The Way Up is Death

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! Thank you so much to Angry Robot Books providing me with both an eARC and physical copy of the book.