I was lucky enough to receive a digital ARC of “The Way Up is Death,” by Dan Hanks!

I give this book 3/5 ⭐️. The title and cover are great, and are what made me so interested in this book to begin with. The concept of a tower randomly selecting 13 people from the area it “spawns” over is intriguing, and Hanks wastes no time in throwing us into the action. As the thirteen people begin to ascend as commanded by the tower, each floor is revealed to be pulled from one of the thirteen’s subconscious. To avoid spoiling anything, I’ll just say that the title of the book does not lie.

I felt the characters in this novel weren’t realistic enough, and at times it seemed like the writing involving them was slipping into the realm of caricature. It difficult for me to get emotionally attached to any of the thirteen, but it did make it very easy for me to hate Dirk! There was too much “telling” and not enough “showing,” especially when it came to characters’ emotions and relationships with one another. This was one of those books where I was aware of every page I was reading and struggled to immerse myself into the story. From what I’ve seen, a lot of other readers love this book, so I’ll accept it’s just not my cup of tea!

Filled with complex characters, attention to detail world building that makes you feel like you’re in the pages this is one of the best books I’ve read all year I devoured it!

It follows a bunch of strangers in London when a tower suddenly appears in the sky telling people to ascend., with horror and syfy vibes Dan hanks will have you on the edge of your seat!

Thirteen Strangers find themselves in front of a mysterious tower with one goal: ascend.

The Way Up is Death by Dan Hanks is my latest book from Net Galley. I’m very lucky to have gotten to read this one early. Ever since I heard about it, I wanted to read it. I loved Dan Hanks last back, Swashbucklers, and was excited to see what he would write next. As much as I loved Swashbucklers, The Way Up is Death is better. Oh my god this book is great.

I don’t want to give away too much about this book but I will say that it is, largely, a horror story. It also reminds me of A Light Most Hateful by Hailey Piper in that it introduces you to the main characters and then says “Buckle up! This is a ride!” I called this book an “absolute horror rollercoaster” on social media and it is.

And yet later in the book, we do get moments where the book slows down a little to reflect and pause. There are moments of pure beauty later in the book that make up for some of the horrifying images from earlier. As I said, I don’t want to spoil this story. Just know that the ride goes up and up and then down and whirls around and takes a slight pause and then goes up again. You’ll often find yourself going “Oh, those poor people.”

Well, okay, maybe you won’t feel sorry for all of them…

The Way Up is Death is a fantastic book. Its so well written, with complex characters and enough detail that you can picture whats going on very well but also can fill in the gaps with your own horrible brain too. This book is one of the best books I’ve read this year. Its going to be one of the books to come out next year!

You should not miss The Way Up is Death by Dan Hanks. The book comes out on January 14th, 2025. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with an early digital copy of this book. And thanks Dan Hanks for writing this one. Wow. What an amazing book.

I read this book in less than 24 hours and the only reason I didn’t finish it in one sitting is because my body unfortunately needs sleep (rude). The Only Way Up is Death so absolutely wild, I couldn’t stop, I had to keep reading. I read it while brushing my teeth, I read it while walking my dog. If you’re struggling to get out of a book slump, this is the book to get you out of it. If you’re not, this is the book to read anyway because it’s rad. It gets right into the action (of which there’s a ton) and as I mentioned before, it’s basically impossible not to keep turning the page.

It was easy to feel like a 14th person in the group of 13 confused people forced to climb the mysterious tower. No one knows what the hell is going on, so I was like, “hey, same,” and we all began the ascent together. And I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t… that. Sorry, no spoilers. You likely won’t be expecting it either but it’s all awesome.

Of the 13 people, there were some obvious main characters that were more finely developed. I loved Rakie and Earl, I despised Dirk (seriously, he is the worst and I just know people like him actually exist which makes me hate him more), and Nia was beautifully written and relatable, but I think I most closely related to Alden. As he ascended the tower, he came to some realizations about grief that hit pretty close to home for me and I found it comforting.

And I found more comfort in the book, which feels weird when I look back on it because I’d easily describe it as sometimes funny but mostly terrifying science fiction which doesn’t sound at all comforting. Between the violence, in-fighting, and general confusion, there were drops of commentary on humanity, the way we treat each other, and the things we value, as well as the importance of caring for and about the future regardless of whether or not we’ll be here to see it. I loved the inclusion of those themes and the ways in which they were perfectly woven into the story.

I’d been looking forward to reading this one for a while and am so happy I can now say I’ve read it and it lived up to my expectations and then some!


***I’ll post this review on Instagram, my blog, and other socials closer to release.***