The Walled City

Ryan Graudin

I honestly expected this to be a young adult dystopian novel.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  I've read quite a few in my time.  I didn't know that the premise of the book was based on a real city, one that actually existed much the way the author described it.  Once I did know, I had to re-think the whole book.  This truly could have happened.  Those people could have lived, loved, suffered and died in the same world I grew up in.  A sobering thought.

The use of three points of view worked for me.  It was easy to see that these three people were going to come together at some point, but nothing unfolded quite the way I expected.  The inner monologues of the three main characters created an intimacy, a sense that I knew them well enough to care what happened to them.  I should say the four main characters, since the city is as much a part of the story as the people.

The story relied on the contrast of a clean life  and making piece with the grunge, living in safety and surviving in jeopardy.  There are people who prefer the devil you know as opposed to taking a chance to change your circumstances.  Graudin played on these themes well, creating tension and intrigue.  I truly enjoyed the ride.