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A review by truequeenofchaos
The Walled City by Ryan Graudin
3.0
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
What good is a locked door when the threat might be inside?
While I didn't enjoy this as much as I would have liked, I do feel like it was an important read because of its basis on facts. There actually was a walled city that was much like this one, although it was in Hong Kong. Before reading The Walled City I was totally unaware of such a thing existing, so this has spurred me to research and learn more about it. I'm grateful for that. But what makes this novel even more important is that is brings awareness to sex trafficking.
The characters were all very fleshed out and enjoyable. The things that they had to endure and suffer were unimaginable. I really liked the 3 main characters, but I honestly didn't care what happened to them. So I connected with them, but not well enough, I guess? That may have been due to the writing style, which was nice, but wasn't anything unique or enchanting. Ryan Graudin does get an A+ for her creativity and originality though! She decided to write this after learning about the real place and I think that's wonderful.
There are still more wishes in my soul than there are stars.
Honestly the major downfall to this book was the pacing. There were intense scenes throughout the entire thing, but it still read extremely slow. I found myself not even wanting to pick it up most of the time. Most of the action happened in the last 30-50 pages.
Characters - 13/20
Plot line - 14/16
Originality - 16/16
Writing Style - 10/16
Pace - 7/16
Ending - 16/16
76/100
3.5/5 stars
I'd recommend this novel to someone that's looking for something a little different or who would like to learn more about the walled city or sex trafficking. I did enjoy it, but I probably won't ever re-read it.
What good is a locked door when the threat might be inside?
While I didn't enjoy this as much as I would have liked, I do feel like it was an important read because of its basis on facts. There actually was a walled city that was much like this one, although it was in Hong Kong. Before reading The Walled City I was totally unaware of such a thing existing, so this has spurred me to research and learn more about it. I'm grateful for that. But what makes this novel even more important is that is brings awareness to sex trafficking.
The characters were all very fleshed out and enjoyable. The things that they had to endure and suffer were unimaginable. I really liked the 3 main characters, but I honestly didn't care what happened to them. So I connected with them, but not well enough, I guess? That may have been due to the writing style, which was nice, but wasn't anything unique or enchanting. Ryan Graudin does get an A+ for her creativity and originality though! She decided to write this after learning about the real place and I think that's wonderful.
There are still more wishes in my soul than there are stars.
Honestly the major downfall to this book was the pacing. There were intense scenes throughout the entire thing, but it still read extremely slow. I found myself not even wanting to pick it up most of the time. Most of the action happened in the last 30-50 pages.
Characters - 13/20
Plot line - 14/16
Originality - 16/16
Writing Style - 10/16
Pace - 7/16
Ending - 16/16
76/100
3.5/5 stars
I'd recommend this novel to someone that's looking for something a little different or who would like to learn more about the walled city or sex trafficking. I did enjoy it, but I probably won't ever re-read it.