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Friday, January 15, 2016

Book Review: Floor 21 by Jason Luthor

My Rating: 
Book: Floor 21 
Author: Jason Luthor
Release date: June 2nd 2015 by Kindle Press
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UNLBJNI/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00UNLBJNI&linkCode=as2&tag=readiculoupea-20&linkId=A6MKDNHE3FDMEPTE
Synopsis:
As humanity lives out the remainder of its existence at the top of an isolated apartment tower, young Jackie dares to question Tower Authority and their ban on traveling into the tower's depths. Intelligent and unyielding, Jackie ventures into the shadows of the floors below.
But will her strong will and refusal to be quiet—in a society whose greatest pride is hiding the past—bring understanding of how humanity became trapped in the tower she has always called home, or will it simply be her undoing?


My Review:

I received a copy through the YA Bound Book Tour to read and review in return.

I had my doubts in the beginning, because how can you actually build a post-apocalyptic world in a huge tower?? But Jason Luthor pulls it off and simultaneously shows off his great talent in his writing skills and his way of keeping the reader in this constant hypnosis on the story.
Ahh yes, how wonderful it is to read a post-apocalyptic story which actually... works!!

The book is written in first person and takes in the form of fragments of voice recordings made by our protagonist, Jackie. The story starts off with a bang, where we know just as little as Jackie does about the world she lives in. She basically lives in this Tower which was constructed for survivors to live out their lives 'safely'. Something happened which drove them to live in this tower, but nobody knows what this something is and why it happened. Not only is this freaky, as the lower you go down the tower, the creepier it gets... literally. The tower is known to be infested by this muscle-like gooey red looking consistency, called Creep. If you were to touch this creep, or stand too close to it, it could conjure strange hallucinations or viciously grab you and take you into its dark and unforgiving depths...

Jackie lives on Floor 4, which is relatively the best floor to live on. The people on this floor get bigger rations of food and there is no creep. Floor 2 & 3 are where the scientists execute their studies on finding out what happened before the tower was built for the people and other mysterious things no one else knows about. Floor 1 seems to be the biggest mystery to all the civilians, as no one is permitted to enter or for that fact no one has ever seen anyone going in or out of this floor. Floors 21 and below seem to be the most the dangerious and unknown, here civilians are almost completely surrounded by Creep. Jackie explains that from the beginning of the construction of this tower, a strong team was formed called Scavengers. It is their responsibility to go as far down the tower as possible to collect food, materials, and anything that can help the civilians survive. Once in a while very important objects or pieces of information is found, which will be delivered straight to Floor 1, no questions asked. Jackie is realizing that Floor 1 is hiding something from the rest of the floors, and she is convinced they know more about what happened in the past and how this creep came to existence. 

In the beginning of the book, it took me a while to get used to Jackie. She is a teenager, so it is understandable she has some childish tendencies, but her attitude was a little too adolescent for my liking. But then again, these are suppose to be recordings, so it does make the story come off more believable. Despite these characteristics, she is extremely brave and determined to find out the truth. She is curious about the past, before the tower was built, and she does everything in her power to find out the answers to her questions. Jackie's recordings are truly action packed, and the urge of wanting to know more is predominantly present!

The story later shifts to someone else's recordings. Normally this would take me completely out of the loop of the story, but Mr. Luthor executed this perfectly. I actually often found the second person's recording to be even more intriguing and it definitely contributed a great deal to the story! 

If you love post-apocalyptic stories, bulked with originality, extreme suspense and mystery, then this is definitely the book for you!!
 
About the Author
Jason Luthor has spent a long life writing for sports outlets, media companies and universities. His earliest writing years came during his coverage of the San Antonio Spurs as an affiliate with the Spurs Report and its media partner, WOAI Radio. He would later enjoy a moderate relationship with Blizzard Entertainment, writing lore and stories for potential use in future games. At the academic level he has spent several years pursuing a PhD in American History at the University of Houston, with a special emphasis on Native American history. His inspirations include some of the obvious; The Lord of the Rings and Chronciles of Narnia are some of the most cited fantasy series in history. However, his favorite reads include the Earthsea Cycle, the Chronicles of Prydain, as well as science fiction hits such as Starship Troopers and Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep?
Author Links:

Book Tour Organized by: YA Bound Book Tours