Jan's Reviews > The Walled City

When I won this book in a Facebook competition from The Realm, I wasn't sure I wanted to read it. A book about girls sold into brothels and a slum world ruled by unscrupulous drug lords in some almost real Asian city didn't immediately reach out to me. In fact, I put it aside and read the other book I won first.

How wrong could I be? This book gripped me from the very first page. It begins with a harum-scarum chase through the streets of a slum city. Not only is it exciting in its own right, it cleverly sets the scene and introduces us to people and situations that become important in the rest of the story. Jin, the narrator, is immediately engaging. Her three rules of survival: trust no-one, run fast, always carry your knife pique interest immediately through the questions it raises: what kind of world is she living in and why is she there?

The narration is split between Jin, Dai and Mei Yee. Mei Yee has been sold into a brothel by her drunken father. Jin, her younger sister, has followed her to the Walled City vowing to find her and rescue her. Masquerading as a boy, she is living on the streets on the strength of her considerable wits. Dai is a young man, also living in the Walled City, with a lot of secrets of his own.

The three stories intersect and result in a coming of age for all three of them, in different ways. I highly recommend this YA book, for both young adults and adults alike.