It’s been a long time time since I wrote a dedicated review for a single book and it’s something that I definitely want to focus more on this year as that is the reason why I started Feed The Crime.
Thirteen Storeys by Jonathan Sims was the last book that I finished in 2020 and I was so excited to read this based purely on the cover that I started it as soon as I bought it.
You’re cordially invited to dinner. Penthouse access is available via the broken freight elevator. Black tie optional.
A dinner party is held in the penthouse of a multimillion-pound development. All the guests are strangers – even to their host, the billionaire owner of the building. None of them know why they were selected to receive his invitation. Whether privileged or deprived, besides a postcode, they share only one thing in common – they’ve all experienced a shocking disturbance within the building’s walls.
By the end of the night, their host is dead, and none of the guests ever said what happened. His death remains one of the biggest unsolved mysteries – until now.
But are you ready for their stories?
Jonathan Sims’ debut is a darkly twisted, genre-bending journey through one of the most innovative haunted houses you’ll ever dare to enter.
-Goodreads-
Oh man, I’m pretty disappointed, I really wanted to love this book but I’m sad to say that I just didn’t enjoy it.
It’s pretty rare that I read any horror or supernatural books so I was a little nervous going into this. In terms of movies when they have an unrealistic supernatural element I don’t normally enjoy them so maybe this wasn’t the best book for me to read.
The structure of Thirteen Storeys didn’t work for me, I understand why the author executed it the way that he did as it worked for the conclusion but I think this is what hindered my enjoyment. Each chapter is a different character and their experience within the building, however it read more like a collection of short stories, yes there were minor connections to others throughout the book however for me this created a disconnect which stopped me becoming fully immersed, I felt like I was just watching from the sidelines .
Obviously I can’t go into too much detail about the ending as it would be a massive spoiler however I just thought it was ridiculous and definitely didn’t satisfy me.
This is probably just me not being the right audience, as on Goodreads this book has an average rating of 4.14 with 403 ratings so a lot of people have loved it.
Have you read any books that didn’t live up to your expectations recently?
See you in the next one…
Feed The Crime 
Aww too bad this one didn’t work for you, it’s sounds interesting. I can understand wanting a better connection between characters though.
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Too bad it didn’t work for you Blair. The cover and synopsis sure made it look and sound like it would be a good one. Better luck with your next read.
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