I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

This is book continues on from the Thousandth floor, starting with the death of a character, from the first book, and Mariel’s plan to find justice for that death and were introduced into a new character Callipoe Brown, a con artist. I don’t want to say to much about the previous characters because it could give spoilers for the first book.

I vaguely remember bits and pieces from the first book, but as I starte reading The Dazzling Heights, each perspective starts with a quick recap of what happened to them in the first book. I liked the drama throughout this book because there was less drugs and lot more mind games.

So many twists and turns throughout. This book wraps up things from book one and the storyline was set up for the third book. I want hooked as soon as I started reading and could not put it down.

Bring on book 3

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in return for an honest and fair review. Thank You

I received a copy from Netgalley.

Yes, I know I’m shamefully behind in finally getting around to reading this. I’ve had a review copy since forever, and it was something I had immediately preordered after reading the first one. Though I needed a refresher and reread the first book, before finally getting around to the second book. The UK covers are just so sparkly and pretty.

A fun follow up to The Thousandth Floor – pretty much high school soap opera, all taking place around a thousand tower mega structure in 2118. The glitz and glamour is awesome, and the technology is fascinating and I want it!!!!

Following on shortly from the shock death at the end of book one, everyone who played a part is struggling to come to terms with the events, not helping that most of them are under the threat of blackmail, apart from Mariel who wants the truth about what happened to come out and those responsible to be punished.

In the meantime Avery continues her forbidden romance, Leda is as bitchy as ever, Watt is digging up dirt with the help of supercomputer implant Nadia. Yet can’t help fight is ever growing attraction to Leda, they don’t seem to like each other, but can’t keep their hands off each other. Rylin finds herself with a scholarship to the exclusive school Avery and her buddies attend, along with Cord as well. Rylin and Cord are still at odds with each other. While attending the school Rylin discovers a gift for editing holovids.

This instalment introduces slippery new character Calliope, a girl with an attitude and a secret agenda of her own.

In a nutshell this world doesn’t require any thinking or particular deep plotting. It’s just plain fun. There’s lots of characters, multiple POV chapters. Once you get started it’s hard to put down, it’s additive, full of love, hate, drama, plot twists. Characters to love, characters to hate. Great writing. Great plotting. And not at all predicable. There’s such a way with the story telling that you just have to know what happens, even with the characters who aren’t likeable (*cough*Leda*cough*).

Currently reading the final instalment and really looking forward to see how things wrap up for everyone involved.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, Children’s for approving my request to view the title.

"No one goes to a party expecting to die"

* * *
3 / 5

The Dazzling Heights manages an impressive cast of different characters with a really complicated web of relationships and it's very cool and impressive. But it also feels like a rehash of the first book just with a less gasp-worthy ending.

"Did you fall in love with me because it was complicated and forbidden - because I was the only thing in the entire world that you were ever denied?"

We pick up with the remaining cast of The Thousandth Floor: the very dislikable Leda, the hacker Watt, the poor girl Rylin, and she of the horrendous "romance" Avery. Into this well-established mix we thrust Calliope, a mysterious and bohemian young woman with an agenda on her mind. Calliope and her mother are con-artists, constantly roaming and pulling all sorts of heists; the problem is that Calliope runs into Atlas (Avery's brother + lover) who she's run into before ... under a different name, whilst pulling a con.

So what's this one about? I'll give you the run down. Avery has got her eye on Calliope who seems to be pursuing Atlas. Hint, she is. Rylin is trying to fit in her new upper-level school, but Leda seems to be out for her. Leda herself is struggling with the events of the last book and is busy blackmailing Watt, who is trying to keep the existence of his illegal computer secret. In the background is Eris girlfriend, who is out for revenge.

"She'd worn so many names, played so many cons. She'd traded herself away in tiny little pieces with each lie, and now she had no idea what was left"

I really liked Calliope. Not only was I absolutely rooting for her to steal Atlas off of Avery, I also just thought she was such a cool girl. A roamer, a con-artist, a girl with a past who is thinking that maybe she ought to change who she is. A girl struggling to find herself and exploring her relationship with her mother. Calliope was my favourite thing about the book.

What I liked less was how The Dazzling Heights just seemed like a bit of a repeat of The Thousandth Floor. We've got the repeat of the Atlas/Avery drama, we have the tension of sort of knowing how the book ends but not knowing who did what, and we've got all the gossip going on. But unlike The Thousandth Floor, the ending just wasn't as banging.

But I definitely enjoyed it, and if you liked The Thousandth Floor then you'll like the sequel too! Also who is doing this cover art?? It's absolutely gorgeous!

My thanks to Edelweiss for an ARC of this book

Once again, I was equally as fascinated by this sequel as I was by the first one. Going into this one I knew what to expect; an incredible world building set in a futuristic world and with a fast-paced teen-centred plot.
I loved the technology and AI it definitely added a different aspect to what could be seen as another typical YA read.
I really enjoyed that it was told from 6 different points of view, it kept the story going and definitely kept my interest.
For me, this isn't the most incredible book in the world, and if I'm being honest I can't even remember what the plot was about. But I do remember breezing through it and really enjoying it. Without a doubt it satisfied my Gossip Girl and PPL itch, and I would recommend to anyone looking for an easy to read tech-heavy YA, as long as you don't go into it thinking its the next lit-fic masterpiece

Love it! Rylin is definitely my favourite character and still find Avery to be quite annoying. There is just something addictive about them and damn what a way to end the book, now I want to know what happens next

I really enjoyed this follow up to the Thousandth floor, engaging characters you really care for and a fascinating near future world combine in a thrilling read.7

I really enjoyed this book. I think that this series is a lot of fun. The book is set in a futuristic New York and follows a group of teenagers. If you are a fan of Gossip Girl then this will be a perfect series for you. This book is full of drama and has a number of different plotlines. This would make a great TV show as it has such a range of characters who have different stories but their lives are connected by a terrible event that happened at the end of the last book.

I love the futuristic setting and the range of interesting gadgets that the author has created. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book as this book ends on a big cliffhanger.

After finishing The Thousandth Floor I couldn't wait to read this and it surpassed my high expectations! I found it faster-paced than the first book but just as enthralling and compelling and I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Verdict: Imaginative, readable, and scandalous

It's impossible for me to write this review without spoilers or hints about book one, so make sure you've read that first. The pages will fly by - trust me on that one - and if you liked book one, book two is the same style with new ideas.

So it begins with another mysterious death. Mariel is angry with Eris's 'accident' and knows there's more to it than meets the eye. Watt decides to play Leda against herself in order to shake free from her blackmail, while Avery and Atlas try to make their relationship work in secret. And a new girl has arrived in the tower, a con artist who has chosen Atlas as her next mark.

I found it entertaining from page to page, just like book one. The multiple point of views allows the reader to skip to the next important scene, the next juicy moment, meaning the pace never drops. Book two is much easier to slip into and enjoy because we already know most of the characters, so it felt effortless to read from start to finish.

Like last time, I enjoyed the futuristic flavourings which shape the tower, and the ways the girls' (and Watt's) lives intermingle. The world building is fun and imaginative, giving the book that extra little something something. I read book two immediately after book one, and I'd take on book three right now if it were available!

What I enjoyed the most is getting to spend more time with Watt and to understand his character better. Leda's character also takes an unusual turn, and I found it intriguing seeing all the different sides of her.

My only criticism is that the book doesn't quite come together as inevitably like the last, and the high didn't feel quite as exciting, for reasons I won't go into. Although it couldn't, not really, without being too predictable, so I understand the choice there. The way the ending was handle was slightly surprising, which is always good.

I'll definitely be reading the next one!
Source: With thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley.com.

I didn’t know quite what to think of this book. The Thousandth Floor ends with a bit of a cliffhanger and The Dazzling Heights continues that plot quite admirably. It felt like it progressed quite slowly, with no clear direction (I debated between 3 and 4 stars based on the slowness, but decided I liked it enough for a 4 star rating), but the character development was pretty brilliant.

I loved Watt and Leda, even though Watt feels slightly two dimensional. This book completely blurred the distinction between Watt and Nadia and I think it would have been nice to see one without the other. I thought Leda really grew in this novel, and I loved her interactions with Watt and Rylin, which is pretty brilliant considering I really didn’t like her in The Thousandth Floor. I liked Rylin’s storyline, even if it was somewhat predictable.

However, I did really like Avery in The Thousandth Floor, and she becomes so boring in this instalment. Like, seriously, we get it, you love your brother as more than a brother, but do you really need to make that your entire personality and character? And Atlas himself, why exactly does everybody love Atlas? I agree with Brice on the point that he seems like the most boring person in the series itself. I personally think that it would be interesting to see what Cord (or Brice) do during these novels.

I think this book missed a trick with Mariel, because she had possibly the most interesting storyline coming into this novel, but she only has two chapters and various cameos in other chapters that I personally couldn’t connect to her.

And the cliffhanger ending, I need to read book three like... yesterday. It’s release date can’t come soon enough!

The premise of this book sounded amazing, and I had high hopes when I read the opening chapter. Unfortunately, I just didn't get a good enough sense of the characters or the setting to actually lose myself in this book. Which is a bit sad, because I think there was some real potential there, especially when it came to characters trying to undermine and blackmail one another. I liked that they all had secrets they were determined to protect, but it seemed as though they were willing to throw away a lot of their misgivings in order to be with romantic partners, or rekindle friendships. It was definitely the world-building I had issues with though. I liked the idea of the huge tower which incorporates everything, but I feel that the author spent a lot of time using info-dumps to explain things that weren't important to the book, and not using them [or a more subtle technique] to explain the surroundings. As a result, I just felt a little lost, as though it could have taken place almost anywhere, and between this and the chapters which switched POV, I didn't really find myself retaining much of the story or getting caught up in it. An interesting read, with lots of potential, but I don't think I'll be picking up the sequel.

I read the first book in this series last year and was so eager to get my hands on the next instalment, I put down everything else I was reading as soon as I had it. This book is a futuristic Gossip Girl, with everything from stolen identities and forbidden love to family drama and illegal brain-computers (to put it very, very simply…). Like Gossip Girl, this elite group of teenagers are living the high life of parties, shopping and manicures, but there is so much more bubbling under the surface. It was really fun to revisit these characters (although it took me a few chapters to remember the back story of everyone – I should have reread the first!) and to escape to Manhattan in 2118. I’m already looking forward to the next one…

A fantastic sequel, I absolutely loved this book, I was hooked all the way through and i'm really glad I discovered this and the first book together so i could binge read both in one weekend!

This is a book I feel like I’ve been waiting forever for. I thought The Thousandth Floor was fantastic but with that cliffhanger at the end I really needed this, the second book, as soon as possible and it really doesn’t disappoint.

Yet again this book kicks off with a killer hook, there’s a body in the water. Did they drown or just happen to end up there? Was it an accident, was it deliberate or was it murder? Most important of all, who is it? With a beginning like that it’s very difficult to walk away from this story and, even though the author did exactly the same in the first book, I found myself unable to put it down until I got answers.

Unfortunately it’s a long and frustrating wait as the story jumps back in time to a few months earlier picking up shortly after the shocking events at the end of the previous book which have left everyone (me included) reeling.

The narrative follows a similar style to book one with the chapters rotating through the points of view of each of the main characters all of whom are dealing with things in their own unique way. Some are grieving, others wracked with guilt and some are out for revenge or trying to cover everything up. It’s like one of those TV drama’s about the rich and famous (think Revenge or Gossip Girl) but set 100 years from now.

I thought I would struggle to get back into this series and the world but it actually came pretty easily. It all felt very familiar. All of the same characters are there and it felt like coming back to people I knew, or at least thought I did as the author does a wonderful job of developing them. I found my opinions of them shifting and changing throughout the story.

Similarly, the relationships between them that began in the first book continue to evolve and change and I found my view of them starting to shift a little bit too. There was also a new and surprising relationship which I have to say I fully support but there was one in particular I really wanted to work and so far that hasn’t happened, oh well, maybe in book three.

As well as the familiar the author also adds a couple of new characters to shake things up a bit, the main one being Calliope Brown. I have to admit though that while I can understand why she was added she wasn’t my favorite and her whole storyline kind of bugged me. The mother and daughter con artists thing seems to have been lifted directly from the movie Heartbreakers (one of my fave films btw). There’s one scene in particular in the hotel lobby that seemed to have been almost lifted word for word. I probably would have been ok with a con artist type story but it just didn’t have any originality.

The story itself, is wonderfully addictive just like in the Thousandth Floor. The pacing is absolutely spot on and the mysterious death in the beginning really draws you in. The author keeps you guessing and throws in so many twists and red herrings that you don’t have a hope in hell of figuring it out until the very end. It’s frustrating but absolutely brilliant. I found myself on the edge of my seat on more than one occasion only to be screaming in frustration the next when I realized I wasn’t finding out what happened yet.

The futuristic setting and sci fi elements do add an interesting aspect to the story but as most of the world building took place in the first book there is definitely a lot more focus on the characters and story this time around. Similar to my biggest gripe with The Thousandth Floor though, I do still think the author goes a little bit too far in terms of the tech and gadgets. Just because it’s set in the future doesn’t mean everything has to be super high tech and gimmicky. When they started with edible lights in the icing of a cake I was ready to throw my kindle at the wall. No one messes with cake. I kind of feel, just let icing be icing or a blanket be a blanket. Not everything has to be different. Anyway, as you can probably tell the cake made me very angry but, I’m over it.

Overall, despite my cake related issues, this is definitely a book and a series that I’d recommend. It’s a completely addictive read with more than a few twists and surprises.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. As always all view are my own.

I have to say I was expecting better. I thought there would be more about Mariel and her investigation into Eris's death, but she wasn't given much space in the book for her thoughts and plotting. It was just the same characters as the previous book blackmailing and breaking up with one another.

I liked what happened with Watt and Leda. I liked their scheming and where it got them. I also liked the stuff with Rylin starting at the highlier school. It was interesting to see her having to adapt to the world that she doesn't really like and it was great to watch her find a passion for something. I think out of the whole book, she and Watt are the only characters I actually like, unless you count Nadia who is awesome.

I'll probably read another book in this series, because I'm invested and really hard to give up on series that might get better. But I wish this book had gone in a different direction and I didn't like it much more than the first.

A fabulous and glittering sequel to 'The Thousandth Floor', 'The Dazzling Heights' sucked me right back into a world of cocktail parties and, you know, rooftop murder. I thought it did an excellent job of summarising what happened in the first book without being an info-dump and added new layers to the characters.

I really liked the introduction of Calliope and thought her character, as a con-woman, was a great angle from which to view this privileged, snobby teen life. If there's a third book, I'd love more closure on what happens to her and how she fits into the group now that her identity - multiple identities for that matter - have settled.

Unfortunately, I felt like Avery and Leda were still one note characters. Avery just whined about Atlas (her step brother who she's in love with. Don't even get me started on that. It's weird, regardless of whether they're actually related, especially when they talk about 'Mom and Dad' rather than 'Dad and step-mom'.) And Leda was still bitter about Avery and Eris but somehow managed to charm Watt in a love/hate manner.

This series definitely warrants a third instalment as I'm still waiting to know why a thousand storey building exists in the first place and if Eris will ever be properly avenged by her girlfriend (who needed to play a bigger role in this story than just the opening chapter. It would have been so much more juicy if she took Eris's place at the school than Rylin!) I'd recommend, again, if you like the vibes of 'Gossip Girl' and 'Pretty Little Liars'. with a dash of 'The 100' thrown in!

The Dazzling Heights begins shortly after dramatic conclusion to The Thousandth Floor. As the main protagonists reel from the loss of the friend/enemy/frenemy* (delete as applicable) the all deal with it in their own inimitable way. This book adds the new character of Calliope who been English must immediately because baddie....I'm not bitter I swear. Anyway it's back to all the intrigued and double crosses in this book that made the first one so interesting and fun to read. It begins again with the death of a nameless girl with all the events leading up to the reveal. It works well again but I hope the same device isn't used in the next book. It could get old. But on the whole this is an entertaining and easy read. It's definitely YA but it appealed to even my advancing years!

I received an e-arc from the publisher via Netgalley, with thanks.

So good! I wasn't sure how this was going to hold up against THE THOUSANDTH FLOOR, but it certainly managed it! It's such a good sequel with all the elements that I loved from the first book: sci-fi Gossip Girl crossed with a who-even-died style murder mystery.

My only complaint is that the ending could have been expanded on, but I'm hoping there's a third book where it is.

This is Gossip Girl meets Pretty Little Liars, and I am 100% here for it!

Following on for the traumatic events that the first instalment, The Thousandth Floor, closed with, this begun in an altogether more sombre mood. Every character has their own secrets to hide, but that doesn't stop them attempting to out each other. Relationships and friendships seem forever severed and the charmed life of this elite cast is transformed into hell set in a thousand story sky scraper.

By following the same large cast of characters, as well as a few new inclusions, and allowing each of them to record the events in their own chapter-long perspectives, this withheld the serialised TV show feel that the prior book had. There remains something... trashy about this series. But of the best possible sort. Think reality TV and your favourite TV series combined.

Despite the futuristic setting and multitude of exciting and innovative gadgets that fill the lives of this elite cast, there remained something essentially understandable about these characters. Their troubles were real and their pain was authentic. Their stories might differ but heartache, grief, and love are timeless emotions experienced by characters and readers alike. I think that's what makes this series so special to me - it is a seamless blend of the exciting unknown and the relatable.