David Bremner reviewed The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin
An easy intro to Jemisin's writing
4 stars
This is more of a fun read than the Broken Earth series. Probably correspondingly less rewarding in the end. I think it could almost qualify as YA, as long as your idea of YA includes some (tasteful) sexual content.
Race and privilege are part of the setting in a way that feels quite natural. One thing I liked is that the mechanics of magic and interaction with gods also feels quite natural. It can be challenging to construct plots with such powerful characters who still face challenges and conflicts. It does get a bit Deus Ex Machina at the end (the plot device, not the video game). On the other hand, at least the rest of the book was about gods, so it is less jarring than it could be.