Reviews with content warning for Addiction - Thirteen Storeys

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Thirteen Storeys by Jonathan Sims

23 reviews

misslupescu's review

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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fionamclary's review

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challenging dark inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Johnny Sims is truly a storyteller for the ages with a distinctive voice and clear passion for his themes. As a longtime Magnus Archives fan, it was delightful to experience that distinctive voice in a different format with new subject matter. Thirteen Storeys is terrifying and satisfying, as the best horror novels are. The wide range of characters we meet within its pages should give any reader someone to identify with. Chapter one comes out strong with my personal favorite, Violet, our office-job drone turned anticapitalist militant. The description toward the end of her chapter of her personal haunting had me equally spooked and hyped and in awe of this man's writing. It is clear just how committed Johnny is to making sure that we know that the real monster, the true horror of this world, has been capitalism this whole time. Johnny also makes prolific use of his penchant for sleep disorder horror, with multiple characters experiencing insomnia and other sleep disturbances that make you question whether the things they're experiencing are real, or just an exhausted hallucination...and which option is scarier.

My only complaint is that my copy is bursting with typos. I almost feel bad for the copy editor credited in the back because I'd hate to have my name on something where I don't seem to have done my job. There's multiple instances of missing words or words that shouldn't be there, incorrect or missing punctuation, wrong words, and even one instance where a character's entire name was different. I hope there's other editions out there that don't have this problem, but it was so egregious that it sometimes took me completely out of the story. Which is a real shame, since the story is a masterpiece.

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kalitise's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I was expecting to hate this book to be honest, but I ended up actually really enjoying it. It wasn't what I expected at all. From the blurb it sounded like it was going to be a bit cliché but it was any but that

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gagereadsstuff's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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lavend3r_cactus's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

“This world was designed to generate winners and losers, and it showed a lack of character to wish yourselves a winner without accepting what it does to those who lose.”

➽ I can't believe I waited this long to finally read Thirteen Storeys, as it was amazing! I was so excited for Jonathan Sims' debut novel because I loved The Magnus Archive, the podcast he was a writer on. I'm normally not really into Horror but TMA got me super obsessed and I loved the way it was written. Luckily, he's also fantastic at writing novels and just really writes Horror in a way that draws me in. Thirteen Storeys is focused on Banyan Court, a huge complex that was built by the eccentric billionaire Tobias Fell, who has become a hermit and rarely leaves his penthouse anymore. The story starts with a newspaper entry about his sudden death following a dinner party with 12 guests ... who have no idea what happened. We're slowly working our way back by following different people in the weeks leading up to the dinner party and the strange experiences with Banyan Court.

➽ This feels more like an anthology, as every story is about a different character's life and how Banyan Court haunts them in one way or another. Still, after a while you begin to see the connections between the stories and I loved figuring out what was going on! The dinner party itself only happens at the very end, but I personally didn't mind that as the setup was intriguing and gave us some insight into Tobias, his dubious past and the secrets of the building. The people he invites for the party couldn't be more different, as the complex has two sides. One is for the rich people, but the back is hidden away and full of cheap apartments for those who can't afford better. There were so many intriguing stories, we've got a young woman who only works the night shift, a couple horrified by a mysterious stain in their wall that won't come out, a startup CEO whose own technology turns against him and an art collector who gets obsessed with a painting. There was always a sinister undercurrent to the stories, especially when it comes to the concierge who deals with an intense coworker and a plumber who has been noticing that the pipes don't work like they should. Every single story left me intrigued and I'm definitely excited for more books by Jonny!

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