Book Review: The Thousandth Floor

Publisher: HarperCollins

Genre(s): YA (Teen), Science Fiction, Dystopian, Fiction, Mystery

BOOK SUMMARY:

2119. New York City. Seven teenagers' lives become entwined with shocking betrayals, romance and a misunderstanding that unleash a series of events leading to a murder. 

As Leda Cole recovers from her crippling drug addiction, she feels as she doesn’t fit the ‘perfect’ reality of those around her.

Watt Bakradi is the tech genius with a secret; he is able to get information on everyone.

The beautiful, carefree life of Eris Dodd-Radson falls apart with the discovery of a heartbreaking betrayal. 

A late-night job on one of the highest floors sweeps Rylin Myers into a world of romance she never imagined. 

And Avery Fuller, the girl who had it all. But yet, she was tormented by one thing in her world out of reach.

REVIEW:

When I first picked up this book, I was compelled by the aesthetic cover. Despite all the mixed reviews I’ve seen for this book, I actually really enjoyed it! The world is futuristic and I loved reading about all the different cool items and gadgets that the author had created for her universe. The beginning of the book is probably one of the best hooks I’ve ever read. I normally don't like high school drama (they sometimes seem so cliche) or romance books, but this book is different. This is a thriller and it’s probably the first I’ve read. I’ll definitely be reading more thrillers. The characters have a lot of depth and are very interesting despite the questionable and morally wrong decisions they make.

The levels of The Tower symbolize wealth. The higher a person lives, the more wealth a person has. I love that the author showed all levels of society in this world, with Rylin as a “down-Tower” working class character. Eris’s character and her storyline actually kind of reminded me of the first episode of Schitt’s Creek, where the Rose family is stripped of their wealth and forced to live like most of us do. 

Another one of the main characters we have is Avery Fuller, who lives on the thousandth floor of the tower, which her parents own, as the richest people in this dystopian, futuristic version of our world. She has been genetically designed to only have the best genes from her parents, and is, therefore, to society’s standards, perfect. That is, until we find out that her love interest is *SPOILER ALERT* her adoptive brother, Atlas. And as weird as it may seem, they are not biologically related in any way, and their romance was beautifully written throughout the series. A lot of people have been giving this book negative reviews because of this, but some of you also happen to love “City of Bones” by Cassandra Clare, with characters who started with the same background. 

The diversity didn’t seemed forced in this novel, which was a nice plus side; Walt is Iranian, Leda is black, and Eris is bisexual. McGee portrays a larger acceptance of diversity in 2118 for both race and sexual orientation.

The only two things I would say about this book would be the drug and alcohol usage and the sex content. There were a few makeout scenes in this book, and only a few more ‘intimate’ parts which were surprisingly tame (cut-out scenes without mention of in-betweens, for the most part). Characters drink frequently at parties/social events and a character is drugged for information. However, I did think that the fact that one character, Leda Cole, had been dealing with a drug addiction and was in rehab, contributed to diverse character storylines.

THE TAKEAWAY:

The ending of "The Thousandth Floor" is unforgettable and infuriating! Never has a book ending made me so absolutely livid! I was literally yelling at the book like a crazy person. I'm serious. People were staring! It wasn't pretty! I couldn't even think about anything else when I was done, because I was so furious!

I soon realized that the fact that I felt so passionately about the end and that I cared so much for the character that wound up on the ground means that the author did a very good job with making me invested. I felt so much for the character that met their demise. I wanted to scream! I wanted to cry! I wanted to write to Katherine and tell her that she broke my heart, but that she’s freaking amazing at the same time.

Overall, I think The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee was a fun and thrilling novel to read & escape reality for a few hours.