The Walled City

by Ryan Graudin

[ross91]

Some parts would have deserved 3,5*, others 2,5, so I guess 3 stars is a great compromise.
I LOVED the setting and I was really intrigued with the walled city's concept, that's why I was sad there weren't more in depth descriptions and insights about life and survival in this horrible place. I would have really enjoyed more details and more focus on this aspect.
I get this book is YA so everything needed to be toned down, but all the depravity and corruption and bad things, if not well explained even in their most upsetting and crude parts, seemed very off and unbelievable.
I liked the fact that prostitution, abduction, murder, addiction and starvation were topic the author wanted to write about, but they were too lightly approached and so they seemed fake, unrealistic and, sadly, stupid. Except maybe for Jin, the characters were the weakest part of the book: kinda boring and two-dimensional, none of them was interesting enough to hooked me up.
Lastly, I am so done with this trend YA books have to describe a character as a bad, dangerous person and then let you realize the guy is actually good and all the bad things he has supposedly done were actually not his fault. For once I would like to see a true villainous kind of guy or a true antihero. I don't think it's too much to ask for.
Anyway, good concept, mediocre realization.