Jens reviewed The World We Make by N.k. Jemisin (Great Cities Duology, #2)
Review of 'The World We Make' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
The second of two books in this series - I was so eager to see how the story of New York would continue. The premise with avatars of cities and boroughs is so unique, and the characters are memorable etc.
Unfortunately, compared to the first book in the series, [b:The City We Became|42074525|The City We Became (Great Cities, #1)|N.K. Jemisin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585327950l/42074525.SY75.jpg|54760675], the intriguing premise wore off a bit: We know now how this "city magic" works, we know what the characters struggle with, and we (sort of) know what the "Big Bad" has in mind.
The involvement of other cities, as mentioned in the blurb, was a bit lackluster (and too stereotypical!!) for me.
The pacing was odd - it's such a fast-paced action-packed novel where a LOT of things happen, yet I felt more stressed than entertained at times.
The interactions between the protagonists felt a bit out …
The second of two books in this series - I was so eager to see how the story of New York would continue. The premise with avatars of cities and boroughs is so unique, and the characters are memorable etc.
Unfortunately, compared to the first book in the series, [b:The City We Became|42074525|The City We Became (Great Cities, #1)|N.K. Jemisin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585327950l/42074525.SY75.jpg|54760675], the intriguing premise wore off a bit: We know now how this "city magic" works, we know what the characters struggle with, and we (sort of) know what the "Big Bad" has in mind.
The involvement of other cities, as mentioned in the blurb, was a bit lackluster (and too stereotypical!!) for me.
The pacing was odd - it's such a fast-paced action-packed novel where a LOT of things happen, yet I felt more stressed than entertained at times.
The interactions between the protagonists felt a bit out of place, almost artificial.
The message of the book is overwhelmingly progressive, with which I wholeheartedly agree - yet it was so in-your-face that it felt more draining than empowering to me.
Finally, the conclusion and its sort-of-scientific explanation was just plain technobabble that would make actual scientists squirm.
So while the overall premise is still super fascinating and I couldn't to see how the plot would develop, this book didn't fully convince me. I'm glad I read it, and I'm also glad the series is now over.
