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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
I believe this book was inspired by a real city in Hong Kong. It was completely ungoverned so it quickly became a den for criminals. This book contained to carry on its strong Asian influences, you could see it in the setting, mannerisms, and culture.
This story was told through three point of views, but mostly through Dai and Jin. These were the POVs I preferred. Dai is older he has been in the city for more than a year. He is working on trying to get closer to the king pin of the city. He met Jin and convinced him to help run drugs for that crime boss.
Jin and her cat were probably my favorite characters. Jin is a young homeless girl dressing as a boy to avoid be taken to the brothels. She is trying to find her older sister and help her escape.
These two characters were more engaging and had more visible character arcs. Mei Yee had a quieter impact compare to the other two. I felt she was more of the driving force that propelled the other two characters forward.
I really enjoyed this story overall. There were gangsters, crime bosses, brothels, friendships, family, and so many trust issues. This story wasn’t afraid to get gritty and dark like the forbidden city it takes place in. This is a long book just over 400 pages and unfortunately it wasn’t always able to keep its momentum. I don’t think the book needed to be that long. Graudin does have a flowerly way of writing and there were so many moments were it didn’t match the situation.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book. I give it a B.
This story was told through three point of views, but mostly through Dai and Jin. These were the POVs I preferred. Dai is older he has been in the city for more than a year. He is working on trying to get closer to the king pin of the city. He met Jin and convinced him to help run drugs for that crime boss.
Jin and her cat were probably my favorite characters. Jin is a young homeless girl dressing as a boy to avoid be taken to the brothels. She is trying to find her older sister and help her escape.
These two characters were more engaging and had more visible character arcs. Mei Yee had a quieter impact compare to the other two. I felt she was more of the driving force that propelled the other two characters forward.
I really enjoyed this story overall. There were gangsters, crime bosses, brothels, friendships, family, and so many trust issues. This story wasn’t afraid to get gritty and dark like the forbidden city it takes place in. This is a long book just over 400 pages and unfortunately it wasn’t always able to keep its momentum. I don’t think the book needed to be that long. Graudin does have a flowerly way of writing and there were so many moments were it didn’t match the situation.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book. I give it a B.
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Walled City was an exciting book with an engaging plot, interesting characters, and a vivid setting.
The narration was split between Dai (a boy in the city doing jobs for a mobster), Jin (a girl, pretending to be a boy, who got caught up with Dai while she was trying to find her sister), and Mei Yee (Jin's sister, who was sold into sex work by her father). They all had unique motivations, habits, and traits that made them both memorable and different from each other.
The book is over 400 pages, but I sped through it and never wanted to put it down.
If you have not heard of the Kowloon Walled City (which is called Hak Nam in this book) or you don't know that much about it, I recommend you look it up (before or after you read the book, although I think the setting was especially vivid because I had learned a little bit about the Walled City before reading it). It is fascinating. I recommend watching a series of YouTube videos titled "Kowloon Walled City Documentary + english subtitles" parts 1-4. The quality of the video isn't great, they're narrated in German or Austrian (I'm not sure, and neither is the uploader), and it'll take about 40 minutes to watch all four, but they give great insight into the city. If you search "Kowloon Walled City" on YouTube the first part should come up. There's also a Wall Street Journal video (called "City of Imagination: Kowloon Walled City 20 Years Later") which I have not watched, but is probably pretty interesting as well.
Basically, this book is great for people (like me) who are fascinated by unusual things (like the Walled City). And it has made me very excited for Ryan Graudin's next book, Wolf by Wolf.
The narration was split between Dai (a boy in the city doing jobs for a mobster), Jin (a girl, pretending to be a boy, who got caught up with Dai while she was trying to find her sister), and Mei Yee (Jin's sister, who was sold into sex work by her father). They all had unique motivations, habits, and traits that made them both memorable and different from each other.
The book is over 400 pages, but I sped through it and never wanted to put it down.
If you have not heard of the Kowloon Walled City (which is called Hak Nam in this book) or you don't know that much about it, I recommend you look it up (before or after you read the book, although I think the setting was especially vivid because I had learned a little bit about the Walled City before reading it). It is fascinating. I recommend watching a series of YouTube videos titled "Kowloon Walled City Documentary + english subtitles" parts 1-4. The quality of the video isn't great, they're narrated in German or Austrian (I'm not sure, and neither is the uploader), and it'll take about 40 minutes to watch all four, but they give great insight into the city. If you search "Kowloon Walled City" on YouTube the first part should come up. There's also a Wall Street Journal video (called "City of Imagination: Kowloon Walled City 20 Years Later") which I have not watched, but is probably pretty interesting as well.
Basically, this book is great for people (like me) who are fascinated by unusual things (like the Walled City). And it has made me very excited for Ryan Graudin's next book, Wolf by Wolf.
i absolutely loved this. the characters, the atmosphere, the grit. fascinating read. 4.5, highly recommend
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.5 Stars
High rating becuz I really liked how strong Jin Ling and Mei Yee was (I'm biased towards strong female characters :). This book kept me on edge for most of the story because I wanted to understand the counting down of the days so badly. Overall, I enjoyed the story and the climax but i was a bit dissatisfied with the ending thus 4.5 stars instead of 5. I flew through the book within 2 days. I was really interested in the premise and went to look up on Kowloon walled city and watched a documentary on it which really shows how literally dark the place was.
High rating becuz I really liked how strong Jin Ling and Mei Yee was (I'm biased towards strong female characters :). This book kept me on edge for most of the story because I wanted to understand the counting down of the days so badly. Overall, I enjoyed the story and the climax but i was a bit dissatisfied with the ending thus 4.5 stars instead of 5. I flew through the book within 2 days. I was really interested in the premise and went to look up on Kowloon walled city and watched a documentary on it which really shows how literally dark the place was.
FULL BLOG REVIEW
7.0/10 ✩
I have mixed feelings for this book. It was a fast-paced and exciting read. Ryan Graudin has a beautiful and poetic writing style, but unexpectedly, it left the world hard to picture. The strong topics discussed in the book opened my eyes to the harsh reality of things. Most authors would try avoid the darkness of prostitution and murder, but Graudin hid nothing. It made the story much more interesting and in-depth. Although this book wasn't a "light read," it was definitely easy to get through and left me wanting more. Overall, the characters, plot, and world building was meh, but the writing style was superb.
7.0/10 ✩
I have mixed feelings for this book. It was a fast-paced and exciting read. Ryan Graudin has a beautiful and poetic writing style, but unexpectedly, it left the world hard to picture. The strong topics discussed in the book opened my eyes to the harsh reality of things. Most authors would try avoid the darkness of prostitution and murder, but Graudin hid nothing. It made the story much more interesting and in-depth. Although this book wasn't a "light read," it was definitely easy to get through and left me wanting more. Overall, the characters, plot, and world building was meh, but the writing style was superb.
Well this turned out to be a trainwreck of a book and it had such a interesting premise and storyline but well it fell flat on its face so in the end I pretty much forced myself to finish the rest of it as I couldn't stand the characters anymore.
A summery for The Walled City:
There are three rules in the Walled City:
Run fast. Trust no one.
Always carry your knife.
Right now, my life depends completely on the first.
Run, Run, Run.
Dai traffics drugs for the most ruthless man in the Walled City. To find freedom, he needs help from someone who can be invisible...
Jin hides under the radar, evading the street gangs as she searches for long lost sister...
Mei Yee is trapped in a brothel, dreaming of escape but the girls who try fail and die...
Damaged and betrayed, can these three find the faith to join forces and escape the city walls?
Yeah this book started out okay...For the first few chapter then it just dragged on and on and on and by the time I'd reached the half way mark I couldn't care less about either Dai, Jin or Mei Yee they where just flat uninteresting characters with their own boring stories that just never shut the fuck up why try and go give me a fucking cop-out ending? I wasted my time on this book and I just wanted to get it over and done with and I will be sure to unhaul this book as it was yet another lump of disappointment and it just isn't worth your time or money to read no really for a dystopian book it was a waste of time reading about characters I didn't give a shit about.
Trust me very few books get this rating but yeah I hated this book.
A summery for The Walled City:
There are three rules in the Walled City:
Run fast. Trust no one.
Always carry your knife.
Right now, my life depends completely on the first.
Run, Run, Run.
Dai traffics drugs for the most ruthless man in the Walled City. To find freedom, he needs help from someone who can be invisible...
Jin hides under the radar, evading the street gangs as she searches for long lost sister...
Mei Yee is trapped in a brothel, dreaming of escape but the girls who try fail and die...
Damaged and betrayed, can these three find the faith to join forces and escape the city walls?
Yeah this book started out okay...For the first few chapter then it just dragged on and on and on and by the time I'd reached the half way mark I couldn't care less about either Dai, Jin or Mei Yee they where just flat uninteresting characters with their own boring stories that just never shut the fuck up why try and go give me a fucking cop-out ending? I wasted my time on this book and I just wanted to get it over and done with and I will be sure to unhaul this book as it was yet another lump of disappointment and it just isn't worth your time or money to read no really for a dystopian book it was a waste of time reading about characters I didn't give a shit about.
Trust me very few books get this rating but yeah I hated this book.
