Review: Floored by Sara Barnard, Holly Bourne, Tanya Byrne, Non Pratt, Melinda Salisbury, Lisa Williamson, Eleanor Wood

Authors: Sara Barnard, Holly Bourne, Tanya Byrne, Non Pratt, Melinda Salisbury, Lisa Williamson, Eleanor Wood

Genre: YA Contemporary

published by: Macmillan

publication date: 12/07/2018

Pages: 320

My rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The Breakfast Club meets One Day in Floored, a unique collaborative novel by seven bestselling and award-winning YA authors: Sara Barnard, Holly Bourne, Tanya Byrne, Non Pratt, Melinda Salisbury, Lisa Williamson and Eleanor Wood.

When they got in the lift, they were strangers (though didn’t that guy used to be on TV?): Sasha, who is desperately trying to deliver a parcel; Hugo, who knows he’s the best-looking guy in the lift and is eyeing up Velvet, who knows what that look means when you hear her name and it doesn’t match the way she looks, or the way she talks; Dawson, who was on TV, but isn’t as good-looking as he was a few years ago and is desperately hoping no one recognizes him; Kaitlyn, who’s losing her sight but won’t admit it, and who used to have a poster of Dawson on her bedroom wall, and Joe, who shouldn’t be here at all, but who wants to be here the most.

And one more person, who will bring them together again on the same day every year.

Seven authors, seven characters, one story.

I was so surprised and excited when this came with the postman, I didn’t think my request for a proof was successful. With some of the best UKYA authors working on it you can’t help but have extremely high expectations for it. I can confirm it did not disappoint, in fact, it surpassed them by miles. I may have cried when I finished it, purely because it was over.

Told from the perspective of six people and an unknown narrator, through individual chapters. All of them from different backgrounds and strangers before entering the lift. We have Dawson, the child TV star, who isn’t as attractive as he was a few years ago. Joe, a student on a school trip. Kaitlyn, work experience. Hugo, son of CEO, Velvet work experience, Sasha delivering a parcel.

After the events in the lift they become friends and meet up on the anniversary. I enjoyed watching their friendships grow and change as the story progressed. My particular favourite was Dawson and Kaitlyn’s friendship/relationship, it was brilliantly written and no matter what path it took I was still just as invested. Each character is seamlessly woven into the story, making it even more difficult to guess who wrote which character. By the end I had only guessed three of them and I have no idea if I’m even right. One of my favourite things about the book is Remy, I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with a guide dog in it. I think it’s incredibly important and I loved it! I love everything about this book, definitely read it ASAP!

I can’t recommend Floored enough. It’s a hard concept to pull off with so many pov’s and authors but they aced it. I also love the hidden Easter eggs in the book, I’m not going to spoil it though. Keep your eyes peeled for them though! I haven’t read any of Eleanor Wood’s and Tanya Byrne’s books, I will definitely be reading them soon.

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