The City We Became was an unexpected hit that brightened up my quarantine days! I knew it would be amazing since N.K. Jemisin, 3 time Hugo Award-Winning writer, penned the book, but it completely gripped me from start to finish. I can’t remember the last time reading a prologue made me see and like a character so much. Our narrator is confident, funny, outlandish and we see this mainly through his actions and thoughts. I hoped the prologue wouldn’t end. Luckily, the next chapter featured a character voice that was just as strong, having humor and a lot of page-turning mystery and wonder. 

Why ‘The City’ Will Grip You

The City We Became was such a fun read! I didn’t know how much I needed it as I’m living through COVID-19. One day, I started a chapter at 1:00PM and didn’t finish reading until 9:00PM! Since this crisis erupted, we’ve seen NYC, and most of the surrounding East Coast area, being hit hard by the virus. It was comforting to get lost in a book that is such a love-letter to that city. I’ll only share and expand on the premise of the book as I hope you order it online from your favorite bookseller as I did! 

The CIty We Became is the first book in a trilogy by the aforementioned speculative fiction powerhouse. The story tackles the bustling city of New York, making it come alive through the eyes and stories of a handful of characters. Aspects of The Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island walk, talk, and fight interdimensional enemies as unique and diverse characters. New York City has a huge soul and our protagonists must come together to help protect it from an ancient enemy. I’m so happy Jemisin took the time to make her characters culturally relevant by working with sensitivity readers from the demographics she represented. I think more writers need to do this if they aren’t already. I won’t say these characters are perfect, they are flawed (which we tend to like in fleshed-out characters) but they are also representative of the multicultural people that typically live in huge cosmopolitan cities. 

The Characters & ‘The City’

The book is incredibly timely as it takes on such issues as xenophobia and gentrification. It’s bold as it dares to see New York through the eyes of Indigenous people, Black people, immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community. Although one of our protagonists, Manny, is painted as having a dark past and being a little helter-skelter, I can’t help liking his character for his intelligence, naivete, and genuinely good heart. I also love how bold and proud Bronca is as both the eldest of the group and champion holding down the Lenape heritage of The Bronx. So often when we watch movies or read stories about NYC, we see the same stories being told with people of color (and others not fitting mainstream images) pushed to the sidelines. The City We Became steps away from that tired narrative and kicks open the door of what strong narratives can be. On top of it, it’s still SO addictingly enjoyable to read! 

I will write that Jemisin asks the reader to suspend their disbelief on a few occasions where it seems our characters connect the dots to key plot details very quickly. Other times, the “bad guys” might seem a little corny but these small pitfalls do not take away from the overall story and worldbuilding. What makes the story win is how well Jemisin shifts between her characters and how well she demonstrates their individual voices. 

If you’ve read The City We Became, what was your favorite part? Were you able to put it down once you jumped in?

Stay Strong, Hygenic, & Compassionate!

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Best,

Kai 😀