Note: This copy of The Way Up is Death was provided by NetGalley.

I took my time in writing this review since I needed to sort my feelings out to better understand what I had just read. The Way Up is Death is a sci-fi novel with the premise being a group of individuals are randomly selected to ascend a mysterious floating tower that has appeared above the skies of England.

What initially felt like a book that may follow the LitRPG trope of dungeon crawling soon became a confusing read with a lot of unanswered questions. We are introduced to a diverse list of characters from a teacher, a model, to an annoying social media influencer/author, etc.,who find themselves forced to climb a dangerous tower where each level appears based off one of the participants’ backstory.

Climbing each level also comes with its own setbacks and we see how the characters decide to tackle these situations in the most ‘human’ way possible. This is where things get a little hard to figure out. The characters were very one dimensional, with very little growth seen outside of the main characters. The stakes for this whole endeavor very obscure. The situations and enemies quite comical at times. The realisation that we, as the reader, just have to assume the AI running the tower (because of course there is one) has all this power with no reference as to how or why, is in the end, quite annoying. We aren’t given many answers as to how this entire situation even came to be, nor do we get any explanation for some of the events that take place within the confines of this tower ascension. Like the characters, I too was left with what was the point of it all; other than saving humanity of course. Of course..

What I will say though is that the story reads like a horror-thriller with some sci-fi elements tossed in for the sake of it. It is fairly fast-paced and did keep me going till the end. At no point, even with the annoyance felt, did I feel like just stopping until it was done. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem like a book I would be rushing to recommend to anyone, but definitely a one-time read if you do decide to pick it up.

Rating: 2/5

Links:

• Goodreads: The Way Up is Death – Dan Hanks