Series: Great cities #1
Author: N.K. Jemisin
It contains the short prequel "The city born great".
The plot is dazzling, thought-provoking and extremely interesting, unique. Every city has its own souls and they choose a human avatar to represent them. This individual does not need to be born there- they just have to reflect the city as a whole. But sometimes souls want to differentiate them from their cores and search for their own freedom, self-discovery for reaching their own identity.
The great city of New York is divided- one for each of the boroughs:
Manhattan - Manny
Brooklyn -
State Island -
The Bronx -
Queens
Each person had a life before their city woke. And now they are in search of their main avatar- New York. Sao Paulo is the newest city so he is sent to help New York in their awakening. Something different is happening here, so when the city awoke NY had to face something else- the monster they are fighting is trying to break the current universe.
It's hard to review this book without spoilers though.
I love the characters, and their assembly as much as they are so far done with the quickness that is needed for the situation. We do not see the typical - the end of the world here and we're willing to do everything needed, sacrifice ourselves and our loved ones- no its a more realistic response. Each avatar struggles in their own ways, be it to accept the other avatars, struggle to overcome their predisposed opinions of people different from them, and the cherry on top- to care for the safety of the whole and possibly endanger not only themselves but their close friends and family.
I gave it a 4.5 stars. I'm rounding it up
I am really enjoying this story and looking forward to continuing the duology. I also need to get my hands on my own copies so I can reread and annotate them.
This book was used for several challenges:
A to Z authors and titles
2023 Fantasy Challenge Prompt #14 by BIPOC author
Rapid Readers Annual Readathon 2023 #14 BIPOC author ( I didn't realize I had the same challenge in both so I'll probably have to add a different author for one of them. There is no rule saying that I can't try to accomplish this prompt each month).
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