Scan barcode
A review by ollieshark
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
**this book contains descriptions of homicide, death fantasies, beatings, poisoning and vomiting, blood, violence, and mentions of rape, self-harm, and suicide. if you are sensitive to these themes, this may not be a good read for you.**
i went into this book mostly blind and was delightfully confused until everything started falling into place. i didn't expect to enjoy it as much as i did, but i did, and that's something.
i have some issues with the prose, mainly in how amber and violet's voices are exactly the same except one's a dancer and the other is a prisoner. their manner of speaking and word choice does not differ from each other, and the only thing preventing me from getting the two confused is that violet dances and amber is an inmate. did you forget violet is a dancer destined for julliard? she's dancing at julliard in a couple of weeks. i also didn't like how meandering the narration tended to be. several sections repeated the same sentence structure multiple times, mostly in memories, and i skipped those parts because all of those minute details are unnecessary. some, yes, but not more than three in one paragraph.
aside from that, i have no complaints with the novel. i enjoyed several aspects of it, including the fact that romance is not a major factor in this ya novel (shocking, i know). though there are boyfriends, they aren't central to the story and in fact are very minor characters. i also love how the novel doesn't sugarcoat the crimes committed. though there is some unreliability in the narration, the crimes committed in the novel are just as gruesome and gory as they would be in an r-rated film. i'm also a fan of the prison/juvenile detention center aspect, as none of the other ya novels i've read have even touched the concept of teens being violent in such a way. usually the teen protagonists just show mercy.
this was a great read, if violent and squicky at times. i don't recommend this book if you've had bad experiences with the content listed at the top, but it makes for a great read if you're into horror/ghost stories. a perfect spooky season read, if you ask me.
i went into this book mostly blind and was delightfully confused until everything started falling into place. i didn't expect to enjoy it as much as i did, but i did, and that's something.
i have some issues with the prose, mainly in how amber and violet's voices are exactly the same except one's a dancer and the other is a prisoner. their manner of speaking and word choice does not differ from each other, and the only thing preventing me from getting the two confused is that violet dances and amber is an inmate. did you forget violet is a dancer destined for julliard? she's dancing at julliard in a couple of weeks. i also didn't like how meandering the narration tended to be. several sections repeated the same sentence structure multiple times, mostly in memories, and i skipped those parts because all of those minute details are unnecessary. some, yes, but not more than three in one paragraph.
aside from that, i have no complaints with the novel. i enjoyed several aspects of it, including the fact that romance is not a major factor in this ya novel (shocking, i know). though there are boyfriends, they aren't central to the story and in fact are very minor characters. i also love how the novel doesn't sugarcoat the crimes committed. though there is some unreliability in the narration, the crimes committed in the novel are just as gruesome and gory as they would be in an r-rated film. i'm also a fan of the prison/juvenile detention center aspect, as none of the other ya novels i've read have even touched the concept of teens being violent in such a way. usually the teen protagonists just show mercy.
this was a great read, if violent and squicky at times. i don't recommend this book if you've had bad experiences with the content listed at the top, but it makes for a great read if you're into horror/ghost stories. a perfect spooky season read, if you ask me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Body shaming, and Death
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Addiction, Gore, Mental illness, and Suicide
Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, and Self harm