This was an examination of class told through characters and events that elsewhere might be considered slightly absurd but set in NYC felt quite believable. ( )

This story wasn't bad but it also wasn't as good as I hoped. The blurb on the back is suggests much more action than occurs. It is really a character study but the characters are a little too annoying. It is a commentary on rich and poor but with no real depth to it. It is a New York gentrification story but is superficial. It builds to "something" happening but when it does happens, it is almost an afterthought. I wanted to like this more than I did but it was just an okay read - 2.5 stars rounded up to 3. ( )

DNF. First chapter left me cold.

I listened to this book on double speed; otherwise I wouldn’t have finished it. Two stars because I enjoyed some tidbits about NYC and birding, but otherwise it was tedious. I have less and less patience for books with no likable characters, but plenty of people seem not to mind. This book also involved gratuitous, gross detail that added nothing of substance (the farting episodes, the graphic pigeon situation). ( )

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review!

The blurb and cover for this book was one that really caught my eye. Maybe it’s being in a college city for the past couple of years, but gentrification has become a well-discussed issue and I thought this book’s topic was right up my alley.

Essentially, The Party Upstairs follows Ruby, who is friends with someone much more privileged than she is — Caroline. After taking out student loans to go to college and still feeling far away from her dream job, Ruby has to move back home and experience the violence of class for herself as Caroline throws a luxurious party.

Ultimately, I felt as though the biggest barrier to enjoyment for me was the writing style, which was just a little too wordy and roundabout for me. I’m all for descriptions and tangents in writing when they tell us a little bit about a character’s past or what a setting looks like, but when it gets to this point:

“…the heat pipe in the living room thumped and he remembered how the woman in 4B had recently complained about the thumping coming from 5B, which was caused by the private tango lessons the woman in 5B was taking with the woman in 2C, who had recently divorced the man who had once lived in 7D and who had lost his job in advertising…”

This went on for so long — a page, at least, and it just didn’t feel like it added much to the story, to the characters, and felt more tedious to read than enjoyable, which it might’ve been had it been shorter.

It was the writing style that prevented me from connecting with the characters too — neither Martin, Caroline, nor Ruby were very likable and because of the writing style it was hard for me to really get a clear idea about what each character was like and to follow the character development.

For the plot, there’s certainly something very interesting about a story that takes place within such a short period of time. It reminds me a bit of The Night Before by Wendy Walker quick set-up, quick build-up, and quick unraveling. I think the plot was actually quite interesting for me in the last 30%, but I think it took too long to get there and by then I wasn’t very invested in the characters.

Ultimately, I don’t think this book was for me, though it had a lot of potential in its subject matter. People who are interested in class-based thrillers might want to give this a shot! ( )