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comradealex's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
munchkinator's review against another edition
4.0
Finished this one very quickly. Was a great book full of action and the need to keep reading.
jam143's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Some of the metaphors were super cringeworthy. Also, I did not feel connected to the characters and the plot was too slow in the beginning.
awebster92's review against another edition
4.0
This book follows 3 characters in Kowloon Walled city that was once in Hong Kong. I personally had never heard of this place but I'm now very interested. Jin is a girl pretending to be a boy. She is trying to find her sister that was sold as a sex slave by her abusive father. The sister, Mei Yee, is suffering through the life as a prostitute while helping a boy get information on the gang that runs the brothel. Dai, the boy in Mei Yee's window is the middle ground for both girls. He is trying to redeem himself for a crime that has dishonored his family.
I'm not sure this would be suitable for any child under 16. It does talk about sex slaves, drug use, murder, and gang violence. I loved this book though. 4/5 stars
I received this novel in exchange for an Honest review.
I'm not sure this would be suitable for any child under 16. It does talk about sex slaves, drug use, murder, and gang violence. I loved this book though. 4/5 stars
I received this novel in exchange for an Honest review.
cas_sand's review against another edition
5.0
I don't usually write reviews often, but I felt the need to comment on something as surreal as The Walled City.
I picked up this book because all the characters were Asian. You don't see that often in an industry dominated by white people and a hand full of token black characters that usually don't get the amount of pages they deserve.
Anyway, as I read it I found it kind of odd that everything was so Chinese in this book, because I thought it was a fictional world. It was even stranger since it wasn't written by an Asian person. Eventually, I accidentally flipped to the author's note and read that the walled city really did exist. This captivated me, because my family is from Hong Kong. I've visited numerous times and never realized something as awful as this existed so close to me. This is part of what kept me reading, but the characters did too. The author did a great job keeping me reading. She kept things vague and mysterious throughout the novel by with holding information until it was absolutely vital. I wanted to know about Dai's past badly. And although Jin and Mei Yee's story is one we've probably heard before, and the whole strong sister and pretty sister thing was cheesy, I still loved the characters. I loved that Jin could run faster than any boy in that walled city and could stand her own against them, even though she did need help along the way. I loved that Mei Yee was the pretty one who didn't stand up to her father like her sister did, but she was still strong in her own way. I loved the way she had to face her mother's mistakes and decide whether she would make the same ones too, because it's not that easy to fight for freedom. She wasn't the headstrong heroine doing anything to be free that we're used to.
So yeah, I loved this book.
I picked up this book because all the characters were Asian. You don't see that often in an industry dominated by white people and a hand full of token black characters that usually don't get the amount of pages they deserve.
Anyway, as I read it I found it kind of odd that everything was so Chinese in this book, because I thought it was a fictional world. It was even stranger since it wasn't written by an Asian person. Eventually, I accidentally flipped to the author's note and read that the walled city really did exist. This captivated me, because my family is from Hong Kong. I've visited numerous times and never realized something as awful as this existed so close to me. This is part of what kept me reading, but the characters did too. The author did a great job keeping me reading. She kept things vague and mysterious throughout the novel by with holding information until it was absolutely vital. I wanted to know about Dai's past badly. And although Jin and Mei Yee's story is one we've probably heard before, and the whole strong sister and pretty sister thing was cheesy, I still loved the characters. I loved that Jin could run faster than any boy in that walled city and could stand her own against them, even though she did need help along the way. I loved that Mei Yee was the pretty one who didn't stand up to her father like her sister did, but she was still strong in her own way. I loved the way she had to face her mother's mistakes and decide whether she would make the same ones too, because it's not that easy to fight for freedom. She wasn't the headstrong heroine doing anything to be free that we're used to.
So yeah, I loved this book.
julie_responsibly's review against another edition
4.0
I'm just finishing this, but wanted to get something down before I forget. I love it. So not my genre, but I try to read all new & noteworthy YA these days, and this surprised me by being a favorite even if it is kind of dystopian. The three viewpoints are so well done, there's a cool feminist thing going on that doesn't hit you over the head, no shying away from sexual exploitation, but found a good way to not make it everything that character is about. Just well done on a lot of levels.
patty_creatively_bookish's review against another edition
4.0
story 4/5
characters 4/5
writing 4/5
audio/paper Paper.
reread? Yes.
Recommend it? Yes!
Verhaal: 4/5
Karakters: 4/5
Schrijfstijl: 4/5
Papier/audio? Papier.
Herlezen: Ja.
Aanrader? Zeker!
characters 4/5
writing 4/5
audio/paper Paper.
reread? Yes.
Recommend it? Yes!
Verhaal: 4/5
Karakters: 4/5
Schrijfstijl: 4/5
Papier/audio? Papier.
Herlezen: Ja.
Aanrader? Zeker!
hijinx_abound's review
4.0
I fell in love with Ryan Graudin’s writing style in Wolf by Wolf. Her worlds tend to be bleak and dangerous. A walled city full of criminals, gangs,prostitutes, and street gangs. This cast lets you know right away that, not only is there little hope, there is no safety and no way out. And yet this is a story about family, forgiveness, and never giving up.
There were a lot of things I loved in this book:
-Sisters
- connecting to people on different levels i.e. not everyone is a love interest
-there were no easy rescues or simple “outs”.
-building family when yours is not healthy
-not everyone made it out
This book went really fast for me. Having 3 narrators helped me keep POV’s straight. Finding out that this story came from history was fascinating. I had no idea that such a place existed. I have to mention the epilogue. A lot better f times epilogues go the direction of happily ever after. This epilogue fit the story. Healing takes time and that is reflected.
There were a lot of things I loved in this book:
-Sisters
- connecting to people on different levels i.e. not everyone is a love interest
-there were no easy rescues or simple “outs”.
-building family when yours is not healthy
-not everyone made it out
This book went really fast for me. Having 3 narrators helped me keep POV’s straight. Finding out that this story came from history was fascinating. I had no idea that such a place existed. I have to mention the epilogue. A lot better f times epilogues go the direction of happily ever after. This epilogue fit the story. Healing takes time and that is reflected.