Ryan Graudin

from Laura:

I flew through this book in a weekend. Although it doesn't feature vampires or take place in a post-apocalyptic dystopian future, I would put it in the same category as The Hunger Games and Twilight; ie, it's not particularly well-written, but the story is compelling and hard to put down.

It also incorporates my favorite plot device: the girl who has to disguise herself as a boy to survive. Jin Ling has been living on the streets and searching Hak Nam (the Walled City) for her sister Mei Yee, sold to a brothel two years ago. Dai is also searching for something, but it takes a while for the reader to find out what. He and Jin Ling form a tentative alliance to reach their individual goals, but all bets are off and all secrets emerge when Jin Ling is critically injured in a fight with a rival gang.

Chapters alternate between three narrators and the book counts down 18 days as a fateful deadline draws nearer. Suspense, danger and daring escapes abound. The author includes a note at the end about the real-life Walled City, called Kowloon, which was located within Hong Kong and torn down from 1993-1994.… (more)

"Sometimes an end seems so much better than my now. If there's any way out, any open door, I have to take it"

I think, when I first started this, I wasn't sure what to think. As I got two then three days in, the three points of view were still growing on me. You hear from Dai, Jin Ling and Mei Yee.

Dai is a complete mystery for most of the book. You do eventually get the answers but not for quite some time. Jin Ling is a girl posing as a boy to survive the streets of The Walled city. It's a ruthless world and Jin Ling is walking a very fine line trying to live there. Because Jin Ling has something to live for - to save a sister that was sold into a sex trade and is being held at a brothel. Jin Ling doesn't know where, but she's still looking.

I think what really drew me in (and honestly, startled me) was that this was based on a real city - Kowloon Walled City. It's was crazy to read about this city and see the photos. Once I saw that all, it made it more real and more alive.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2139914/A-rare-insight-Kowloon-Walled-Ci...

From about the 50% point, the book is a race. As you count down the days to what you know must be the finale, time feels like it's running out. Dai, Jin Ling and Mei Yee have to succeed if they are going to make it out alive. But can they trust each other?
I hope you love this one as much as I did.… (more)

The year is 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule. To commemorate their Great Victory, they host the Axis Tour: an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents. The prize? An audience with the highly reclusive Adolf Hitler at the Victor's ball in Tokyo.

Yael, a former death camp prisoner, has witnessed too much suffering, and the five wolves tattooed on her arm are a constant reminder of the loved ones she lost. The resistance has given Yael one goal: Win the race and kill Hitler. A survivor of painful human experimentation, Yael has the power to skinshift and must complete her mission by impersonating last year's only female racer, Adele Wolfe. This deception becomes more difficult when Felix, Adele's twin brother, and Luka, her former love interest, enter the race and watch Yael's every move.

But as Yael grows closer to the other competitors, can she be as ruthless as she needs to be to avoid discovery and stay true to her mission?… (more)