Floored is the story of six people who meet by chance in a lift at a TV centre, and a seventh person who changes their lives by being there. Dawson, Kaitlyn, Velvet, Sasha, Joe, and Hugo have their lives changed by a traumatic experience they all go through, one which causes them to meet every year. Through friendships, relationships, and a Whatsapp group, the six of them change and grow over the following six years, showing that coincidence can bring people together and life is about chance and consequence.
This collaborative novel between seven YA writers tells the perspective of each of the six main characters and a mysterious narrator who brings each section together at the end. Though written by so many voices, it feels very much like an integrated whole. The characters’ lives are varied and show different elements of life aged fifteen to twenty-one. There are issues of class, disability, money, sexuality, relationships, friendships, alcohol, and more, all brought together by the narratives of the six characters. It is particularly good at tackling class issues in the UK and how disability (in this case, visual impairment) is treated by well-meaning friends.
Floored is an unputdownable YA read, urging the reader to find out what happens to the characters as each year passes. It shows how friendships aren’t perfect, and sometimes people have to be self-centred, but that it is also good to have people who have got your back.
Fiendfully Reading 