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 the Aurora Hills juvenile detention center, there’s Amber, locked up for so long she can’t imagine freedom.
Tying their two worlds together is Orianna, who holds the key to unlocking all the girls’ darkest mysteries . . .
What really happened on the night Orianna stepped between Violet and her tormentors? What really happened on two strange nights at Aurora Hills? Will Amber and Violet and Orianna ever get the justice they deserve—in this life or in another one?
In prose that sings from line to line,Nova Ren Suma tells a supernatural tale of guilt and of innocence, and of what happens when one is mistaken for the other.
“A suspenseful tour de force, a ghost story of the best sort, the kind that creeps into your soul and haunts you.” —Libba Bray, author of The Diviners and A Great and Terrible Beauty
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
This entire book felt like a dream
By Stefani Sloma
This entire book felt like a dream, which, I suppose, is part of the point. Magical realism is always fun, and The Walls Around Us was just so cool. It was trippy and strange and wonderful. You never quite know what is real and what is imagined, because none of the characters really know either. I was so confused most of the time and I loved it. Most of the time when I read a book this confusing during which I have absolutely no idea what’s happening, I’m not a big fan, especially if the book is doing it for the sole purpose of confusing you, but in the case of The Walls Around Us, I actually really liked it.The prose was wonderful. When I started the first page, I was kind of worried. It’s…different. But after the first three pages, I was hooked. It flows easily and its use of repetition felt like a chant, a song. Again, it’s different and odd, but, for me, it was easy to read and very, very cool. The characters were all complex, especially the ones inside the detention center. Just like their crimes, their guilt wasn’t black and white, and this changed them from horrible thieves, murderers, and prisoners into real people.I think the one thing I didn’t really like was that the book felt a little…meandering? I think that’s the right word. I wasn’t expecting action-packed or anything like that, but parts of it felt a little long-winded. On the other hand, I LOVED the bizarre, odd, confusing end so much. SO. MUCH. I think it fit perfectly with the strangeness of this magical story.For me, the inscription before Part IV of the book perfectly sums this one up:“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream.”– Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill HouseThe bottom line: The Walls Around Us is really different from what you’re expecting. A little Black Swan, but with a bunch of other things thrown in. It’s confusing and strange and absolutely wonderful. I don’t think this will be a book for everyone, though. Personally? I want to read more by Nova Ren Suma.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful."A mysteriously provocative and eerily tragic number with a ghostly touch"
By aparajita
"Your focus determines your reality" ...... sorry couldn't resist quoting Star Wars here but seriously readers this book requires your focus because if you loose that then you will never be able to make a head or tail of this complex-ly marvelous convoluted piece of part psychological thriller, part magical realism extravaganza. Its a bit long, rather depressing, and somewhat confusing, messes with the head and you just can't help not ask - "What the hell is going on here?"This is my first time with Nova Ren Suma and I exactly did just that. Don't take me otherwise, I liked it actually ..... very much. My point is, the plot is a rather mysterious complicated fuzzy mess, so you really need the concentration to understand what is going on or you will just keep re-reading stuff. The Walls Around Us tells its story through two girls, Amber & Violet. One convicted of killing her stepfather, the other an aspiring Ballerina with too much ambition for her own good ..... and through their voices we come to know the person of interest Orianna, known to all as the 'Bloody Ballerina'.In a way this is the most depressing book I ever read, so while I recommend small doses, I found the approach of full steam ahead much better. Tauntingly mysterious, with its fair share of murder, corpses, guilt, derision, juve, acute mental disorders and plain erratic story tellers (Amber & Violet). this turns out to be a bumpy ride ..... Who is lying? Who is real? Does it all really happen or is it all a product of their minds.The story is of course difficult to follow. But that is where the fun lies. Little by little as the layers peel off you start to appreciate the genius of the author because we jump timelines between the the girls which would not be clear if you don't focus. Really the book is one big puzzle and Nova Ren Suma, the master manipulator pulling the strings pulls us readers into her dark and eerie tale kicking & screaming and little willing ..... because at the end of it what really is in our heads is that - 'I am not putting it down until I find out the ending'.It takes time to deduce the ending but really, it is a challenging piece, atmospheric, provocative, quite disturbing and immensely satisfying. I have come to associate the eerie and dark where Ballet is considered with the psychological thriller genre .... just look at the movie 'Black Swan'. Anyways you have made a new fan in me Nova Ren Suma.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.Beautiful and complex
By Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
I’ve admired Nova Ren Suma deeply ever since she published her debut, Imaginary Girls. Her books aren’t easy reads and they could never be described as entertaining, but they are, as a rule, thought provoking and brilliantly written. There’s always such quiet beauty to her narratives, an unpretentious quality of her writing, very simplistic in nature but gorgeous beyond compare. Her style is far from being decorative or lush, but she still somehow creates an atmosphere that envelops the reader completely.Nova Ren Suma builds anxiety slowly, little by little, brick by brick, until it becomes a huge, suffocating wall. Aside from being overwhelmed and claustrophobic, the reader must also deal with the paradox of liking a convicted criminal and despising a successful young ballerina. The two girls at the center of this story, Violet and Amber, are worlds apart from each other. Life gave them very different opportunities, completely different starting points, and they each did with them what they could.In her quiet way, the author addressed the prejudices we all deal with (and make) daily. How easy is it to convict a girl from a broken home, a poor, motherless girl, regardless of her own success? And how much harder is it to see the faults in a rich girl, America’s sweetheart if there ever was one? Even though they’re hidden beneath a very odd story, these issues jump at the forefront all on their own, without being thrown in our faces by the author. The prisons are filled with underprivileged, unfortunate, some of them judged for who they are, but some of them convicted for what they are. We should know better by now, but somehow we still don’t.It’s also very interesting to see the dark side of ballet, a prestigious art form that we tend to view as pure and innocent. Ballerinas in this story are anything but, though. They’re raised to be insanely competitive, self-absorbed and mean. Of course, some take to it better than others.I’ll admit that this book was hard for me to read. All that jealousy and resentment, the pure evil and the unfairness of it all were simply suffocating. But in the end it was more than worth it. Rarely do I find a book that leaves such a strong impression. So read this, but find something light and funny to read right after. After, that is, you take some time to untangle things and think them through.
