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Jacque's Review:

This is the third and final book in The Thousandth Floor series. This book picks up a summer after where we left off at the end of the prior book. Our cast of characters have returned from Dubai to the 1000 story tower in New York. Leda received some shocking news in Dubai and spiraled out of control for a while, but she has returned from rehab and is hopeful she can put her past behind her.

Leda, Rylin, Watt, and Avery soon discover their secrets may have spread further than they thought. They need to find out who else may know and how much the police have already discovered.

Avery spent her summer after Dubai at Oxford University in Scotland. She needed to get away from Atlas to clear her head. She meets a boy named Max and they begin a relationship. He will never be able to replace Atlas, but he is a good distraction. When Avery returns to New York, Max decides to do a study abroad program in New York so they can still be together. Max is far from the type of boy anyone would expect Avery to select. He is very down to earth and a bit ordinary in just about every way.

Rylin and Cord continue their on again off again relationship. I think Rylin overthinks everything and sets unrealistic expectations for Cord.  I was happy with how things turned out for them, but it seemed like there was a lot of unnecessary drama that could have been avoided.

Watt and Leda were both in the hot seat the majority of this book. Leda has a gap in her memory and doesn't know if she may be guilty of more than she is aware. Watt is afraid his secret about Nadia could get out and his hopes of getting into MIT could be shattered. Not only would his lifelong dream come to an end, but if Nadia is discovered, it is a criminal offence and he could be sent to jail.

Calliope is the one character that doesn't really have any drama associated with her this time around. She and her mom have settled in New York and are out of the conning business. The issue is Calliope is playing a character that is nothing like her real personality. She is afraid she will be stuck in this goody two shoes lifestyle for the rest of her life, or at least until she is off to college and out of her new step-father's house. In addition, her new step-sister is an absolute nightmare.

The police are closing in on everyone and all of their secrets are about to go public until the unthinkable happens.  

I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I will leave it at that. 

This was a very entertaining series with some great characters. I was shocked to see who stepped up in the end and how all of their problems were resolved. I hope there is eventually some sort of a short story or novella to show us how everything panned out after the end of the book.  One aspect was left hanging in the balance, but we can all sort of fill in the blanks for our own happily ever after....but a short story would be the icing on the cake.

Jacque's Review:

I received an ARC of Katharine McGee's debut novel, The Thousandth Floor, at BEA.  The August 30th release date is less than two weeks away, so you will not have to wait long if you don't already have a copy.

The story is set in New York City in the year 2118.  The majority of the city has been taken over by a MASSIVE tower that is 1000 stories tall. There is transportation within the tower, schools, restaurants, businesses, etc.  The more affluent you are the higher you live in the tower, which brings me to an introduction of the characters.

Avery and Atlas Fuller live on the 1000th floor.  They are siblings by adoption and have just about everything they could ever want.  They are extremely wealthy, attractive, and popular, but there is one think they can't have that could destroy them both.

Eris Dodd-Radson lives on the 985th floor.  She is a social butterfly and is Avery's oldest friend.  Life as she has always known it is threatened by a secret that is revealed early on in the story.

Leda Cole lives on the 962 floor and is Avery's best friend.  They have never had any secrets between them until Leda returns from her summer away from the tower.  The secrets compound throughout the story and neither girl can trust the other by the end.

Cord Anderton lives on the 967th floor.  His parents died in a plane crash, so he lives by himself in the massive apartment until his older brother shows up unexpectedly.  

Watt Bakradi lives on the 294th floor and is a computer genius.  He developed a quantum computer that can hack into just about any system, which allows him to generate some additional income.  His "online services" brings him into contact with some of the upper floor kids previously mentioned.

Rylin Myers lives on the 32nd floor.  She had to quit school to support herself and her younger sister and takes a job working as Cord Anderton's maid.  Their relationship becomes more complicated as they begin to develop feelings for each other, but Rylin still has unresolved "issues" with her not quite ex-boyfriend.

Throughout the book we discover that everyone within  the tower has a secret.  There is a very delicate balancing act that must be maintained or everyone will come crashing to the bottom.  If they do not play their cards perfectly their secret may become exposed and life as they know it will cease to exist.

Katharine told the story from a number of the characters' points of view.  This allowed the reader the opportunity to witness all of the drama as it unfolded from just about every possible angle. If you think the Real Housewives have drama, you haven't seen anything like this.  I can't wait to see how everything will play out in the next book in this series.