From the Bookshelf of Big Book Summer Reading Challenge 2023…
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I was lost in this story from the first page. To be reborn stronger New York's boroughs must come together to fight The Women in White and her tendrils roaming the streets. Each borough has a personality an avatar who must come together with the others. Jemisin gives these characters such vivid life. Strong, invincible women join Manny (Manhattan) and it's their strength that prevails. This story is so much more than that. So much deeper and has so much more meaning in today's world. With gentri
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“A lot of stuff is f*cked up and wrong in New York, but isn’t that part of the city, too?” Six stars! “The City We Became” is immersive, i.e., I vanished for a couple days binging it. The premise: great cities have human avatars. NYC is so extra, she has one for each borough – the steely Bronx, charming Manhattan, distant Staten Island, etc. They face a city-eating tentacle horror that’s also systemic racism, a battle that implicates my own role in and against gentrification. Jemisin has written
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The narrator of the audiobook brings the enjoyment of this romping New York fantasy/love poem to a whole new level.

(4.5 stars)
I need to start with this disclaimer: This is not my genre.
Because of that, this book was incredibly weird for me. It was weird...and wonderful! I had never read any of Jemisin's previous novels, although she has long been on my list of authors to try. I'm not sure I would have started with this one had it not been selected by one of my book clubs.
I can't even begin to describe the plot in a way that is both coherent and spoiler-free, so just check out the synopsis. What I will say is ...more
I need to start with this disclaimer: This is not my genre.
Because of that, this book was incredibly weird for me. It was weird...and wonderful! I had never read any of Jemisin's previous novels, although she has long been on my list of authors to try. I'm not sure I would have started with this one had it not been selected by one of my book clubs.
I can't even begin to describe the plot in a way that is both coherent and spoiler-free, so just check out the synopsis. What I will say is ...more

This is so much more than science fiction. Imagination, good story, great writing. The audio by my favorite narrator, Robin Miles.

Right from the get go, Jemisin gobsmacked me with her world building. I shouldn't have been so wowed, because it is in large part what sucked me in and kept me reading her Broken Earth Trilogy.
So it's world building - but this also seems like a love letter to the city of New York. The premise it that once a city gets to a certain size, it evolves into a living thing. Most of the time one human avatar represents it, but in New York's case, each borough has it's own avatar. I loved each and every ...more
So it's world building - but this also seems like a love letter to the city of New York. The premise it that once a city gets to a certain size, it evolves into a living thing. Most of the time one human avatar represents it, but in New York's case, each borough has it's own avatar. I loved each and every ...more

This book was funny, heartbreaking, inspiring and amazing. I can see why si many have enjoyed this book.
I love the concept of people from certain areas of New York becoming avatars with a blend of their particular Burroughs and personalities.
I'm excited to see what happens next.
Trigger warnings: death, violence, racial slurs, unsolicited sexual advance, nongraphic mentions of rape, drugs and drug use ...more
I love the concept of people from certain areas of New York becoming avatars with a blend of their particular Burroughs and personalities.
I'm excited to see what happens next.
Trigger warnings: death, violence, racial slurs, unsolicited sexual advance, nongraphic mentions of rape, drugs and drug use ...more

I might revise this rating later because I wonder if I gave 4 stars because of where I rank this book among the other NK Jemisin books rather than in all the books I’ve read ever. The star system is flawed!
This book is probably the funniest of NK Jemisin’s books, and I say this as a Chicagoan who likely missed some of the New York in-jokes. A fun read and homage to NYC.
This book is probably the funniest of NK Jemisin’s books, and I say this as a Chicagoan who likely missed some of the New York in-jokes. A fun read and homage to NYC.

Dec 24, 2023
Kathy Stone
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
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