The Pike family is the most famous family in Fairharbor. This started with the matriarch and grandmother, Carmen who is a film director and producer. Her fame has created opportunities, but also rivalry. On the day of her death, Fairharbor is split into two cities, one permanently in winter and the other permanently in summer. Across these two cities, cousins Esther and Jamie both remember their family as the struggle for survival in their version of the city. Then they discover they can communicate with each other in small spaces where their two worlds meld.

I liked the concept of the book and so much of the imagery was great. I struggled with how disjointed the writing felt, and when I figured out that it was two writers that made a lot of sense. You can feel that the disconnect between the two.

Thank you NetGalley and Titan books for this ARC!

I loved the idea of this book and thought it sounded intriguing but I was just left feeling massively disappointed.

The good: I enjoyed the writing, you couldn’t tell that it was written by two different authors, it was cohesive and flowed nicely. I enjoyed the dual pov too and how they had differing opinions on family.

Unfortunately the story let it down for me. This felt like more of a family saga to me with just a small sprinkling of magic. There were some aspects I found confusing like ‘fenestration’. I’m not going to lie about 50% of the way through the book I skimmed the rest as I really wasn’t engaged in the story at all.

City of All Seasons was marketed to me as a mix of fantasy, science fiction, dystopia and magical realism. The premise is simple and so different: We have two different versions of the same city that are polar opposites in terms of weather and mindset. The atmosphere was very well done, so much so that one can almost feel the freezing cold and the oppressive heat.

I would say, however, that this book falls more into the the magical realism genre than any other. And, unfortunately, it didn’t work for me. I did not connect with the characters at all, there are multiple plot holes or world building topics that are not explained and, with a few exceptions, I was confused and distracted with the pacing overall. I was hoping that I would reach the end and all the pieces would fall into place, but they never did and the conclusion felt rushed and very anti-climatic.

On a brighter side, this book is definitely very cinematic and has some very interesting symbolisms. I have the feeling that this would be a great read for readers who just accepts magical systems at face value, but I’m always looking for logic (even in made up magic systems, I know, sue me) so that affected my overall enjoyment.

Thank you so much to Titan Books and NetGalley for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for an Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review.

City of All Seasons is a speculative fiction novel that tells the story of two cousins, Jamie and Esther Pike. Eight years before the start of the narrative, a supposed ‘weather bomb’ strikes the island of Fairharbour. While they believe each other lost in the unprecedented natural disaster, Jamie discovers that the city was in half cut into two dimensions. While he lives in an endless, freezing cold, bitter winter, his cousin Esther exist in the other version of Fairharbour, where a blistering summer has taken over.

As the cousins search for a way to unite the two Fairharbours and reunite the existing members of their family, they discover layers upon layers of family secrets, many buried beneath the ice of Jamie’s frozen Fairharbour. A murdered grandmother and her once-successful films, a pair of vindictive uncles with a life-long vendetta against each other, a mayor that seems to be more nature than man, and a rebellion in the summer city. Henry, a secondary character and another cousin in the Pike orbit, was a particular favorite of mine.

The ending was a bit abrupt and bittersweet for my personal taste, but overall, Langmead and Whiteley have constructed a compelling and thoughtful story that reminded me at times of Station Eleven. Quite the feat. I hope they continue to write together in the future – if so, I’ll be reading it.

Unfortunately I won't be able to provide an indepth review on this book, as after multiple attempts I've decided to DNF it. I have loved Aliya Whiteley's writing in the past and enjoyed the writingstyle in this novel. The concept was incredibly interesting and I liked the idea of nested stories within stories in theory. Unfortunately, the overarching story and characters completely failed to capture me, and I found myself so incredibly bored that the words went in one side of my brain and straight out the other.

Thank you to Titan Books for providing me with an ARC. Unfortunately I cannot recommend this book based on my experience with it..

Fairharbour exists in two places; one is eternally in summer, the other eternally in winter. Two cousins, on either side of this rift, must find a way to communicate, and pull the two towns back together, while avoiding their authoritarian controllers.

I enjoyed a lot about this book. The worldbuilding - on both sides - was great, with a lot of fun parallels and mirrored twists. Most of the characters were engaging, clearly defined, and had their own plans and ambitions that helped push the plot forwards. Flashbacks are paced extremely well, and only ever build on what we know of the plot, without dragging it backwards (impressive, considering how frequently they appear). However, the pacing as a whole often floundered. The dual viewpoints, rather than weaving seamlessly together, often feel like a restart as we hop back into the other town, and take a few pages to get back into the action.

Somehow this book with an incredibly cool premise - different versions of the same city stuck in different seasons ruled by an oppressive regime - was so boring I could barely keep my eyes open and subsequently don’t have much else to say about it.

This book was like reading one of my dreams - a fusion of sci fi, fantasy and dystopia. A city that has been split into two worlds, eternal summer and eternal winter. What we are given is two cousins trying to reach each other and giving us parts of their lives through stories and memories. It reads like a fairytale and lulls you into a dream state. I enjoyed the surrealism and the idea of the plot, I enjoyed understanding the family dynamic through memories and childhood wonder. The middle part became quite repetitive and I felt like I was waiting for ‘the final battle’ to happen but the end felt slightly anticlimactic. The character of the mayor was my favourite and I loved the idea of his physical attributes and how he moved the plot along.
The book was very symbolic and I would recommend this if you like family and political corruption and filmography!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending an advance copy of the book

ENGLISH

City of All Seasons is a bit of science fiction, dystopia, and magical realism. It follows the story of a city separated into two realities: one lives in eternal winter, where Jamie lives, and the other is always in summer, where Jamie's cousin, Esther, lives, both sides unaware of the other's existence. Because of this mix of genres, the book reminded me of many things (the tv shows Awake and Lost, the story of Cain and Abel), and yet it managed to be original. The narrative in two points of view is linear, but Jamie's point of view was more interesting to me; I think his chapters have a lyricism that I liked. But, don't get me wrong, both authors convey the sensations of cold and heat and other dualities in the plot very well. The writing style and the way the story is told was one of the most different things I've read this year, and that's exactly why it won't please everyone. The authors don't give away all the answers, and for me, that's a positive point. The ending may seem disappointing to some, but the plot of this book is about family, the ending should be about the Pikes, in the same way that Lost was about the connections between those who were on the island. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is willing to give something more experimental a chance.

Two cousins must find a way to connect their two halves of the same city blown apart across dimensions by a myserious weatherbomb, one stuck in perpetual summer and the other in pemanent winter. A clever, multi-layered novel with a premise I haven't come across before. It sits more in the speculative fantasy space than sci-fi, blending stories about folklore and technology. The partnership between Langmead and Whiteley works well, creating distinct voices for Esther and Jamie. Overall a really fun and interesting read.

I read this courtesy NetGalley and Titan Books. A city divided into extremes because of what we are told is a weatherbomb (all too reasonable, with the rise of technology and reckless disregard of humanity in general), we have a story that looks at how mankind has to adapt in horrific weather climate circumstances. Cousins Jamie and Esther are trapped on opposing sides of Fairharbour, where one side of the city is basically frozen, like Narnia with the White Witch always winter, and the other side of the city is the opposite, all glaring summer. How they survive, what really happened, and the remaining, mesmerizing films of their late grandmother, the famed filmmaker Carmen Pike, used as commentary of their separate existences makes this story a memorable one.

#CityofAllSeasons #NetGalley

I thought that the City of All Seasons had such a cool premise & a fresh twist on the whole seasonal powers/locations theme. I really liked how the world felt unique and different from others in the genre, even though it plays with some familiar ideas. The atmosphere was strong, and the concept kept me interested throughout. Overall, a really solid and creative take on a well-loved theme!

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!

This book was a weird but interesting combination of whimsy fairy tale and sci fi/fantasy shenanigans. Not sure which category to put it in because it has elements of all of them and they really don’t work that well together in this story.

The writing was good but also I kept wanting to skip ahead, wanting to get to the point. Lots of repetitive storytelling and while I enjoyed how the family and town lore fed into what was happening, it only seemed to make me more confused. The magic system didn’t make sense for example.

While I enjoyed learning about the mystery about the twin cities, this story was not for me. 3.5/5 ⭐️

I saw another review that likened this book to a fairytale, and I totally agree with that assessment - namely in the convenient “unexplainableness” of the magic, the narrative distance from the characters, and the side characters as caricatures.

I kept reaching for something deeper and hitting a wall. Jamie and Esther were around 18 years old, but they felt like 30+ year old adults. Even their nostalgia wasn’t very teenage. So even though the sundering kind of had to happen when they were still kids, in order to hold up their part in the mystery, and they couldn’t have been separated for too long because the winter city would definitely run out of food and supplies eventually (shocked it hadn’t happened already - and the practicalities of living there weren’t explained at all), it just didn’t feel right. I kept wondering like “where do they get food? How do they handle medical emergencies? What sort of infrastructure exists beyond a cult of angry men on both sides?”

Overall, and especially with the various side characters who act as different levels of villain throughout the story, it felt more like one long drawn-out metaphor rather than a story in its own right. With long chapters that sometimes only amounted to passing a whimsical device to their counterpart, despite its length the pacing suffered and it began to feel repetitive.

My favorite parts were the flashbacks to the family memories and the films.

Since the alleged weatherbomb eight years ago, Jamie is trapped in perpetual Winter, so cold it is dangerous where the Doormen brick the city shut. Esther is trapped in a sweating Summer where there exits the Fenestration to make holes in everything.
The cousins realise that perhaps their missing loved ones didn’t disappear or die, perhaps they exist in an overlaid city. They start exchanging objects they tinker with, trying to remember the past and figure out the future.

We have two cities composed of opposites - more than just their weather. one wants to preserver everything, one wants to tear everything down and start again.

You could viscerally feel the weather. The biting cold and dripping sun.

<b>Perhaps we only learn to stand up against others when they take away our places to sit.
</b>
I would say this is more magical realism than science fiction or fantasy. There are a lot of unanswered questions or impossible happenings that are breezed over. However, I felt fairly satisfied with the scant information and confusion of the characters themselves that this didn’t detract too much.

The ending was anti-climatic and rushed. It felt like they ran out of steam when the twist was revealed.

This would make a brilliant film and I wonder if that was in the authors’ minds as their grandmother (the moving piece of this story), is a famous artistic genius.

Random side note: It took me a while to realise Jamie was a boy.

Physical arc gifted by Titan Books.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book! I appreciate it.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t click with this. I made it to 40% and I decided not to finish. Jamie’s chapters were well written, but I found myself to be bored; it provided the “what” but no “so what” to the plot. Esther’s chapters felt incredibly dull and I couldn’t click with her character. I felt like I didn’t care what happened to Esther or Jamie.
The world building had potential but the delivery fell short. The Doormen in Jamie’s world made sense; the bad action taken by them is due to survival (though morally wrong). The Fenestration on the other hand… holes?!? What’s the point? Where the depth in the ideology?
Again, thank you for this opportunity!!

This was such a beautifully strange novel. It reminded me of an episode of The Twilight Zone. I read an eARC of this novel so thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley.

This novel is written from two POVs. Two cousins each trapped in a version of a city. One forever summer, the other trapped in an endless winter. Both facing different challenges associated with the extreme weather from menacing local administration. In summer the fenestration committee is knocking holes in every wall for ventilation, ruining the buildings. In winter, they brick up all the doors. Our characters find themselves with fewer rights and freedoms as the local administrations become more extreme.

All the while, they start to uncover clues. Clues about the parallel city, clues about what happened to cause the split, and clues about their mysterious grandmother. Their grandmother was a film-maker and we see glimpses of her films and legacy throughout the book, as well as the family history and local mythology. This was absolutely fascinating. I loved how the history and mythology built throughout the story, both about the island they live on and the city itself, but also their own family anecdotes.

I thoroughly enjoyed the way this was told through the parallel cities and the different challenges each face. This was so cleverly done and created something that felt really immersive. This was a unique and memorable read.

Thank you to Oliver K. Langmead, Aliya Whiteley, Titan Books, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was expecting a more strongly leaning sci-fi book than speculative fiction. Coupled with the dual POV / first person / present tense, I couldn’t carry on. I can definitely see the book working for some.

The synopsis was better than what I read. I think the idea was phenomenal but when it came to execution, this is where the book suffered the most.

City of All Seasons is an interesting mix of fantasy, science fiction, dystopia and magical realism. The resulting story reads like a fairytale, so if you enjoy fairytales and their retellings, this might be a great book for you.

Unfortunately, however, that was the reason it didn't quite work for me. There are elements to the fairytale that I don't enjoy in books I read, specifically emotional distance from the characters and a whimsical kind of magical realism. I'm a big fantasy reader, but I like magic systems to be based on some kind of sense or logic. In many fairytales (and in this book) random things are magic just because, which means that anything can happen at anytime, and then I find I just can't get invested.

There were also things I enjoyed: the writing was good, even great at times, and I liked Jamie as a character. The start of the novel is strong, and I felt myself drawn into the mystery of the city and its characters. I enjoyed the family lore that gets explored throughout the story, even though in the end it didn't tie into the main narrative as much as I would have liked.

About halfway through, though, the story became a little repetitive to me and I felt like not much was happening. The ending was the weakest part to me: the story became increasingly surreal and symbolic, and I felt that the ending was rather anticlimactic.

On the whole, I would still recommend the book if you enjoy magical realism and fairytales.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Titan Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.