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The Dazzling Heights
The Dazzling Heights
The Dazzling Heights
Audiobook13 hours

The Dazzling Heights

Written by Katharine McGee

Narrated by Phoebe Strole

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

About this audiobook

The sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel The Thousandth Floor

New York, 2118. Manhattan is home to a thousand-story supertower, a breathtaking marvel that touches the sky. But amidst high-tech luxury and futuristic glamour, five teenagers are keeping dangerous secrets…

LEDA is haunted by memories of what happened on the worst night of her life. She’ll do anything to make sure the truth stays hidden—even if it means trusting her enemy.

WATT just wants to put everything behind him…until Leda forces him to start hacking again. Will he do what it takes to be free of her for good?

When RYLIN wins a scholarship to an upper-floor school, her life transforms overnight. But being there means seeing the boy whose heart she broke, and who broke hers in return.

AVERY is tormented by her love for the one person in the world she can never have. She’s desperate to be with him… no matter the cost.

And then there’s CALLIOPE, the mysterious, bohemian beauty who arrives in New York determined to cause a stir. And she knows exactly where to begin.

But unbeknownst to them all, someone is watching their every move, someone with revenge in mind. And in a world of such dazzling heights, just one wrong step can mean a devastating fall.

Perfect for fans of One of Us Is Lying and Big Little Lies, the sumptuous second book in the bestselling Thousandth Floor series has all the drama, romance and hidden secrets that landed the first book in this series at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list!

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperCollins
Release dateAug 29, 2017
ISBN9780062680037
Author

Katharine McGee

Katharine McGee is from Houston, Texas. She studied English and French literature at Princeton and has an MBA from Stanford. It was during her years living in a second-floor apartment in New York City that she kept daydreaming about skyscrapers . . . and then she started writing. She now lives in Philadelphia. The Thousandth Floor is her first novel and The Dazzling Heights her second.

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Reviews for The Dazzling Heights

Rating: 3.703463235930736 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

231 ratings18 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I give this one 4.5 stars. I loved this one as much as I did the first one! I definitely recommend. Although it is told from multiple povs (point of view), not once did I feel lost. I also love the whole concept of New York City set in the future. Being from NYC I found that to be pretty cool.

    I also love all the characters and how the author wrote them all well. Each one having their own personality, secrets, and issues. There is some slow moments at times, but that's pretty much expected with books. However, Katherine McGee sure knows how to keep you hooked in and wanting to find out more..

    I loved all the drama and being able to feel what each character is feeling in the aftermath of what took place in the first book. I wanted a little more of Muriel's pov. Love that the author leaves you wanting to find out more, which leads you to want to read the next book. I look forward to seeing how this trilogy ends.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was obsessed with the first book ("The Thousandth Floor") but this continuation of the story wasn't nearly as compelling. I mostly only kept listening because the characters are still great and I still love all the futuristic gizmos. Hopefully the third book finishes the trilogy on a strong note.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Not You Average 2nd Sequel. This sequel not leads up to the final installment, but has some great scenes of deception and lies swirling around and mixing together like cream into coffee, creating a delicious dessert. It's fun to read about rich people lying and deceiving each other.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This second installment of the Thousandth Floor trilogy is pretty much on par with the first book. A little slow moving at times, but overall a decent listen. The author introduces a new, somewhat devious character in this book who I found added a lot of spicey intrigue, especially in the beginning.

    I really like the premise of this series in that practically a whole entire city is encased within this huge structure which reaches up to (yup, you guessed it!) a thousand floors. And most of the drama takes place within it. A really beautiful structure too (I love the book covers).

    Another thing I really like is the high techie aspect with little robots ? roaming around, for instance. And yet not so technical that the average person (like me) gets lost.

    I must say, I do think the author is a little ruthless in offing her most promising (and nicest) characters. Not once, but twice!! (Don’t want to say too much more here and be a “spoiler). However, there Is one more book to go, so time will tell in what happens in the end.

    All in all, this is a very professional, well thought out and well written series, and I think it is worth a listen.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I think this was a fun read. It wasn't anything life changing or really anything that impressive but it was a fun read. This book is told from five characters points of view. They are all teenagers that live in a 1000 story tall skyscraper in New York City. The higher you are in the building the higher your social class. I thought going into this book that I would find the stories of the lower story kids more interesting but I found most of the characters boring. The only one I really enjoyed reading about was Eris. I also really like that they made her have a girl friend for most of the book but then the ending made me really really mad. in this book you read in the prologue that someone gets thrown of the building and of course it has to be the only LGBT character who has finally found love and happiness. I really felt like this book was just about drama when I had been promised and interesting story set in the future with an interesting social dynamics. There is also a romantic and sexual relationship between one of the characters and her adopted brother. I do not care if the sibling is adopted. If you are siblings and share a last name having a relationship is incest and it made me very uncomfortable reading about it. Also it seems like every character in this book has a drug addiction but it felt like that part of the society in this book wasn't well explained. Overall I will probably read the next book as long as Eris' girlfriend has a POV in it because I want to see what she does next but I was a bit underwhelmed and let down by a book I was really looking forward to.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Dystopian world based in a future NYC. Novel involves a group of (mostly) uber-rich teen-aged friends whose lives revolve around fashion, parties, drugs and alcohol, with a sobering dose of trauma thrown in. World building around a 1,000-floor tower where their daily lives unfold -- work, home, school, shopping, with the richest inhabitants living on the higher floors. Technology in this world was interesting, but the intersecting stories told in alternating voices had just too, too much drama for me.Alas, I went ahead and found/read the spoilers for books 2 and 3, as I just couldn't see myself immersed in that kind of drama for two more iterations, but I wanted to know how their problems resolved:-)
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    So this would be an OK high school age teen novel. Girls with problems could have been an equally acceptable alternate title. While the tower is used, the novel would be almost exactly the same in a neighborhood that had various economic sections. OK but not as good as I hoped.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Not realizing that this was a series, the long exposition. was tiring. . . then it got confusing.. . .then it was outstanding. the secrets and the deception was just as good as Dangerous Liasons.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The only thing this book really succeeded in was reaffirming why I hate snobby people and their ceaseless contrivances. If you like Gossip Girl, reality TV, and don't mind fake-politeness, then you'll probably really like this. I, however, really didn't.

    This is a science fiction romantic mess about the most convoluted love dodecahedron you've ever heard of. Here's a brief overview:

    Person A is in love with person B, who is flirting with person C. Person A and C are best friends. Person D is friends with person A and C, and was in a relationship with person E. Person E is also in a relationship with person F, who's dating person G. Person H is in love with person A, and was hired by person C to spy on person B. Persons A, C, D, F, and H are all main characters.

    And that's not even the end of it. It goes on and on and on and on and I hated it.

    Oh, and there's pseudo-incest, if you're into that kinda thing. It's honestly not very interesting and doesn't really make any sense, but hey, McGee needed maximum drama, and what's more dramatic than two adopted siblings pining after each other?

    Honestly, I only liked one character and she freaking dies at the end, so I'm definitely not going to finish this series.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    2.75

    I am not ashamed. Occasionally I crave a good old-fashioned guilty pleasure chick lit novel. Especially when life is hectic or stressful. I grabbed the thousandth floor because I am also not ashamed to be a fan of shows like Gossip Girl and NYC Prep. This book advertised to be in the same vein, and also had a futuristic feel. I was eager to see how that would be handled. Several teenagers (the haves and have nots) all dwelling in a large tower that takes up the greater portion of New York city. Which floor you can afford to live on tells how much money you have, and how much technology you can afford, not to mention it begins with a mysterious death. It sounded promising, but the delivery of so much promise actually just fell flat (pardon the pun if you have read this). The world-building in this book was basically non-existent, so all the reader has to go by is poor descriptions of Jetsons-like futuristic inventions speckled in alongside a lot of teen angst and drama. The writing was pretty simplistic, and most of the characters lacked enough dimension to truly care about them, which shocked me for how long the book was and how the book centered around them. Overall, it was a fast read, it was even a bit of a fun read...but it wasn't really the best read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In future New York, a giant tower has been built on the footprint of Central Park. The book explores the lives, loves, and lies of the privileged. Avery lives on the thousandth floor, harboring a secret love for her adopted brother. Around her, the lives of her best friends are crumbling, every one with secrets. The world building is intriguing with lots of teen angst and drama.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I️ really enjoyed this one. I️ know it’s been said before but it was like a smash up of the gossip girls and the OC in a futuristic time setting. It had it a bit of it all; romance, lies, deceit, drugs, heartbreak, you name it. As I️ finished, I️ immediately downloaded the next one on my kindle. Looking forward to continuing on. 4 🌟🌟🌟🌟
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    all the fancy gadgetry - so many exciting conveniences - and tasty treats. I admit I was distracted by all the bling!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did! The comparisons to Gossip Girl (the show) are apt, but I found this version, set in a fascinating futuristic tower-version of a city with edgy, desperate characters, to be more dark and imaginative. The twists and turns made for a fun ride, despite the excess of characters and points of view.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    While reading this I kept calling it "Gossip Girl in Space" which slightly inaccurate but completely nails what this book is. Basically what you're getting is a teen novel of manners set in an extremely specific sci-fi frame.

    Did not realize this was the start of the series until I finished. I will be guilt reading at least the next two when they come out.

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    There are quite a bit of characters and POVs in THE THOUSANDTH FLOOR and I don't want to bore you with going over them all, but I will say that we DO find out who falls in the opening chapter before the book is over. I think that is important to say, because there are a lot of pages and story to get through and at some times, you might be impatient to find out. DON'T skip to the end, the characters and story are important. My biggest issue with THE THOUSANDTH FLOOR was the pace, it was slooooow. The story goes in a lot of different directions and although I LIKED the story, it was sometimes really hard not to skip some parts of it. I refrained from doing that and the story was better for it. Every characters and event ended up being pretty important to the overall story.The ending was bit anticlimactic and it felt unfinished to me. Even having said that, I really enjoyed the story and the characters—some more than others. I have no choice to read book two because I have to see how things turn out.* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Drama on the Upper-Floors!

    I've been debating on what to rate this because it's not a bad book in terms of the writing style, pacing and character development but it just wasn't for me but, hey I don't care to read about sibling incest. The whole story was primarily ya drama and character development of 5 wealthy and not-so-wealthy young adults, Avery, Leda, Eris, Rylin & Watt. Then something big finally happens at the very last few pages and we're left with a huge cliffhanger ending! Arrgh!

    If the ending would have happened a lot earlier on in the story to give the plot some substance I might have enjoyed the book a little more. One of the redeeming qualities of the book though is the world building. The tower setting is very cool and they live in a futuristic world so the technology they use is also very creative.

    With the world building and tower setting, this story really had the potential to be so much more then a ya soap opera. By the ending though, it looks like the author has plans for a second book so maybe the plot will thicken in that book but, at this point I don't know if I'll read it or not.

    Below is a highlight of each character. *Minor Spoilers- If you have intentions of reading this book & don't want to learn about the characters beforehand you might want to skip the next part.

    Avery - lives in the penthouse and is in love with her brother Atlas!! Her parents adopted him at the age of 5 so they aren't blood related but they have grown up together since they were kids and live in the same house etc. *I'm not even going to go there!

    Leda- she just got out of rehab. She's Avery's best friend and also has a thing for Atlas. Her & Atlas have been out on a couple of dates. She also is rich and lives in the upper tower.

    Eris- She is about to turn 18 and had to submit to DNA testing as a condition of her trust fund and found out that her dad isn't even her dad. Her mom cheated on him. Her mom just made her & Eris move from their wealthy penthouse apartment to a run down apartment down-tower to give her dad some space.

    Rylin- Her mom passed away and she is raising herself and her little sister on her own. She's barely getting by and is working two jobs. They are about to be evicted if she can't come up with rent money within 7 days.

    Watt- He is a computer geek & hacker who has installed near his temple a very illegal and secret AI that he built called a "quant" which, gives him tons of private information about anyone and everything. He uses it to complete jobs for people that request him to find information or people etc. Leda has just hired him to learn as much as he can about Atlas specifically where he ran off to last year.


    So, if I had to pull a moral from this story, it would be that money can't buy happiness! The wealthy have just as many problems, if not more, then the poorer classes.

    *I received this ARC from Edelweiss & Harper Collins Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A hundred years in the future, people are living in a thousand story tower stretching two and a half miles into the Manhattan sky. The rich and the ultra-elite claim the top floors of the tower; the poor live far below. Technology has made their lives easy but, as several of the teens who inhabit the tower are about to learn, the strength of secrets and the threat of their revelation can change everything in an instant.This futuristic tale reveals the hopes and fears of several teenagers living in the tower. It’s a saga of lives filled with momentous secrets, snarky teen nangst, melodramatic mean girl cattiness, and far too much “Gossip Girl”-ish backbiting backstabbing . . . . Even in 2118, despite lives filled with luxury and glamor, it’s still rough being a teenager. The futuristic technology is a truly bright spot in the book, well-imagined and easily fitting into the lifestyle of the day as depicted in the story. Although the characters are well-drawn, all are quite unlikeable and empathy is in short supply for these self-absorbed teens who fill their days with drinking, drugs, sex, and gossip. Readers may find the drawn-out narrative rather tedious, but it’s in the final pages that the story finally comes together and the pace accelerates. Readers should expect a cliffhanger of sorts as this the first in a trilogy that, presumably, will pick up from the point where this uneven narrative ends.