Book Review: The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma

Quick Facts

My Rating: 5 stars

Series: N/A

Date Read: February 26, 2015

Source: Free review copy from Netgalley

Publication Date: March 24, 2015

Publisher: Algonquin Books

Genres: Young adult, paranormal

Goodreads | Author Site

Review

The Walls Around Us is the story of one girl, told from two other girls' points of view. There's Amber, who has been living in a juvenile detention center for years. And then there is Violet, a ballet dancer with a bright future ahead of her. The two seem to have nothing in common at first, but they do: They both knew Orianna.

I opened this while trying to decide what to read - not really planning to read it quite yet, but figuring I would give the first few pages a try. And then I was hooked. From the first few pages, the story grabbed my attention and never let go. Each time I sat down to read, I had to force myself to stop - unfortunately, I did not have time to read this all in one sitting.

The writing and the plot are the best parts, but the entire book is wonderful. I loved every bit of it - the characters, the mystery ... Every single page.

It started off very realistically, and I wondered then if I had been mistaken when I expected a paranormal book. But those aspects were introduced slowly, and the story became darker as they were developed - there were definitely a couple of twists that snuck up on me, although I found the majority of the plot fairly predictable.

The character development was nicely done here as well. Although I had my problems with Violet throughout the book, some things she said - especially towards the end - left me in shock. She definitely did not acknowledge her own privileges, although she saw others' well enough. Her character felt so realistic and I like that we were able to see a few of her better aspects, as well.

While I also enjoyed Amber - despite her flaws, I couldn't completely dislike her - I did have some trouble with Orianna. At points, she was almost too good, but I think it worked well for the book. It just would have been nice to see more of her bad traits.

Overall, this isn't my typically genre at all - it was a bit creepy for my tastes. If I had known that going in, I probably not have picked it up. But I'm still so glad that I read it. I enjoyed it a lot, despite it being different from my usual tastes.

I would definitely recommend this - very highly! It was incredible and the writing, especially, just completely blew me away. It could not have been more perfect.