This review is spoiler-free!
The Towering Sky by Katharine McGee
Series: The Thousandth Floor #3
Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult
Release Date: August 28th 2018 by HarperCollins
Format: Hardcover, 464 pages
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Find it here: Goodreads
Well, while the finale in this final book wasn’t as bad as I was worried it might be, there was a lot less to it than I really wanted. While the series itself didn’t really seem like it was wholly meant to be about Avery and Atlas and their whole spiel, in the end I guess it was, because that seemed to take front and center to the last of the plot. That’s great for them, sure, because it means they get to be fleshed out more than the other characters, but I, for one, did NOT care about them. From the start of the series, even, they squicked me out because of their relationship.
Despite my wariness of this final book, though, I did had high hopes for the twists. Alas, they didn’t quite compare to what we had been given previously. I also still struggled a lot believing the characters to be teenagers at times, which was a constant among the books thus far, and it didn’t bode well with the attempts of twists we were given. Sometimes they acted their age, which was great, but then there were times where I was going, “Hold on. Back up. They’re, what, eighteen at the oldest? Why are they suddenly handling things like they’re in their mid-thirties? Hello?” It was jarring as always, to say the least. I probably shouldn’t have expected TOO much, since it really is more of a gossipy-light kind of plot and read than anything, but I do thing the potential to really shock me was there. It just wasn’t executed.
(I can’t say what I was expecting slash hoping for, since that would allude to a spoiler that it didn’t happen, but I am very disappointed this thing didn’t happen! The parallels would have been so cool!)
Even the endgame couples (god, Riverdale has ruined that term for me, hurk) were just … bleh. Not that I really expected otherwise from what we got, but. I don’t know, I wanted more, I guess is what it comes down to. If this were spoiler-y I’d be ranting my fingers off about the endgame and why I think some things should have happened where others didn’t, but it’s not, and I encourage you to read the book yourself and see what I mean in my vague attempt to scream into the void about certain things. But! It’s not my book anyway, so!
All in all, definitely would recommend this series to anyone who loves those kinds of gossip-centered stories or shows, because that’s all it really is. Some decent twists are sprinkled throughout the three books, but nothing absolutely jaw-dropping, and then word of mouth helping to twist those twists even further. The futuristic feel was still probably the best thing about these books for me, and I actually wouldn’t mind reading a sci-fi series from McGee, if she ever writes one. (It doesn’t look like she has, unfortunately. I will wait!)
Thanks for reading!
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