series -- especially if future steps in the series focus more on other cities and maybe have more notes about the lore of what makes a city have different avatars/"be born" etc. There's something really creative and unique here -- this would be a 5 out of 5 series for me if there's room to explore it all!

"The City We Became" by N.K. Jemisin is a thrilling and imaginative urban fantasy that brings to life the essence of New York City in a way that is both captivating and profound. The story follows a diverse cast of characters who embody the different boroughs of Manhattan, each awakening to their unique identities as the city itself fights against a looming supernatural threat. As a young grad student arrives in Manhattan and grapples with amnesia, he quickly senses the heartbeat of the city and its rich history, marking the beginning of his extraordinary journey.In the Bronx, a Lenape gallery director discovers beautiful graffiti that seems to call out to her, while in Brooklyn, a politician and mother is enchanted by the rhythm of her city, each step echoing its vibrant culture. As each character navigates their personal struggles and the connection to their borough, they come together to confront the idea that cities have souls—some ancient, some newly formed, but all deeply intertwined. Jemisin's novel is a masterful exploration of community, belonging, and the resilience of urban life, celebrating the extraordinary tapestry of New York and the diverse stories that compose it. "The City We Became" is a thought-provoking and dynamic read for anyone who appreciates the power and magic of cities.

All her writing is beautiful and profound, though often disturbing. Hard to look at the world without finding disturbing things.

This book was amazing. I wanted to get in there and hug all the boroughs, and I got to understand New York better because of Jemesin's work (stuff that I, as a Brazilian had seen in movies depicting NY, but hadn't made sense until now) and the story was thrilling. One of the best openings that I've read, the development was great, and I was screaming at the end (my grandmother was in the room with me, she was very puzzled by this). Also, her depiction of São Paulo was great. Not perfect, but still fantastic and the best representation of anything Brazilian that I've seen in American media. (I'm from São Paulo)

I'd never come across Jemisin before but took the risk. Well worth it. On the face of it, the story seems unlikely but you get drawn in so quickly that that the premise becomes totally believable. We all accept that nationalities are very different but to find the same could apply to the areas of just one city is a different level. Brilliant characterisation keeps your wanting more. One day in the not too distant future this will become a set book in schools.

Took me 1 full month to reach the end of that one.. no story, no character, nothing. Jemslin at her worse.

It's been a while since if felt this elated after finishing a book. I felt that Ive learned a lot, I got entertained, shocked, excited , giddy, betrayed and more. I will be waiting patiently for the next installment.