Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky is set in a time of political unrest in an occupied country. Sequenced as multiple short poems, the story is told from the perspective of three characters: Alfonso Barabinski, his wife Sonya, and later Momma Galya Armolinskaya.

I really, really enjoyed this book. I don’t want to give away too much of the plot (I was quite surprised it even had one in the first place, considering it’s a book of poems). I really enjoyed Kaminsky’s use of the townspeople’s deafness as a metaphor. However, what I most enjoyed about this book was its relevance to modern times. Kaminsky himself grew up in post-Soviet Ukraine, and while reading the book (even though it was released many years before today’s events in Ukraine), I saw chilling parallels to not only the current wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, but also to the attitudes of many in the United States.

This book is definitely not for the weak of heart; the content is extraordinarily emotional. However, I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a new perspective regarding current and past world events. It’s quite a short read with easily digestible language. There was one particular line that will stick with me forever:

“At the trial of God, we will ask: why did you allow all this? / And the answer will be an echo: why did you allow all this?”

-Vaidehi B.

Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

The City We Became, by N.K. Jemisin, is a sci-fi fantasy novel around themes of hope and belonging.

Have you ever walked through a city at night and felt that it was… alive in some way? Turns out- it might have been. In Jemisin’s carefully crafted (and scientifically accurate!) universe, when cities accumulate enough people and enough culture, they are able to sever themselves from the tether of our universe and be “born” as multidimensional entities- living, breathing organisms. However, the odds are always against it- because the Enemy, obsessed with preserving the spacetime continuum, is always watching and waiting. Each city chooses avatars to protect it- will the avatars of New York City, Earth’s newest birth, rise to the challenge?

This was one of the best fantasy books I’ve read in a long time. Jemisin writes in an easily understandable, prose-y, but uniquely engaging style that I absolutely loved. The plot was incredible too- I love slightly nerdier sci-fi type fantasy plots, and this was perfect! Another one of my favorite aspects of this book was the representation. It didn’t feel heavy-handed or overdone- but the diversity of the characters, whether in ethnicity or in sexuality, really added to the depth of the storytelling in the book through each of their unique struggles. For example, the representation of Padmini, an Indian undocumented immigrant, in Queens, or Bronca, a Lenape art curator in the Bronx, were completely different than what I’ve seen in other books like this- and very much appreciated. I also personally related to the experience of Aislyn, the primary morally-gray (and just masterfully written) character in the book.

This book is part of the Great Cities trilogy, the second book of which (sadly) won’t be released until November 2022. That being said, I would highly, highly recommend this book to anyone!

-Vaidehi B.

The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.