--- description: Find out why The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin is on TIME's list of the must-read books from this year. title: 'The City We Became' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c9691a011936566/698a14084ee262033f318144/best-books-2020-City-We-Became.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 09, 2020 # The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  While the catastrophes in [N.K. Jemisin](https://time.com/collection/100-best-fantasy-books/5898000/nk-jemisin-fantasy-novels/ "undefined")’s famed _Broken Earth_ trilogy—each of which won a Hugo Award for best novel—threatened those living in a far-off future, in [_The City We Became_](https://time.com/5802555/nk-jemisin-the-city-we-became/ "undefined") she imbues modern New York City with vivid fantasy. It is under attack from the Enemy, a representation of white supremacy. (The novel alludes to famed early 20th-century science fiction author H. P. Lovecraft’s racism and hate for the city.) The avatars that, to their surprise, represent and must protect the five boroughs thus bond together to try to fight off the Enemy—making their diversity their strength in the face of dark forces that sometimes feel less fantastical than familiar. **Buy Now:** _The City We Became_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780316509848 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316509841/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0316509841&linkId=70af96c88ee6b4608a6acb6f934ddce4 "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904421/the-city-we-became/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904421/the-city-we-became/"},"headline":"'The City We Became' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020","datePublished":"2020-11-09T20:07:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:44:27.503Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904421/the-city-we-became/","keywords":["E-Commerce","Books","list"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c9691a011936566/698a14084ee262033f318144/best-books-2020-City-We-Became.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c9691a011936566/698a14084ee262033f318144/best-books-2020-City-We-Became.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904421/the-city-we-became/","name":"'The City We Became' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020"}}]}] ```