The Nameless City

Item: The Nameless City
Author: Heidi

April 5, 2016 Heidi ARC, Book Review 2

I received this for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Nameless City by Faith Erin Hicks
Published by Macmillan on April 5th 2016
Pages: 240
Amazon-Indiebound
Goodreads

Every nation that invades the City gives it a new name. But before long, new invaders arrive and the City changes hands once again. The natives don't let themselves get caught up in the unending wars. To them, their home is the Nameless City, and those who try to name it are forever outsiders.

Kaidu is one such outsider. He's a Dao born and bred--a member of the latest occupying nation. Rat is a native of the Nameless City. At first, she hates Kai for everything he stands for, but his love of his new home may be the one thing that can bring these two unlikely friends together. Let's hope so, because the fate of the Nameless City rests in their hands.

My Thoughts:

I’m fairly new to reading graphic novels but I already know that I’ll enjoy a Faith Erin Hicks book. Friends with Boys was one of the first graphic novels I read and it started me on the path for reading more. As you can imagine, I was really looking forward to The Nameless City. It did not disappoint!

The Nameless City is an excellent example of the things I love about Faith Erin Hick’s books. I just really love her style… both in her drawing and her storytelling. I’m consistently impressed with the ways she gets emotions across. Her character expressions are spot on. And I love the quirky and fun characters and storylines.

There were three main things the stuck out to me and made The Nameless City a five-star read for me.

I love a story that focuses on friendship. So many stories focus on romance (which I also love!) that it’s refreshing to see the development of a freindship as the main bit.
Listening, really listening (to others and yourself,) is such an important skill. I think this is something we often forget in our fast paced, selfie world. I loved the way that this was portrayed in The Nameless City.
I really appreciated the way the characters in this story challenge injustice and stand up for what they believe in. It’s not an easy thing to do. It happens very naturally in this story… it’s not just thrown into make a point. The characters really think about the decisions they are making.

I so enjoyed this story. It’s fun and smart and just so well done. I cannot wait to get it in my middle school library.