This book is a slow-build, introducing the reader gently to the dystopian world in which our narrator, Hitomi, keeps constant surveillance on Riva, a high-rise diver gone rogue. However, despite this gradual build, I still (even now, having finished the book) can't really grasp the world into which we are plunged. Maybe it is unfair to compare, but when you look at other dystopias created by the likes of Margaret Atwood and Aldous Huxley, this one feels 2-D, and lacking in any real depth or nuance.
Despite that, the book does get decidedly more interesting when the character of Zarnee is introduced - a 'spy' planted by Hitomi and the system into Riva's life in order to tempt her back into the spotlight. The dynamics between Zarnee, Riva, and the omnipresent Hitomi are fascinating, especially since Riva has no idea that Hitomi is watching, nor that Zarnee and Hitomi are messaging in the moment. Unfortunately, Zarnee's character is not enough to distract from the weak, stumbling storyline, that keeps building and never feels like it really gets anywhere.
Towards the end, I don't think I have ever been so excited to get to the end of a novel, and I'm not convinced that is entirely a positive thing.

A unique dystopia, in which career success defines how well you live, this book is well written and the plot is gripping. I would definitely recommend this, it is a fascinating read and makes you question your priorities.

A young woman, strong and proud, stands on the top of a high-rise thousands of feet tall. Below her a crowd chants her name and yells for her to jump. She does, plunging to within inches of certain death before activating the flight mode in her specially constructed suit and soaring back up above the crowd. She is Riva, 20-years-old and a chosen athlete, a physically perfect specimen with the skill and mental stamina to defy death every single day. She is famous, a celebrity, wealthy, but now? Now, she sits crouched in her expensive apartment refusing to do anything. Her employer has hired PsySolutions to ‘cure’ her. Hitomi is the psychologist assigned and the narrator of this futuristic drama, The High-Rise Diver by Julia von Lucadou.

Much like Klara and the Sun, The High-Rise Diver is set at an unspecified time and in an unknown location. What is clear is that this is a future completely controlled by big business and neatly bisected between cities and the “peripheries”—which seem to be a slumlike area with no technology or modern services. If Riva continues to break her contract she’ll be banished to the peripheries. Just as importantly, unless Hitomi heals her, she too, will lose the life she’s fought so hard to gain. Using the technology of the times, Hitomi watches Riva on secret surveillance cameras mounted throughout her apartment. She knows everything there is to know about her, thanks to her activity tracker. She has analysts scouring years of data and footage to see what may have occurred at some point in the recent past to turn the enthusiastic athlete into a lethargic, silent child who sits on the floor playing with a toy. Her boyfriend, a photographer, whose career is largely due to her fame, has been enlisted and is working with Hitomi to try and encourage (and later pressure) Riva to get back to her career, but with no success.

For as much as The High-Rise Diver is about Riva, as the novel progresses it becomes clear that Hitomi is under severe stress as well. She must succeed with Riva to prove herself. Every day that Riva is out of commission beyond the delivery date promised to her company is one more black mark against Hitomi’s record. And while Hitomi is no athlete it becomes clear her life is as managed as Riva’s. Her boss constantly texts her, not just about her work, but on personal issues as well. She’s been sterilized and dates only men whose profiles are matched with hers.

Under the guise of ‘wellbeing’ employers monitor everything about their employees from their diets and exercise to REM sleep cycles. Kind of like a next generation Apple watch. All of this data is constantly being recorded and when it shifts out of pre-determined norms, warnings appear. Kind, concerned, warnings—advising meditation when cortisol levels stay chronically high, more leafy greens to lower cholesterol. Not fixing problems results in employment termination.

The problem is the longer Hitomi watches Riva, poring over her data, the less she understands. When she finally decides to plant a new ‘friend’ in Riva’s life it brings about a change, but not necessarily as desired. Pressure on both women ratchets steadily higher, but only Hitomi seems to care about losing her job, which secures her credit score, which is all that stands between her and the peripheries.

Hitomi’s job and current situation are just one aspect of the dystopian landscape created by von Lucadou. The novel is reminiscent of 1984 and other dark-future books, but with the difference that von Lucadou lulls the reader into complacency with the protective warmth of technology. It’s a bit invasive, but it’s for the greater good and makes life better, until it doesn’t. She peels back the curtain to reveal pre-determined lives where money is the only differentiator. Freedom is a lost concept. Writing The High-Rise Diver in a detached, factual tone only makes the truth more frightening. As Hitomi faces plummeting from her safe perch in life it’s clear that, chilling though it is, the end may be a relief.

At first I wasn’t sure about this book. I went into it blind. The plot sounded interesting and new. I’m glad I stuck with it because this turned out to be a fantastic read.

Creepy and stressful at times this story made me really uncomfortable as a reader, and that’s not something that happens often. Even though Hitomi is flawed, the character resonates. I don’t even know how to describe this really. I’ll just say that people should give it a chance and read it.

I was really drawn into this story as it gradually unfolded. Character development was strong and the book was well written. The ending came as a surprise, but looking back it made sense. I would recommend this book for readers of science fiction who are looking for something with a strong psychological element.

The High-Rise Diver by Julia von Lucadou missed the mark for me. I picked this one up several different times over the past few months and could not get into it no matter how hard I tried. I'd read a few chapters here and there, and it just didn't grab my attention. I finally forced myself to finish it, and I'm still a little bit confused as to what I read. I will admit I found the last quarter of the book more eventful than the beginning. The book had promise with a unique dystopian world but it just didn't seem to connect for me, and I wasn't satisfied with the ending.

In the High-Rise Diver, Julia von Lucadou creates a vivid, if disturbing, picture of a future society in which surveillance is not just widespread but constant and invasive. Think activity trackers that monitor your sleep patterns, nutritional intake and vital signs. Where every action you take online is recorded and scrutinized. Where facial recognition technology is omnipresent and your location is tracked in real time using the tablet device that continuously bombards you with news alerts and advertising messages.

The book introduces the reader to a highly stratified society in which those who have earned the right to dwell in the city enjoy privileges denied to those who live in the ‘peripheries’. The only route out of the latter is via success at “casting sessions” at which future life and career paths are determined based on a candidate’s performance. Naturally, the sessions are live-streamed on social media to millions.

Reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale, many children are conceived by ‘breeders’ and even those who aren’t may have little contact with their ‘bioparents’. However, like everything else in this society, the simulated experience of family life can be bought for a price. And if you don’t have the credits for that, there’s always the ‘parentbot’ app.

Readers are likely to have varying responses to certain features of the book, such as the absence of speech marks and the frequent use of ™ appended to certain words. Personally, the former didn’t cause me a problem and, although I found the latter a little annoying, it did underline the sense of a society in which anything can be commercialized, even a celebrity’s favourite cocktail. Pour me another flydrive™ barman. (You may be reassured to know that you can still get a martini even in this imagined future.)

If you thought an annual appraisal with your manager was something to be apprehensive about just imagine a situation in which your performance is continuously monitored, evaluated and rated by your superior, and in which your income, social status, accommodation and other ‘privileges’ are dependent on the outcome. If that doesn’t make you shudder, then how about the thought of having a date reviewed and rated by the other party and having to complete a profile in advance setting out your sexual preferences and expectations.

Although it wasn’t hard for me to imagine why Riva might not want to continue training in order to perform ever more daring dives off high buildings – surely a metaphor for the status conscious society imagined by the author – I’m not sure I really felt much connection with her. I was more drawn to Hitomi’s story, that of the watcher who is constantly watched herself and is gradually overwhelmed by the nature of her assignment.

The High-Rise Diver paints a rather grim vision of a possible future, one I hope will never come to pass. By the end, I definitely found myself hoping that Hugo Masters, Hitomi’s creepy boss, might have an encounter with a defective flysuit™. And if you’ve ever lacked the motivation for a digital detox, The High-Rise Diver will definitely provide the kick you need.

This book didn't click for me at all and I gave up just over a third of the way through.

I liked the world building but that was about it, sorry!

I didn't like or empathise with any of the characters and the prose / prose style confused me.

Maybe I'm missing something or something has been lost in translation but I just don't get it.

Diving off of a high rise sounds terrifying. Could I even watch such a thing, knowing what would happen if the diver missed? Look, I had to watch the diving event during our swim meets between my fingers because I was so afraid of one of them hitting the board. So yeah, I am not watching, and I am zero percent blaming Riva for not wanting to do it anymore (though, to be fair, that isn't really why Riva is over it, but shhh).

Hitomi, on the other hand, is tasked with getting Riva back on the platform (I am going to assume it's a platform, a springboard is just asking for fatalities, yeah?) which includes some super invasive "watching" of Riva. Like girl has video feeds going 24/7 like some kind of deranged "Real World" season, but Riva didn't exactly sign up to join the cast. The bottom line in this world is, if you're not providing some Very Important Function™ for the higher ups, then you can go die in the outskirts; they find you useless. Also, what kind of world thinks diving off buildings is super important? And then, forcing someone to dive off buildings... and maybe forcing someone to force someone, and so on? Hint: A messed up one.

While I loved the story, and found the world both fascinating and creepily plausible, my one complaint with the book was that I didn't feel particularly connected to the characters. Of course, we're seeing Riva's life through a literal lens, as we're only seeing Riva as Hitomi is seeing her. I felt for Riva, but I didn't necessarily feel connected to her. I felt a bit more for Hitomi, since we can sense her desperation, frankly.

And that's the crux: this world reeks of desperation. If you've "made it", you're desperate to stay that way. If you haven't, you're desperate to make it. Hence the concept of doing anything to be part of the upper echelon (i.e., diving off of high rise buildings). The society is invasive and bleak as hell and it was beyond fascinating to read about.

Bottom Line: I am always drawn to a world darker than our own, a world that we can foresee happening based on our trajectory. This book definitely fits that bill.

I'm still somewhat uncertain about my feelings about this story. This centers in a dystopian world where perfection is key to life. The athlete diver is a woman who literally dives off of high rise buildings for her living. Her ability to achieve perfection is tied to the rewards of a higher standard of living. This definitely had many undercurrents that reminded me of many other dystopian novels. There was something reminiscent of several of this genre. One of the interesting developments occurs early when Riva, the diver, becomes depressed and does not want to participate in her sport of diving any longer. The other characters' stories were more intriguing regarding the culture that dictated life for all.
I thought this was good but maybe not as compelling as some of the others in the genre.
#TheHighRiseDiver #Netgalley #WorldEditions

I’m not sure how I feel about this book. It was compulsive reading and yet left me feeling as if something was lacking. Maybe it was all the unanswered questions about how that particular dystopia worked... It was unique and I’m glad that I read it, but I was also slightly disappointed.

A very welcome addition to the treasury of dystopian novels, I loved the idea of the diver and the reality of increased surveillance was well potrayed. The peripheries didn't quite work for me, but a well imagined story over all. Special mention to the translator, I forgot it wasn't originally in English.
Thank you to netgalley and World editions for an advance copy of this book.

This dystopian novel is not what I expected. We see a slice of this world from the perspective of Hitomi, a business psychologist hired to get a famous athlete, a high-rise diver, back to work. One woman's career depends heavy on the others. It's got some Big Brother vibes, plenty of rich detail, and a unique way of unfolding the world.

In a dystopian but completely realistic society where everything appears on the surface to be based around ability, "The High-Rise Diver" follows two women. Riva Karnovsky is a high-rise diver: an individual who jumps from impossibly high heights wearing only a state-of-the-art FlySuit™ and saves themselves from hitting the pavement at the last possible second for sport. For seemingly no discernible reason, Riva breaks her contracts, quits training and diving, and puts a lot of people's money at risk. Assigned to her case is psychologist Hitomi Yoshida who watches Riva's every movement making notes of her sentences, eating habits, facial expressions, etc. from cameras hidden in Riva's apartment in an attempt to get Riva to return to diving. Hitomi believes in the system 100%. She has been born and bred for this society.

Your position in this society is entirely dependent upon either being picked up by a talent scout from the Peripheries (for things like High-Rise Diving) or your performance in tests that determine your career and thus the amount of "credits" you earn. Your living situation, stability, mental and physical health, and credit are all directly tied to the opportunities and decisions made for you as a child leading into adulthood (and not even adulthood...I think it's "sexual maturity"). If you are unsuccessful, slip, or cannot meet any of this standards, you will be forced to return to the Peripheries--literally the edge of society filled with horrible living conditions, unwavering heat, and filth that nearly everyone seems to be constantly trying to escape.

The level of technology present in this society is also staggering. Cameras, paparazzi, GPS, tracking devices are all overwhelmingly present. It is impossible to go somewhere that a camera is not on you and that your online records are not being tracked. One of my favorite parts of this are the little "status reports" on Hitomi included at the end of some chapters. They show just how pervasive everything is.

Lucadou does an incredible job creating this dystopian world that is only a few notches worse than our own. The loss of identity and personal freedoms and the destruction of the lower classes to maintain a highly selective upper class are all suffocatingly close on the horizon. I believe this is going to become a staple of the dystopian genre.

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
Some good ideas but it failed to deliver. I found it overly forced and dull to read.
An OK read.

The High Rise Diver was fully of interesting imagery and tremendous possibility but I found myself wishing for less incidental detail and more critical momentum.

Interesting, intelligent and thought-provoking. The story is set in the dystopian future where "performance" defines your living standards. If you meet the defined scale of performance you live in ultra modern high-rises in the city, the higher your floor, the higher your caste. Everyone else lives in the outer-slums, presumably in shame. Riva is a star and top athlete, a "high-rise diver, living the "high" life, until she suddenly wants to give it all up. But there are too many others - her manager, her sponsor, her boyfriend - who rely on her talent to elevate themselves. They will not let her withdraw. Hitomi is the psychologist tasked with reversing her decision, and is given complete invasive access to Riva's life in order to fix this mystery. Hitomi's success is linked to her own lifestyle and she is acutely aware of the risk of failure. So much so that it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy and she must correct her course at any cost.

While the author creates a realistic futuristic society, it is just the backdrop. The pressure and anxiety to perform, deliver and conform, within some subjective definition, is all too familiar in today's world. Individuality is only welcome if it falls within the societal definition. The slippery slope of self-destruction is well captured and the inevitability of failure is an excruciating to read. You find yourself taking the journey alongside Hitomi and willing her good fortune. Her story mirrors the journey of the high-rise diver, plummeting towards to earth, as elegantly as possible, with no knowledge whether she can pull up at the last minute or fatally crash. Excellent social commentary and capturing of the psychology of demise. My only wish is that a different ending was chosen.

I like dystopian books and i did enjoy this one but i found it very slow and hard to get into but i liked the idea of the story.

I was offered this book to review via NetGalley and do feel conflicted in giving this book such a low rating as it was very readable. The premise of living in a society obsessed with performance etc was interesting but overall my issue with it was that I found it depressing. Whilst I suspect that this was the author's intention, that this should be a cautionary tale, unlike The Handmaid's Tale, which I loved, I struggled to find myself rooting for any of the characters in the book.

The reader spent much of the book 'watching' Riva, the subject of the protagonist's study, and I found her difficult to relate to in her apathy to everything. Perhaps if the book had been a study of depression I may have understood it better but towards the end there seemed to be an inexplicable about-turn in her attitude.

The book was written from the perspective of a psychologist watching Riva remotely. This book was clearly the author's commentary on a life lived under surveillance, quotas and under the spotlight of social media. In truth I found it difficult to connect with the protagonist either. Even when she was commenting that her heart monitor was alerting her of high heart rates from stress etc I struggled to empathise with her. Having had jobs where your performance is being closely monitored I would have expected a more visceral reaction to her being under pressure however somehow even her thought processes seemed unbothered. Perhaps it was the protagonist's obsession with describing the constant changes in her boss's office rather than the internalised pressure of his criticism that deadened my perception of her stress.

I certainly finished the book but ended up ambivalent about the outcome for any of the characters.

A well written dystopian novel.A world in which success is the goal your value.A touch of Brave new world.I was drawn right in and kept me turning the pages.A haunting novel that leaves you with a lot to think about.#netgalley#worldeditions