The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Winner's curse," [...] "Where the victor gets exactly what he wants, only to find that it isn't quite as he expected."

 Alright, hear me out, when I first came across The Thousandth Floor I didn’t think much of it. I liked the cover and though I was considering adding it to my never ending TBR, the mixed reviews convinced me otherwise. However, from time to time my heart craves a bit of a chick-lit respite from the more serious reading I tend to do; and so, a few days back I decided to pick it up just for entertainment and boy it was a ride.

 The story revolves around a group of teenagers, some rich, some not, who live in a futurist version of New York where the entire city is contained in a single, massive tower, a thousand floors high. The book opens with a prologue describing a girl’s tragic descent to death as she falls from the highest floor of said tower, and then rewinds to follow the kids’ separate stories some time prior to the incident and how it came to be. There’s enough drama and secrets and scheming to keep the pages turning fast, even though the characters may not be very different from the usual type populating this kind of novel, like the golden girl, the forbidden love interest and the crazy bitch, there’s even a lonely boy, if you know what I mean.

 It’s achingly similar to Gossip Girl most of the time, which I’ll admit, was one of the things that caught my attention at first. The setting on the other hand, felt vey unique and it did not disappoint, adding a unique edge to a story that wasn’t terribly original.

 Now I’ve read reviews complaining about one thing which you should be warned about, because it could be a serious turn off for some people, and that is that one of the main characters is head over heels for her step-brother. I know, ick! But surprisingly even though I was expecting a different reaction from myself I must admit it didn’t bother me all that much in the end, it just wasn’t that important to me I guess.

 So finally, did I like The Thousandth Floor? Yes, very much. Did I think the writing style and the characterization was on point? Probably not. Was it one of the best books I’ve read this year? Definitely not. But was it enjoyable? Yes, one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read these last weeks.

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