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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
I will never read another book by this author. This was just a terrible book. Boring. Slow. Dragged out thin plot. Too many similes!!!
3.5.
o instalove da mei yee e do dai é horrível, os dois n tem química nenhuma. mas o livro valeu apena pela jin ling que é de longe a personagem mais carismática
o instalove da mei yee e do dai é horrível, os dois n tem química nenhuma. mas o livro valeu apena pela jin ling que é de longe a personagem mais carismática
3.5.
o instalove da mei yee e do dai é horrível, os dois n tem química nenhuma. mas o livro valeu apena pela jin ling que é de longe a personagem mais carismática
o instalove da mei yee e do dai é horrível, os dois n tem química nenhuma. mas o livro valeu apena pela jin ling que é de longe a personagem mais carismática
After reading a ton of bad reviews, I was bracing myself for this to be absolutely horrid. I was quite pleasantly surprised and ended up absolutely loving this book! It's quite dark and violent and that's exactly why I loved it! The story totally grabbed my attention right from the start, it reminded me of Six of Crows in some ways and that very much added to my enjoyment of this story. I loved seeing the story from the different points of view, it really added depth to the story. I really can't say enough good things about this book, it was just brilliant!
A girl pretending to be a boy, determined to rescue her sister, if she can find her first - and keep outrunning the vicious street gangs. A boy with secrets, a gun and 18 days to complete an impossible task. A girl sold into prostitution, who is not sure she'll ever be free. All three are living in the Walled City, where their lives are about to converge.
Jin, Dai and Mei Yee do not have an easy journey through this book. They are constantly surrounded by dangerous people and very real threats. I admired their fierce determination, will to survive and the way they all came to care about and fight for each other - as well as themselves. Trust is a rare commodity in their world, and fatal if given to the wrong person, but these three need each other if they're going to make it out alive.
Four elements I want to highlight about The Walled City:
1) Tension. The Walled City kept me on the edge of my seat, constantly looking over my shoulder and worried about what - or whom - would be coming next. The author did an excellent job building tension in the story through Jin, Dai and Mei Yee's three narratives. They are all in very different places when the story begins, but the closer I got to the end and the more their lives converged, the faster I was turning the pages. The cover copy calls this an "adrenaline-fuled novel," a very fitting phrase.
2) Setting. I was completely fascinated by the setting of the book. In many ways it is its own character: Hak Nam, Walled City, or 33,000 people crammed into a 6.5 acre space, built up, instead of out. Gritty, lawless, run by gangs, filled with drugs, prostitution, hoards of vagrants, and very little sunlight. All set right on the edge of a major, modern metropolis. It's a place I could not fathom existing - or existing in, and yet, a version of it was real less than 25 years ago. Now I'm pretty much obsessed with the real Walled City.
The location names have been changed for this book, but the Kowloon Walled City was a real place near Hong Kong. Even though The Walled City is written as an action/adventure story, which it has in plenty, it also reads like historical fiction (though it is not officially the latter). Anytime an author takes real events from the past and weaves them into a fictional story, I get excited. Something about adding true history, makes a story feel more real and grounded to me. I was even more thrilled when I found out the author worked hard to make her book city as close to the real city as possible, even asking a former resident of Kowloon to read her manuscript for authenticity The location of this book is one of my favorite aspects of this story, as is the way some of the real events surrounding the place weaved into this fictional tale.
3) Voice. This book is written in first person, though as I was reading, I kept forgetting that and thinking it was in third person. I agree with fellow blogger Nikki's comments that I actually wish it had been in third person. I got wrapped up in all three of these characters' stories: their secrets, the impossible things they had to do, the pain they suffered, and the ways they grew up and found inner strength and resolve. However, the tones of their voices were all similar. I was never confused whose head I was in, but the individual character voices didn't stand out to me as much as the fast paced way the story fit together and the fascinating setting, both of which made this tale shine.
4) Romance. The romance in this story is not a main element, but it is important and something that stood out to me. First, because its players were a little unexpected for a YA book, but that is also what I really liked about it. The gently budding love story is sweet and innocent first love, but it is also forbidden and incredibly dangerous, as is pretty much any major attachment in this world.
The Walled City is a rush from start to finish. I couldn't stop reading this book or freaking out for the characters. The stakes are high and nothing is guaranteed, but human trafficking is real, redemption can be found in the darkest places, and if all else fails, RUN.
Love triangle factor: None
Cliffhanger scale: standalone
Find this and other reviews on my blog, Love is not a triangle.
Jin, Dai and Mei Yee do not have an easy journey through this book. They are constantly surrounded by dangerous people and very real threats. I admired their fierce determination, will to survive and the way they all came to care about and fight for each other - as well as themselves. Trust is a rare commodity in their world, and fatal if given to the wrong person, but these three need each other if they're going to make it out alive.
Four elements I want to highlight about The Walled City:
1) Tension. The Walled City kept me on the edge of my seat, constantly looking over my shoulder and worried about what - or whom - would be coming next. The author did an excellent job building tension in the story through Jin, Dai and Mei Yee's three narratives. They are all in very different places when the story begins, but the closer I got to the end and the more their lives converged, the faster I was turning the pages. The cover copy calls this an "adrenaline-fuled novel," a very fitting phrase.
2) Setting. I was completely fascinated by the setting of the book. In many ways it is its own character: Hak Nam, Walled City, or 33,000 people crammed into a 6.5 acre space, built up, instead of out. Gritty, lawless, run by gangs, filled with drugs, prostitution, hoards of vagrants, and very little sunlight. All set right on the edge of a major, modern metropolis. It's a place I could not fathom existing - or existing in, and yet, a version of it was real less than 25 years ago. Now I'm pretty much obsessed with the real Walled City.
The location names have been changed for this book, but the Kowloon Walled City was a real place near Hong Kong. Even though The Walled City is written as an action/adventure story, which it has in plenty, it also reads like historical fiction (though it is not officially the latter). Anytime an author takes real events from the past and weaves them into a fictional story, I get excited. Something about adding true history, makes a story feel more real and grounded to me. I was even more thrilled when I found out the author worked hard to make her book city as close to the real city as possible, even asking a former resident of Kowloon to read her manuscript for authenticity The location of this book is one of my favorite aspects of this story, as is the way some of the real events surrounding the place weaved into this fictional tale.
3) Voice. This book is written in first person, though as I was reading, I kept forgetting that and thinking it was in third person. I agree with fellow blogger Nikki's comments that I actually wish it had been in third person. I got wrapped up in all three of these characters' stories: their secrets, the impossible things they had to do, the pain they suffered, and the ways they grew up and found inner strength and resolve. However, the tones of their voices were all similar. I was never confused whose head I was in, but the individual character voices didn't stand out to me as much as the fast paced way the story fit together and the fascinating setting, both of which made this tale shine.
4) Romance. The romance in this story is not a main element, but it is important and something that stood out to me. First, because its players were a little unexpected for a YA book, but that is also what I really liked about it. The gently budding love story is sweet and innocent first love, but it is also forbidden and incredibly dangerous, as is pretty much any major attachment in this world.
The Walled City is a rush from start to finish. I couldn't stop reading this book or freaking out for the characters. The stakes are high and nothing is guaranteed, but human trafficking is real, redemption can be found in the darkest places, and if all else fails, RUN.
Love triangle factor: None
Cliffhanger scale: standalone
Find this and other reviews on my blog, Love is not a triangle.
Jin, Mei Yee, and Dai all live within the labyrinth of the towering buildings and lawless streets of The Walled City. Jin, a girl dressed as a boy, is the fastest runner and uses it to her advantage to stay alive, all the while searching for her long lost sister. Mei Yee, that very same sister, was sold at a young age and works in a brothel for the biggest druglord around. Dai is a boy with secrets of his own, secrets that could tear everything apart.
The Walled City is a story of friendship, family, survival, and learning when the survival of others is more important the survival of oneself. It’s about hope and a failure to give up, even when everything is at its bleakest.
It’s fantastic.
The three main characters are each central and integral to the story and the plot, to the development and understanding, to the themes and the unraveling. Each one brings a different personality, a different desire, a different secret. Each has their own story to tell.
The setting, inside the walls of the Hak Nam Walled City - a place based on the very real Kowloon Walled City that used to exist outside of Hong Kong until the late 80s when it was torn down - is unique and desperate and richly layered. It’s a place of criminals, exiles, lawlessness, and savagery, but it’s also a place people cling to and call home. Not everyone is bad, some are there just trying to make an honest living in a dishonest city.
The plot is whirlwind. The first half I had no idea where the story was going, what the secrets were or how the story would end, just that I had a lot of pages left and no morsels of information to cling to and build theories off of. Then the secrets are revealed and the plot moves. Fast. The last 100 pages move in a blur, a race against time, a page turning dash to find out what happens, how it all comes together, how it ends.
It’s refreshing to read a Young Adult novel that doesn’t focus on the romance, that doesn’t fit into a clearly defined genre, that ends after just one book. And while there is romance, it’s not cheesy, it’s not defined, and there isn’t a love triangle; it’s there as a symbol of hope and escape. It’s not historical fiction, and it’s not a dystopian or a fantasy, but it includes elements of each.
And of course, there’s a cat. I love cats, and even more so when they’re as snarky and awesome as Chma. He stole the show, and his pain hurt me more than anything else I’ve read in awhile. Chma = my heart.
Finally, the fact that this book features Asian characters is another win.
All that being said, this book is not perfect. Some may find the writing style choppy, a problem I didn’t have but can see how others would. Parts of the plot are too convenient as well, and I wish more time could’ve been spent on some of the larger issues at hand: human trafficking, dehumanization, etc.
Overall, a really great, can’t-put-it-down read!
4.5/5 stars - the .5 star is for Chma.
The Walled City is a story of friendship, family, survival, and learning when the survival of others is more important the survival of oneself. It’s about hope and a failure to give up, even when everything is at its bleakest.
It’s fantastic.
The three main characters are each central and integral to the story and the plot, to the development and understanding, to the themes and the unraveling. Each one brings a different personality, a different desire, a different secret. Each has their own story to tell.
The setting, inside the walls of the Hak Nam Walled City - a place based on the very real Kowloon Walled City that used to exist outside of Hong Kong until the late 80s when it was torn down - is unique and desperate and richly layered. It’s a place of criminals, exiles, lawlessness, and savagery, but it’s also a place people cling to and call home. Not everyone is bad, some are there just trying to make an honest living in a dishonest city.
The plot is whirlwind. The first half I had no idea where the story was going, what the secrets were or how the story would end, just that I had a lot of pages left and no morsels of information to cling to and build theories off of. Then the secrets are revealed and the plot moves. Fast. The last 100 pages move in a blur, a race against time, a page turning dash to find out what happens, how it all comes together, how it ends.
It’s refreshing to read a Young Adult novel that doesn’t focus on the romance, that doesn’t fit into a clearly defined genre, that ends after just one book. And while there is romance, it’s not cheesy, it’s not defined, and there isn’t a love triangle; it’s there as a symbol of hope and escape. It’s not historical fiction, and it’s not a dystopian or a fantasy, but it includes elements of each.
And of course, there’s a cat. I love cats, and even more so when they’re as snarky and awesome as Chma. He stole the show, and his pain hurt me more than anything else I’ve read in awhile. Chma = my heart.
Finally, the fact that this book features Asian characters is another win.
All that being said, this book is not perfect. Some may find the writing style choppy, a problem I didn’t have but can see how others would. Parts of the plot are too convenient as well, and I wish more time could’ve been spent on some of the larger issues at hand: human trafficking, dehumanization, etc.
Overall, a really great, can’t-put-it-down read!
4.5/5 stars - the .5 star is for Chma.
2.75
When it comes to books like this one, with such important and touching topics, for me a lot comes down to: care or don't care. It might seem shallow, because there are so many elements to consider when it comes to rating and reviewing books, but there's no denying that for me the actual enjoyment of some books depends on emotional involvement. Which is really strange, because I'm much more of a logical person rather than a sensible, perfectly normal, emotional human being, but oh well.
I should know by now that loving a book by an author does not mean I'll like all of their previous books too. And yet it seems like I haven't learnt my lesson, at all.
Thowback to January(?): I read and loathed The Dark Unwinding, which ended up in my TBR because I loved Rook, the author's latest book.
March: The Tell the Wind and Fire disappointment.
April: I bought The Walled City on a whim, when my desire to read it was based on an intriguing synopsis and a deep love for Wolf by Wolf, Graudin's last book.
Well...The Walled City wasn't nearly as good as Wolf by Wolf. WbW had an astounding writing style paired up with a compelling and touching story and a clever paranormal element.
TWC has a good premise...and that's all.
A story like this should make you feel something. Thousands of souls living in a crowded, infected, violent place from which they can't escape...it's the kind of story that should make you feel disgusted and sad and make you shake and feel for the characters.
Sadly it wasn't the case. We had three povs and none of them made me feel a single thing.
When one of the MC is believed to be dead the reader should be shaking and not making herself a cup of tea not to fall asleep.
The book was fast paced and made for a quick read, but it didn't leave me anything. I did not care for the characters, nor for the romance. I did like the plot, but I didn't like it enough for it to redeem the whole book.
The Walled City was extremely flat. And extremely disappointing.
When it comes to books like this one, with such important and touching topics, for me a lot comes down to: care or don't care. It might seem shallow, because there are so many elements to consider when it comes to rating and reviewing books, but there's no denying that for me the actual enjoyment of some books depends on emotional involvement. Which is really strange, because I'm much more of a logical person rather than a sensible, perfectly normal, emotional human being, but oh well.
I should know by now that loving a book by an author does not mean I'll like all of their previous books too. And yet it seems like I haven't learnt my lesson, at all.
Thowback to January(?): I read and loathed The Dark Unwinding, which ended up in my TBR because I loved Rook, the author's latest book.
March: The Tell the Wind and Fire disappointment.
April: I bought The Walled City on a whim, when my desire to read it was based on an intriguing synopsis and a deep love for Wolf by Wolf, Graudin's last book.
Well...The Walled City wasn't nearly as good as Wolf by Wolf. WbW had an astounding writing style paired up with a compelling and touching story and a clever paranormal element.
TWC has a good premise...and that's all.
A story like this should make you feel something. Thousands of souls living in a crowded, infected, violent place from which they can't escape...it's the kind of story that should make you feel disgusted and sad and make you shake and feel for the characters.
Sadly it wasn't the case. We had three povs and none of them made me feel a single thing.
When one of the MC is believed to be dead the reader should be shaking and not making herself a cup of tea not to fall asleep.
The book was fast paced and made for a quick read, but it didn't leave me anything. I did not care for the characters, nor for the romance. I did like the plot, but I didn't like it enough for it to redeem the whole book.
The Walled City was extremely flat. And extremely disappointing.
4.5 stars.
Raw. Pure. Heartbreaking. Captivating.
The fact that it's based on a real place makes it that much haunting.
I loved the story. The characters are pure. Each of them had a mission to fulfill. The way they get mingled in one story is mesmerizing. The story was well paced. It kept me at the edge. I was rooting for all the characters and it's extremely rare for a reader to root for all different POVs.
I wish I had written such a story.
The only minor issue I had was the epilogue. I don't think it was necessary as some things are better to be left out to make the readers minds wander.
Overall, a very satisfying read. A dystopia that is real and life like characters sewn into that plot; it can't get any better than that.
Definitely recommended, to every reader.
Raw. Pure. Heartbreaking. Captivating.
The fact that it's based on a real place makes it that much haunting.
I loved the story. The characters are pure. Each of them had a mission to fulfill. The way they get mingled in one story is mesmerizing. The story was well paced. It kept me at the edge. I was rooting for all the characters and it's extremely rare for a reader to root for all different POVs.
I wish I had written such a story.
The only minor issue I had was the epilogue. I don't think it was necessary as some things are better to be left out to make the readers minds wander.
Overall, a very satisfying read. A dystopia that is real and life like characters sewn into that plot; it can't get any better than that.
Definitely recommended, to every reader.