Title:
The Thousandth Floor
Series:
The Thousandth Floor #1
Author:
Katherine McGee
Genre:
Young Adult
Pages:
338 Pages, Hardcover
Publication:
August 30th 2016, HarperCollins
Source:
Thank you to LoveReading4Kids and HarperCollins for sending me this
book in exchange for an honest review!
Rating:
3.5/5 Cupcakes!
New York City as you’ve never seen it before. A thousand-story tower stretching into the sky. A glittering vision of the future, where anything is possible—if you want it enough.
Welcome to Manhattan, 2118.
A hundred years in the future, New York is a city of innovation and dreams. But people never change: everyone here wants something…and everyone has something to lose.
Leda Cole’s flawless exterior belies a secret addiction—to a drug she never should have tried and a boy she never should have touched.
Eris Dodd-Radson’s beautiful, carefree life falls to pieces when a heartbreaking betrayal tears her family apart.
Rylin Myers’s job on one of the highest floors sweeps her into a world—and a romance—she never imagined…but will her new life cost Rylin her old one?
Watt Bakradi is a tech genius with a secret: he knows everything about everyone. But when he’s hired to spy by an upper-floor girl, he finds himself caught up in a complicated web of lies.
And living above everyone else on the thousandth floor is Avery Fuller, the girl genetically designed to be perfect. The girl who seems to have it all—yet is tormented by the one thing she can never have.
Debut author Katharine McGee has created a breathtakingly original series filled with high-tech luxury and futuristic glamour, where the impossible feels just within reach. But in this world, the higher you go, the farther there is to fall….
When
I was offered to review The Thousandth Floor, I immediately jumped at
the opportunity! After having seen the book circling around the
blogosphere my interest was piqued and I knew
I needed it in my life. A futuristic New York City that occupies a
building combined with
the lifestyle of the rich and the beautiful and the scandalous
secrets that they keep, well, it sounded like a book that I would
absolutely adore. And although there were moments that had my heart
racing and my fingers turning the pages at lightning speed, there
were also moments that had me putting the book down with no immediate
desire to pick it back up.
The
Thousandth Floor has five point of views, which may seem like a lot
but none of the characters blur together and they each have their own
distinct personality and I never found myself confused, which is a
plus. The problem with having a lot of POVs is that there is often a
character that the reader doesn't like and it can be torturous
reading from their perspective as we just can't bring ourselves to
care about them. I
never felt that way whilst reading the book but I think that may be
due to the fact that I didn't really care about any
of the characters all that much. I never felt truly connected to them
and in order for me to fully enjoy a book I need to be connected to
the characters. All the characters were morally grey, all were hiding
secrets that could very well consume them, all were on the verge of
destroying themselves and their reputation to the point of no
recovery which made for an interesting read but quite surprisingly,
not a very emotional read.
Avery
started out as my favourite character as she wasn't as vindictive or
shallow as the other characters. But after discovering her secret I'm
not entirely sure how
I feel about her because...ew. Despite that though, I still liked her
– she was a good person, a good friend and loyal and I admired her had good qualities.
Throughout
the novel my perception and fondness of the characters were always
fluctuationg and Leda was a the character that elicited the most
varying emotions from me. At first I liked her, she'd had a troubled
past involving broken hearts and destructive addictions and I wanted
the best for her, I truly did. We're first acquainted with Leda after
her return home from a stint in rehab so I was rooting for her
constantly, hoping that she could keep her demons at bay. But by the
end of the book I strongly, very strongly,
disliked her. She's manipulative, cruel and selfish and just a
terrible person, really.
Eris
evoked the complete opposite emotions from me compared to that of
Leda. I went from disliking her as she was quite shallow and
superficial but by the end, I had grown to like her. I felt like she
underwent some character growth and she became more open-minded and
genuine and by the end of the novel I definitely liked her more than
the other characters.
I'm
still on the fence about how I feel about Rylin. I admired her for
working and trying to keep a roof over her and her little sister's
head but I didn't like her penchant for drug abuse, partying and
getting involved with illegal happenings. I never really felt like I
got to know Rylin and her character didn't add much to the story.
The
last character is Watt and, come to think of it, I quite liked Watt.
He wasn't shallow and cruel like the girls could be. He too was far
from perfection though but I appreciated his strong work ethic and
his deep motivation to get into a good college as well as his desire
to work so that he could pay for some of his siblings' clothing items
and his education – even though he didn't earn it in the most
honest of ways. He was loyal and quite kind, probably the most
likable character in the book.
The
relationships in this book are, for want of better words, messed up.
They're dysfunctional, unrealistic and – in terms of the way they
are written – not very evocative. I never felt a deep connection
between any of the characters whose relationships should've elicited some
kind of emotional response from me. I didn't feel any of the
friendships between the girls, nor the romance between certain
characters – at times it felt similar to watching two
cardboard boxes interacting – dull and emotionless. I also had a
problem with the way adoption/biological and non-biological families
were represented in this book which I shall rant about below.
However, they are spoilery so highlight if you want to read about
that.
*SPOILER BEGINS*
1. Eris
and her dad
Eris
has spent the past 18 years of her life believing that Everett is her
father when SURPRISE, it turns out that he's not her biological
father. Upon finding this out, Eris stops calling him her dad
whenever she thinks of him/speaks of him and instead calls him by his
first name. Then, Eris' dad cuts off all contact from Eris, he wants
nothing to do with her and he can barely look her in the eye. I can
only imagine how devastating it would be for both the parent and
child to find this out but surely it wouldn't erase the past 18 years
spent together? Everett clearly adored Eris and I just can't
comprehend that his feelings towards her would alter so drastically
and that he'd want nothing to do with her? If you love someone you
won't dismiss them like that, surely? Also, I didn't understand Eris'
problem with calling him – or even referring to him – as her dad.
He was still her dad, maybe not biologically but eighteen
years
– you can't and wouldn't want to erase that, would you?
2. Avery
and Atlas
Nope
nope nope nope. The
relationship felt way too incestuous. Sure, they weren't strictly
related but their parents adopted Atlas when he was 7 and Avery was 5
so they've been siblings for years
and if you're adopted, you're family, no matter if someone says
otherwise. Maybe if they were step-siblings and had just met each
other I wouldn't be as disgusted but seriously, it just felt gross
and wrong and I can't get on board with it.
*SPOILER BEGINS*
The
plot was okay. The book started out intriguing, but after the first
chapter it stalled and it lacked that “kick”that initially drew
me in. I'll be completely honest, this book bored me for the majority
of it and I never had an urge to pick it up after putting it down. It
also felt unnecessarily long as there was a lot of pettiness and
relationship drama. However, the past 140 pages or so, the
lies started tripping themselves up, the secrets became deathly and
the characters became reckless and ruthless and things got intense
quickly and despite not loving this book my interest in it has been
piqued again because those last few chapters were intense,
bruh.
However,
there were some things I liked! I loved how unique this book was –
New York City contained in a building? I thought that was incredibly
fascinating as it's something I've never encountered before. I also
enjoyed reading about the technology if the 22nd
century. I appreciated that although this book was set in the future
it didn't contain a corrupt government or technology that was
destroying the human race, like many books that incorporate
futuristic technology do.
The
Thousandth Floor had an intriguing premise but unfortunately it
didn't meet my sky-high (ha...almost a pun) expectations. Although I
never really found myself fully immersed, or connected to the
relationships or the characters, I will be reading the next book as
the lies, betrayal and dark secrets that threaten to engulf the
characters' has me incredibly intrigued to see how things turn out. I
loved the unique setting of futuristic New York, the detailed
descriptions of mind-blowing technology and the scandalous
secrets that threatened to consume the beautifully deceptive and
deeply flawed characters. Fragile lives, luscious lies and deceit
makes this a read that by the end of the book will have you wanting
more!
If
you have a tendency to fall in love with books that lift the corner
of the glittering façade of the rich and the famous to reveal the darkest of
secrets and the cruelest of betrayals then this book is for you!
I give it: 3.5/5 cupcakes!
I give it: 3.5/5 cupcakes!
