I've heard mixed things about The City We Became and that made me really delay picking it up but I should have trusted my love for NK Jemisin and read this years ago.

All over NYC, avatars of the five boroughs are waking up. They must come together in order to find the primary avatar who represents the city as a whole and save the city from a mysterious threat.

NK Jemisin is fantastic at world building. While The City We Became takes place in our world, there is still a lot of explanation required to understand and avatars and what powers they have. Rather than giving this to us up front, we are discovering information along with the avatars and I really enjoy that style of world building. I also enjoy how distinct each character is and how well thought out their characterization is in comparison with the boroughs they represent. Seeing them find out about themselves and each other is such a fun time. Lastly, the themes of gentrification, distinction between communities, and working with others while maintaining uniqueness make this an urban fantasy that gives something to chew on.

I think my only qualm with the story is the pacing. There is all this build up and at 75% of the way through I started getting concerned about the ending. It felt like there was so much left to do and not enough time to accomplish it. The ending felt really rushed and while you could argue that the story has a conclusion, it left me a bit unsatisfied so you absolutely need the second book, I think. I'll be starting that immediately to see the aftermath of the sudden ending.