Title: The Walls Around Us Author: Nova Ren Suma
Published: March 24, 2015
Genre(s): Magical Realism
Page Count: 319
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads: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?
I went into The Walls Around Us blind, needing no more than the author’s name to confirm that this was a book I was committed to reading. I have yet to dislike any novel by Nova Ren Suma, and I was quite confident that this book would carry on in that vein—it did. The dark, twisting story of innocence and betrayal that unfolds in The Walls Around Us is one of a kind, written with the mature, evocative prose that, for me, is one of the defining characteristics of this author’s storytelling.
In some ways, I might call this book Suma’s best, though in others I wouldn’t go that far. For instance, the beginning sections were rather confusing for me. The timeline of The Walls Around Us is nonlinear and split between two narrators, with a hint of magical realism—all of these are aspects I love, but it took me a little while to fall into the rhythms of the story. (For example, it was not clear to me at first that the two narrating characters didn’t know each other from Adam; I thought they had been friends.)
The story, more or less, is focused on Ori, and the reader learns about her past from two very different perspectives. First, there is Amber, an inmate in a juvenile correctional facility; second, there is Vee, a ballet dancer on her way to Juilliard. Both girls know Ori (but don’t know each other), and that connection is where their separate narratives overlap, and though Suma does spend time delving into the girls’ psychology, I think it would be safe to say that Ori is the main focus in The Walls Around Us.
Though the novel spends a great deal of time exploring murder and though it has some elements of suspense, I would not call this book a mystery. In The Walls Around Us, the reader instead is given looks into how guilt, innocence, and resentment affect the three protagonists, each in different ways. Ori and Vee and Amber have perceptions about truth that are challenged and tested over the course of the novel.
Much of the story, especially towards the end, deals with a more paranormal-tinged tone and mindset. Yet in spite of the ghosts that haunt the characters, Suma’s insight into the girls’ minds and their actions remains clear and realistic. Though the hints of magic certainly achieve much, The Walls Around Us would still be wonderful if they were removed altogether. If this were just a book about teenage murderers falsely accused and incarcerated—but Suma offers something more, and it absolutely adds to this book’s depth and tension.
All my expectations concerning Nova Ren Suma’s talents were unquestionably met here. With wild, yet sophisticated prose, The Walls Around Us tells a story of ghosts and murders and friendships that seems undeniably authentic even as it verges onto the fantastic. It’s a rare cross-genre novel that is wholly successful. It’s quite the impressive achievement, in my opinion.
