An amazing follow up to the City We Became. Supposed to be a trilogy became a duology for perfectly understandable reasons and it worked well.

Some people might say the climax was rather sudden but I personally dislike long drawn out endings and prefer all the drama that goes on til the finish anyway.

We got:
-More Neek - yay!
-acespec character??
-more rap battles
-more cities
-cats
-lots of maths

I’m not American, but it's impossible to not know what the political climate is like right now in the US. It was at times tough to read but I knew I was in good hands as N. K. Jemisin has never let us down. I loved the politics of involving other cities in NY’s struggles and enjoyed jumping around the world to meet some of them.

The writing alludes to Padmini being ace or any label under the acespec umbrella, as she discusses marriage and attraction. We love any character working out their sexuality even if it's in passing due to the world possibly ending. Really enjoyed the diverse cast, as it makes me think of what Melbourne avatars would look like, since Melbourne is also extremely multicultural.

I found myself getting lost in the writing (in a good way) and was able to get a clear picture of the world, especially as I’ve never been to NYC. Jemisin’s writing will always keep me thoroughly entertained and wanting more.

I can’t wait to see this book on the shelves so I can complete my physical collection.

Thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK, Orbit and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Will add links to review sites and TikTok review after 20th October 2022

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Imagine the cities we know and love being more than just places and points on a map. Now imagine them having actual avatars, people who embody the cities and boroughs in this world. Well, this story follows this concept. In the sequel of the Great Cities Trilogy, we once again follow New York and New York's boroughs as they fight off enemies and try to unite the cities citizens, whilst commenting on the social and political situation in our world.

I am not surprised to say that once again, the author impressed me with her beautiful writing and the vivid setting that is New York City. I anticipated this novel as soon as I finished the first one and wasn't disappointed by it. The individual characters all had their unique personality which matched their borough perfectly. My only down-point was that the conversations between the characters were sometimes trying too hard to be funny or quirky, which resulted in them feeling a bit unrealistic. But besides that I loved every bit of the story and found myself being as immersed in it, as one could be. I'm already anticipating the author's next peculiar concept.

I had a wonderful time reading The World We Make and to be honest I would have been shocked to have felt otherwise. That being said even though I knew Jemisin would knock it out of the park with this sequel I wasn't expecting to see it knocked out of the park, the solar system and indeed the galaxy.
I'll start with the practical bits, while you do need to have read The City We Became to pick this up I don't personally think a re-read is essential if you want to just dive in with this second half of the duology. The book will get you up to speed quickly enough. I will also say that if you do want to read this book maybe set aside some time where you don't have other responsibilities because let me tell you I was hooked and I did not want to put it down.
The flow of Jemisin's writing somehow manages to convey pretty unsubtle ideas/truths about the world we live in and the city of New York while also creating an engaging storyline with compelling characters. She addresses real world issues of privilege, conflict, gentrification - the list goes on - alongside this scifi, eldritch masterpiece to the point where I was equally grossed out by the natural and supernatural antagonists.
But overall this book has a message of hope and perseverance with a teaspoon (or five) of a deep love for a city that in fairness I have not personally been to since I was 12 - but I feel like I know it better now.
Would I recommend this duology? Absolutely. I think it's something that will delight readers of all sorts of different speculative genres and I look forward to holding a copy in my hands and waving it around with delight and enthusiasm.
I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Thank you so much for granting me the access to read this book.
It's official, N K Jemisin can't write a bad book. The world building is so rich and lush I didn't want the book to end. Can't wait to buy physical copies for my friends!

Some great writing and fantastic imagination on display and some excellent scenes of Lovecraftian horrors, as we’ve come to expect from the first book in the series. Diverse cast of characters but I did feel the book expects a certain level of knowledge about New York and the various boroughs and the personalities of each, so I was sometimes a bit lost. Sadly it all felt as if the author got bored before the end - the climax felt very rushed. Authors afterword confirms my suspicions as she openly says she considered not finishing the series - I think it shows by the end of this one. Some of the characters were a bit neglected, with little to do, and some subplots that went nowhere.

The World We Make is NK Jemisin’s follow up and conclusion to The City We Became. That first book introduced the high fantasy idea of sentient cities, and told the story of the “birth” of New York through a host of avatars, one of for each of its boroughs. The birth of New York drew to it malign Lovecraftian forces represented by the Lady in White and lots of wriggling tentacles, which were battled to a stand still in the first volume but not defeated, partly due to the defection of the avatar for Staten Island.
The World We Make takes up three months after that battle, the avatars of the boroughs of New York and the avatar of New York itself, are still facing daily challenges pushed by the Lady in White. Those challenges come in the form of a mayoral candidate called Panfilo who wants to “Make New York Great Again” and a bunch of white supremist rednecks who call themselves the Proud Men. Meanwhile, the avatar for Staten Island is starting to realise the consequences of dealing with the forces of conformity. As that short precis shows, once again there is nothing particularly subtle about what Jemisin is trying to say about America and the issues that it is facing, or where she stands.
The action of the novel, when not concerned with the individual avatars fighting off political, physical or supernatural attacks, centres around New York trying to galvanise the help of the other great cities of the world. Those cities, much older and with little time for newly born upstarts, do not at first believe the threat extends to them but soon come to realise the issue is an existential one for the whole of the universe.
In The City We Became Jemisin introduced a fascinating and diverse cast of characters each emblematic of a part of New York but also individuals in their own right. Once again each of them gets a chance to shine but with so many main characters each of them feels just a little bit cheated. And she also set up a fascinating fantasy world of city characters who only get small walk on roles. So while The World We Make provides a satisfying (if a little rushed and exposition heavy) conclusion to its story, it feels like the originally planned trilogy would have given the characters and the world itself more room the breathe.
Importantly, The City We Became and The World We Make are modern fantasy with something to say. Jemisin herself observes that when she started writing the first book she could not have foreseen how relevant the issues that she was exposing would become. It is a reminder that not only great cities but society itself thrives in diversity and opportunity and that we must remain vigilant against the forces of homogeneity and oppression of new ideas and progress.

Jemisin is worth reading for the acuity and immersiveness of her prose alone, but she’s also an amazing story teller. This was very internal and conceptual but I loved it almost as much as the first book. Definitely read the City We Became first but this is a strong duology with plenty to both engage and provoke thought.

Received this book as a Netgalley proof.

This is the second book in the Great Cities series, and despite the author's plans, a duology rather than a trilogy.

The book continues the struggle of New York to survive, with the invasive city R'lyeh occupying the traitor borough of Staten Island. The invader's attacks are now indirect and it's major effort is through politics.

The first book commented on the diversity of New Yorkers, on the systemic racism of 'Karens', and on the racial divides between different communities in the city. This sequel continues that theme to the national stage, where the Mayoral candidate is backed by various conservative lobbies of the country, and also by the metaphysical effect of the stories that the country tells itself about the city.

The effects of gentrification are another indirect attack, diluting the character of the neighbourhoods until they are generic, portrayed by Brooklyn's legal fight to save her home. It is also satirised by the effects that R'lyeh has on Staten Island, whose avatar just wants to be left alone and finds her beloved borough being reduced to conformity.

With the novel concluding the sequence rather than setting up a final installment, the ending feels rushed and some developments feel as if they came out of nowhere. All the same, the political threads are satisfying and the character relationships are lovely.