BOOK REVIEW: The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma

This is a book review for The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma. I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. The scheduled publication date for this book is March 24 of this year. 

The Walls Around Us is a ghostly story of suspense told in two voices—one still living and one long dead. On the outside, there’s Violet, an eighteen-year-old dancer days away from the life of her dreams when something threatens to expose the shocking truth of her achievement. On the inside, within the walls of a girls’ juvenile detention center, there’s Amber, locked up for so long she can’t imagine freedom. Tying these two worlds together is Orianna, who holds the key to unlocking all the girls’ darkest mysteries.

My first thought after finishing this book: what the hell did I just read? I meant that in the nicest way possible. This book was haunting and scary and depressing and so incredibly good. I have heard it compared to Orange is the New Black and Black Swan. I have heard the author being compare to Shirley Jackson. Check, check, and check!

The book tells the story from two different points of view. Amber is a young girl living in a girls' detention center. Violet is a ballerina struggling with her friend's incarceration after a horrendous murder. The story is told from different perspectives and different times, with each character giving the reader just a few of the pieces to the puzzle. It sounds like it would be confusing, but it isn't. Ori is the one voice missing in the narrative, but her story is told through Violet and through Amber. It was hard to trust either of the narrators because both of them confessed to doing awful things. But still I sympathized with both of them. This book is about innocent and guilt, life and death, friendships, lies that we tell other people and ourselves and it is about walls. Even though Violet was not in jail, she was in a prison of her own making. I loved the depth to all the friendships between the girls, especially thrones in the girls' detention center. Yes, there was violence between the girls, but they were all loyal to each other in the end. Like most women, their relationships and loyalties were very complex. There is not a whole lot more I can say about this book without revealing spoilers, except to say that it was so amazing. The writing was beautiful, the characters were very well developed and the plot was well thought out (if not a little confusing at times). 

My recommendation for this book: BUY, BUY, BUY. Oh, did I mention that you should BUY it?