5/5 stars

I didn’t necessarily feel The City We Became needed a sequel, but I grabbed it as soon as I could of course.

And while the first book tied up most of the loose ends, the big one of course remained: what’s going to happen to Staten Island under R’lyeh’s control?

The white tentacles are less of a common occurrence, but the influence is undeniable. Political campaigns saying the quiet part out loud, dog-whistling "artists" invading Bronka’s centre and a mysterious donor who could help so much if only she doesn’t look deeper and accepts the teeeny request they have on her otherwise indisputable and unimpeachable freedom to choose whom to platform and whom not to.

And of course this is the perfect time for Manhattan’s past to catch up with him.

The danger here is greater, the stakes are higher and we learn about the events beyond this particular reality and the cities that didn’t make it.

And it’s still a great book. I love the characters — how they’re not your typical super heroes, but also not you atypical ones either. They feel far more like genuine human beings. There’s conflict, disagreement and just being so fucking done with this shit. And yet they try to do their best.

I’ve had fun reading it though it lost a little of the original’s allure as that’s now a familiar territory and so things had to escalate.

This review was originally posted at Goodreads.

by Tomas Sedovic on 8th July, 2024