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rileyrlee 's review for:
The Walled City
by Ryan Graudin
Solid 4 stars! I went into this book with wariness as I’ve read pretty mixed reviews on it, but it didn’t disappoint at all.
The story is super action-packed, dark, violent and gory, and at times a bit sad, but it’s also hopeful and somehow beautiful. Trigger warnings for rape and abuse and drug use, although none of the scenes containing these subjects are graphic or described in detail.
I’ll start off with the world-building. The Hak Nam Walled City in the book is partially based off of an actual walled city that used to exist in Hong Kong in the past. Of course, I’ve never seen the city myself as it is long gone now, but the author did a great job of creating and painting the image of this grim and lawless place. But despite its darkness, it was an intriguing place to learn about (even if largely fictional now), and the author’s descriptions helped to plant a very real image of it in my mind—its ragtagness, unpredictability, dirty and gloomy streets, dangers looming on every corner, but also its culture and soul—all fascinating, no matter how battered.
I really liked all three of our main characters, but like most readers pointed out, my favorite was definitely Jin Ling. She was the younger sister of our second female MC, but despite her young age, she had so much fire and determination within her, which I couldn’t help but admire. The bond of their sisterhood was so precious. One last remark—I could’ve done without the romance. It wasn’t bad by any means, and fortunately it took a backseat to the main plot, but it still felt just a bit unnecessary.
The story is super action-packed, dark, violent and gory, and at times a bit sad, but it’s also hopeful and somehow beautiful. Trigger warnings for rape and abuse and drug use, although none of the scenes containing these subjects are graphic or described in detail.
I’ll start off with the world-building. The Hak Nam Walled City in the book is partially based off of an actual walled city that used to exist in Hong Kong in the past. Of course, I’ve never seen the city myself as it is long gone now, but the author did a great job of creating and painting the image of this grim and lawless place. But despite its darkness, it was an intriguing place to learn about (even if largely fictional now), and the author’s descriptions helped to plant a very real image of it in my mind—its ragtagness, unpredictability, dirty and gloomy streets, dangers looming on every corner, but also its culture and soul—all fascinating, no matter how battered.
I really liked all three of our main characters, but like most readers pointed out, my favorite was definitely Jin Ling. She was the younger sister of our second female MC, but despite her young age, she had so much fire and determination within her, which I couldn’t help but admire. The bond of their sisterhood was so precious. One last remark—I could’ve done without the romance. It wasn’t bad by any means, and fortunately it took a backseat to the main plot, but it still felt just a bit unnecessary.