The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma

Author: Nova Ren Suma
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Date of publication: March 2015

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 have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It was a random audio pick from my library's new audio-book shelf.   The Walls Around Us is told through the eyes of two girls, Violet and Amber.  Both are connected by another girl, Orianna.  Amber tells us of her time in the Aurora Hills juvenile detention canter for girls where she met Ori.  Violet gives us her perspective on her friendship jealousy of Ori. There is a mystery as to what happened, but who is telling the truth?

I liked that this book kept me guessing.  Throughout the story, I kind of had a sense of what the ending would be.  I was both right and wrong...even better! Both narrators are pretty unreliable, so the reader is constantly guessing. I felt the plot was well planned out with no major reveals coming too early.  The ending was both dark, yet satisfying at the same time. The characters were interesting and helped keep my attention on the book.  I really liked how the author didn't sugar coat what the juvenile detention center was like.  

I'm not sure if I would classify this as a YA novel.  It does have some adult themed stuff in it, so I would probably keep it to the over 16 crowd.  I definitely recommend giving this one a shot.