Mini Review | Floored by Sara Barnard, Holly Bourne, Tanya Byrne, Non Pratt, Melinda Salisbury. Lisa Williamson & Eleanor Wood

Floored by Sara Barnard, Holly Bourne, Tanya Byrne, Non Pratt, Melinda Salisbury, Lisa Williamson & Eleanor Wood
Published On: July 12, 2018
Published By: Pan Macmillan
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Pages: 320
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
Rating: ★★★½
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When they got in the lift, they were strangers (though didn't that guy used to be on TV?): Sasha, who is desperately trying to deliver a parcel; Hugo, who knows he's the best-looking guy in the lift and is eyeing up Velvet, who knows what that look means when you hear her name and it doesn't match the way she looks, or the way she talks; Dawson, who was on TV, but isn't as good-looking as he was a few years ago and is desperately hoping no one recognizes him; Kaitlyn, who's losing her sight but won't admit it, and who used to have a poster of Dawson on her bedroom wall, and Joe, who shouldn't be here at all, but who wants to be here the most. 
And one more person, who will bring them together again on the same day every year.

*A copy of this book was provide by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

This book has been described as The Breakfast Club meets One Day and I can't think of a better description for it. Written by seven of the UK's best YA authors, Floored follows six complete strangers, whose lives are brought together by the events of one day, as they all come together on that same day each year.

This wasn't at all what I was expecting, partly because I didn't actually read the synopsis, but it was a pleasant surprise. With such big UKYA names, I knew I would love the writing and I was not disappointed. Each characters was written by a different author, therefore they all had their own individual voice, yet were not so distinct that changing between characters perspectives felt drastically different. This helped the story to flow well, as did the seventh 'character' of the narrator who really helped to join the six individual stories together.

As I mentioned, we meet these characters on one day over several years, and while that was fun it did bring about my one issue with the book. Each character grows and develops throughout the book; however, we don't really get to see much of the development as it is done in the years between the characters meeting. That makes complete sense in the context of how the story is written, but for me it meant that I did not feel as connected to the characters as I would have liked.

Despite this, I did still really enjoy the characters. They are all very different and each have their own issues that they are dealing with in their lives. Through these characters, important issues such as disability, socioeconomic status, sexuality and so many others are discussed. These authors explored a lot of issues surrounding young people and did so with great sensitivity. While I did have some issues with a few characters every now and again *cough* Hugo *cough*, I did enjoy reading about every one of them and found myself invested in each of their stories.

Overall, this is a great advert for the quality of YA we have in the UK. These seven authors have done something so unique, fun and unlike anything I have read before. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these characters and seeing where the story took them over the years. I really hope this is not a one off and these authors collaborate again in the future, but for now I plan to go and read all of their individual works, because this book was so well written.