Book Review : The City & The City #shorts
In a concise, informal YouTube short, the reviewer offers a personal assessment of China Miéville's novel The City & The City. Using his own "Brilliant to Bollocks" rating scale, he assigns the book a "half brilliant" score. He likens the novel’s dystopian atmosphere to George Orwell’s 1984, noting its political commentary and the novel’s central premise of two overlapping cities where citizens must consciously "see" and "unsee" each other. The reviewer, identifying as neurodiverse, admits difficulty parsing the book’s descriptive passages, which led him to watch the TV adaptation for clarification. He praises Miéville’s noir‑style writing, appreciating its tone and craftsmanship, but feels some descriptive elements were overly concealed for later plot reveals, which diminished his experience. Overall, he acknowledges the book’s critical acclaim while expressing a mixed personal reaction.
