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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
**3.5**
This book is so thrilling. It sucks you into the story from the very first sentence. Although the villian seemed a bit cliche at times and there were some really awkward references to Asian culture, I enjoyed this book!!
This book is so thrilling. It sucks you into the story from the very first sentence. Although the villian seemed a bit cliche at times and there were some really awkward references to Asian culture, I enjoyed this book!!
*thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review*
Imagine a small, enclosed city without any real semblance of order, where drug lords run rampant, women are trafficked into the sex trade, and children go hungry. Dai, haunted by the sins of his past, has less than three weeks left in the Walled City to complete a mysterious job. Jin has been searching for the past two years for her sister, Mei Yee, who was sold to a brothel pay their father’s debts. She hides the fact that she’s a girl and tries to outwit and outrun gangs of vagrant boys. Dai and Jin begin an uneasy partnership running drugs for the Brotherhood, keeping their own interests in mind.
This was a gripping and action packed story with believable characters. Each chapter alternates between Dai, Jin, and Mei Yee; though it took a few chapters for me to distinguish between the three, each voice became distinct. Readers will learn early on that it is more of a thriller and nothing at all like The Maze Runner which I admit is what I first thought of when I read the description. It felt more realistic than dystopian; the “Walled City” in this novel is based on a real former military fort turned ungoverned settlement in Hong Kong. My mouth dropped open when I read that in the Author’s Note, though to be honest the whole time I was wondering if such a thing ever existed. This book is hard to pen down genre wise, but I think it could have a lot of appeal to older readers.
Imagine a small, enclosed city without any real semblance of order, where drug lords run rampant, women are trafficked into the sex trade, and children go hungry. Dai, haunted by the sins of his past, has less than three weeks left in the Walled City to complete a mysterious job. Jin has been searching for the past two years for her sister, Mei Yee, who was sold to a brothel pay their father’s debts. She hides the fact that she’s a girl and tries to outwit and outrun gangs of vagrant boys. Dai and Jin begin an uneasy partnership running drugs for the Brotherhood, keeping their own interests in mind.
This was a gripping and action packed story with believable characters. Each chapter alternates between Dai, Jin, and Mei Yee; though it took a few chapters for me to distinguish between the three, each voice became distinct. Readers will learn early on that it is more of a thriller and nothing at all like The Maze Runner which I admit is what I first thought of when I read the description. It felt more realistic than dystopian; the “Walled City” in this novel is based on a real former military fort turned ungoverned settlement in Hong Kong. My mouth dropped open when I read that in the Author’s Note, though to be honest the whole time I was wondering if such a thing ever existed. This book is hard to pen down genre wise, but I think it could have a lot of appeal to older readers.
1.35/5 (The .35 is out of pity for how I didn’t finish this.)
A day and a half ago, I was telling you all I didn’t want to DNF it. Now, I’m DNFing it.
If you’re familiar with my (work in progress) 2016 favorites shelf, you’re aware that a lovely little number called Wolf by Wolf is featured in it. That book is so great. (If you’re not familiar: 1. It’s YA and a hypothetical historical fiction, exploring a different scenario in which the Axis powers won World War II and also centering on a badass global motorcycle race; and 2. Pick. It. Up.) If you are familiar, you may know that the sequel came out earlier this week. It is one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I am unbearably excited and continually checking my Amazon shipping status.
If you’re wondering why I’m yammering on about this duology, it’s because they’re by the same author. I’ve been anticipating reading this book for a long time but I’ve saved it for the final pre-sequel stretch, both to stave off my crippling enthusiasm and to remind me why I loved the book.
Here’s the thing, though. I hated this book.
The characters were flat, the writing was mediocre to rough, and--worst flaw of all when compared to Wolf by Wolf--this shindig was goddamn boring.
Also, what the hell genre is this? Unless an entire history from today until when this book takes place was revealed in the last stretch, I see no reason to believe this is a dystopia. If it’s fantasy, it’s the lamest fantasy ever. Things like Styrofoam and Gucci exist?! So uncreative. Bleh.
I had to stop reading because this was killing my excitement, and I refuse to allow for that to happen. This was making me question just how creative Graudin’s concept of hypothetical history was. She wrote it, of course, half a century after The Man in the High Castle was published, and likely in the wake of a renewal of that story’s readership when the Amazon series was announced. (God, what a great series.)
Anyway. So goes a DNF. I hate doing this, guys, mainly because it makes me feel unqualified to complain. But…
Bottom line: I found this book silly, confusing, flat, uncreative and boring, as well as an excitement-killing monster. Nope, nope, nope-ity nope.
A day and a half ago, I was telling you all I didn’t want to DNF it. Now, I’m DNFing it.
If you’re familiar with my (work in progress) 2016 favorites shelf, you’re aware that a lovely little number called Wolf by Wolf is featured in it. That book is so great. (If you’re not familiar: 1. It’s YA and a hypothetical historical fiction, exploring a different scenario in which the Axis powers won World War II and also centering on a badass global motorcycle race; and 2. Pick. It. Up.) If you are familiar, you may know that the sequel came out earlier this week. It is one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I am unbearably excited and continually checking my Amazon shipping status.
If you’re wondering why I’m yammering on about this duology, it’s because they’re by the same author. I’ve been anticipating reading this book for a long time but I’ve saved it for the final pre-sequel stretch, both to stave off my crippling enthusiasm and to remind me why I loved the book.
Here’s the thing, though. I hated this book.
The characters were flat, the writing was mediocre to rough, and--worst flaw of all when compared to Wolf by Wolf--this shindig was goddamn boring.
Also, what the hell genre is this? Unless an entire history from today until when this book takes place was revealed in the last stretch, I see no reason to believe this is a dystopia. If it’s fantasy, it’s the lamest fantasy ever. Things like Styrofoam and Gucci exist?! So uncreative. Bleh.
I had to stop reading because this was killing my excitement, and I refuse to allow for that to happen. This was making me question just how creative Graudin’s concept of hypothetical history was. She wrote it, of course, half a century after The Man in the High Castle was published, and likely in the wake of a renewal of that story’s readership when the Amazon series was announced. (God, what a great series.)
Anyway. So goes a DNF. I hate doing this, guys, mainly because it makes me feel unqualified to complain. But…
Bottom line: I found this book silly, confusing, flat, uncreative and boring, as well as an excitement-killing monster. Nope, nope, nope-ity nope.
Looking at some of the other GReads reviews, I don't get what they did not like for I absolutely loved this novel. It's based on a real place, I love the alternating chapters of the main characters. I was hooked from beginning to end. I also believe that we need more diversity in novels, and with Asian protagonists, this is a good addition to any collection. It's exciting, fast-paced and heartfelt.
Writing this review a couple of months after finishing it, I still remember my overarching feeling towards this book: Wow. That's messed up.
I don't mean the book itself, the writing or really my enjoyment of it. The world is describes is what is messed up. It is dark and dangerous with elements that shocked me considering that this was being marketed as a young adult book.
There are drugs and the use of drugs for coercion. There are sex slaves, kidnapping, and torture. There are broken families and broken individuals. The scenes that those things occur in were very shocking to me, and even given my poor memory of books after finishing them, I can still remember my reaction to the book.
The three different narrators were fun to me, and once I became immersed in the book I was able to more easily tell them apart (especially given that their situations and environments were completely different). I remember being most confused about the status of the Walled City in the first half. What was it? Why was it there? What time is this story taking place in? Obviously all of that becomes clearer by the end and particularly by the note that explains that this type of urban environment is based on reality. But I think I would have benefited from knowing that bit in the beginning or at least a little earlier.
I will agree with other reviewers about the note of the happily ever after not quite matching what the rest of the book was like. I wanted the characters to be happy and I was left in suspense over certain events in the plot, but to have everything tied up like that in the end was almost more jarring than the corruption and evils by that point.
I would definitely recommend this book for those looking for a darker read in a dystopian environment that could actually exist.
I don't mean the book itself, the writing or really my enjoyment of it. The world is describes is what is messed up. It is dark and dangerous with elements that shocked me considering that this was being marketed as a young adult book.
There are drugs and the use of drugs for coercion. There are sex slaves, kidnapping, and torture. There are broken families and broken individuals. The scenes that those things occur in were very shocking to me, and even given my poor memory of books after finishing them, I can still remember my reaction to the book.
The three different narrators were fun to me, and once I became immersed in the book I was able to more easily tell them apart (especially given that their situations and environments were completely different). I remember being most confused about the status of the Walled City in the first half. What was it? Why was it there? What time is this story taking place in? Obviously all of that becomes clearer by the end and particularly by the note that explains that this type of urban environment is based on reality. But I think I would have benefited from knowing that bit in the beginning or at least a little earlier.
I will agree with other reviewers about the note of the happily ever after not quite matching what the rest of the book was like. I wanted the characters to be happy and I was left in suspense over certain events in the plot, but to have everything tied up like that in the end was almost more jarring than the corruption and evils by that point.
I would definitely recommend this book for those looking for a darker read in a dystopian environment that could actually exist.
I received this book from Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.
I found the first half of the book to be a little slow however the second half made up for it. Its quite a realistic story about a boy named Dai that has 18 days to come up with plan to leave The Walled City. It is an easy to read story with a good plot and characters but there were a few slow spots. I think a more accurate rating would be 3.5 stars.
I found the first half of the book to be a little slow however the second half made up for it. Its quite a realistic story about a boy named Dai that has 18 days to come up with plan to leave The Walled City. It is an easy to read story with a good plot and characters but there were a few slow spots. I think a more accurate rating would be 3.5 stars.
I thought I’d enjoy this more than I did, as I loved ‘Wolf by Wolf’ so much. It still was a good read, but it was difficult for me to really get into. The majority of it moved slowly, even though action was happening, for some reason I just wasn’t entirely captured by the story. I think it was because the characters were flat, and their relationships with each other seemed unnatural. Especially the romance, it was odd and forced, there wasn’t substance to it. Overall, I liked the concept behind it all, how it was based on the actual city, but the delivery fell a little short to me.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. After seeing the HUGE number of mixed reviews and reactions to this book, I didn't really know what to expect! A lot of the contention seems to be centered around the confusing genre. I too thought that it might be some kind of Dystopian novel but it is in fact rooted in a deep factual basis. We all know that I love good world-building and Hak Nam, the walled city in question, is based on the now non-existing walled city of Kowloon. I really felt like Graudin had done her homework on that front! I wasn't disappointed by this though! It felt like a thriller, a book genre I haven't read in a while. I deeply enjoyed this fast-paced plot though, it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time! The multiple viewpoints really worked and it not only gave variety, but there stories interweaved really well! A lot of people have said that Graudin uses too many metaphors and similes too but I would disagree, I thought the writing style was superb! The only complaint I would slightly agree with is a touch of insta-love between Mei Yee and Dai but considering their circumstances, I'll forgive that. I really liked this story: it had great characters, a well formed world and good writing.
Full review, see here: http://chasedbymyimagination.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/book-review-walled-city-ryan-graudin.html
Full review, see here: http://chasedbymyimagination.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/book-review-walled-city-ryan-graudin.html
DNF AT PAGE 275: This is a book with so much wasted potential it makes me cringe. Although there's not much happening besides the characters lamenting their hopeless situations, you feel no connection to them. The writing could have saved the bad plot/pacing, but damn, Ryan Graudin just overdid it with trying to make her writing "sound good". There's too much metaphors, too much weird comparisons the characters make, no straight sentences that do not attempt to sound like bad prose. "My emotions are like pounds of overcooked rice noodles." is a prime example for this, because not only is this metaphor a) complete bullshit, it is also b) completely racist to let Asian characters make stereotypical comparisons associated with Asian culture (stuff that has to do with rice or bamboo and whatnot because bohoo, that's all Asian people think about!). There's also some weird insta-love, but let's not talk about that.