Content warnings: attempted murder, classism, colonization, demons, gentrification, racism, sexism, spider-like creatures, war, xenophobia

New York City has just undergone its birth as a city, which means its enemies are trying to stop the city from becoming fully realized. The city's defenses are avatars, or people who are the embodiments of the NYC boroughs, along with an avatar that is the embodiment of the entire city. The avatars must work together to stop the enemy, who is the "White Woman" from another dimension, before the White Woman kills the city and all of its inhabitants.

The premise was intriguing, as well as the discussion of what roles are both physically and metaphorically. The characters, however cringeworthy, did seem to fit into the stereotypes of the NYC boroughs (keep in mind I know little about NYC). But they, along with the entire novel, was just dense. It rattled on and on, which made it difficult for me to want to keep reading. While the ending wasn't a cliffhanger, there was 400 some pages of slow, annoying build and unreliable narratives that just took forever. Then the "climax" happened in a blink and done. It wasn't unsettling, per say, but more of I read all that for nearly nothing?

I've heard nothing but accolades for Jemisin but overall, this book just did not jive with me. And sometimes, we do run into those books that have great promise and you think you'll like but just didn't mesh with you. Perhaps it was what seemed like the never ending rambling narrative or the more science fiction feel of the narrative due to the multi-verse, different dimensions, and other species. Science fiction has never been a genre that I enjoy. That being said, I know that Jemisin has a plethora of books and I do want to try another one, hoping that this is just a one off for me.

Overall, if you enjoy fantasy that is more science fiction and long narratives, this book could be one for you.