Floored - Chrissie Harrison - ★★★.½
AUTHOR: Chrissie Harrison
GENRE: Romantic Comedy
RATING: 3.5 stars.
In a Nutshell: A romcom with some serious and emotional themes built into the narrative. I liked the themes, but had mixed feelings about the ‘rom’ and the ‘com’, partly due to my reading preferences. On the whole, a good debut novel.
Plot Preview:
Ever since the death of his fiancée Katie three years ago, thirty-two-year Drew has not dated. Furthermore, his elevatophobia has worsened after the accident, which means that he uses the stairs to reach the ninth floor office of Park Productions, where he works as an accountant. However, when he is compelled to use the elevator one day and is almost on the verge of an panic attack, he hears a female voice saying, ‘Be Careful.” Is he just imagining the voice, or is it Katie’s ghost watching out for him, or is just someone playing a prank?
Hannah, another employee of Park Productions, suffers from severe social anxiety. This, coupled with several bad relationships in the past, ensures that she isn’t looking for romance. Yet she has fiddled with the lift’s control panel to install a camera. What is Hannah’s agenda? Why is she talking to Drew through the lift, though they don’t know each other in real life?
The story comes to us in the limited third person perspectives of Drew and Hannah.
As this indie novel is promoted as a “charming and hilarious romantic comedy guaranteed to give you a lift”, I picked it up as a light, quick read. I was surprised to find that the plot had strong dramatic moments as well. This, of course, worked in my favour, as drama is more my kind of genre. But let’s talk about the romcom aspects first.
The ‘rom’ in the book is slowburn, which might annoy insta-romance fans, but works fairly well for me. As readers, we know right away whose “voice” Drew hears in the lift, so it is entertaining (and a bit weird) to watch him “fall in love with a lift.” Much of this situation goes beyond plausibility, so after a while, I gave up on analysing the impaired realism and just went with the flow. I know most readers don’t look for logic in romcoms, so they might not have any hurdle reading these scenes.
The ‘com’ in the book left me with mixed feelings. I liked the banter between Drew and his sister Charlotte, and between Hannah and her best friend Amy, and later, between the lead couple themselves. However, a lot of the repartee relies on sexual innuendo, which I don’t have a problem with in general, but in this book, somehow feels very artificial. I don’t know if I can put an exact finger on why, but the conversations didn’t sound like something ordinary people would indulge in. Almost every line sounded rehearsed, if that makes sense. Maybe this would work well on screen, but in a novel, it felt a bit off. Then again, humour is subjective, and this kind of comedy does appeal to some readers.
The characters in the book are interesting. I love how many of the characters don’t have a typical job we see in romcoms. How many times have you seen a romcom MMC work as an ordinary accountant? Hannah is an electronics nerd who works as an archivist, and also dreams of being a standup comic. Amy is a firefighter! Drew’s best friend Pirin is an editor. While we don’t see any of them *working* during the story, we see them use their job skills in general life. I also appreciate how the main characters’ personality isn’t what we typically see in such books. Drew’s phobia of lifts and his grief affects his general behaviour, and Hannah, though socially anxious, isn’t afraid to mouth dirty jokes, unlike the naïve diabetically-sweet girls we usually see headlining romcoms.
Other than Drew, the only male character to have an extended role is Pirin, whom I am still figuring out whether to love or hate. On the pro side, he is funny, loyal, a reliable friend, and, bonus for me, of Indian origin. (Bias Alert!) On the con side, he is an unapologetic womaniser has no regrets objectifying every single woman he sees, and even indirectly hits on his best friend’s sister, which I thought was a no-no in Bro Code. The remaining male characters are not worthy of mention.
The women in the set are compelling, with each of them fighting a personal issue. Hannah, Charlotte, Amy, and another key secondary character named Lotus have roles that go well beyond the typical. However, I didn’t like just how many lines were dedicated to their physical attributes, be it height or hair or body shape or looks. Once the initial physical description of a character is done, a repetition of the same seems like an overkill. Lotus suffers the most as her personality is ignored in favour of her physical appeal, though she has a vital role to play in the plot.
Because of the women and because of Drew’s battle with his phobia and his grief, the story has plenty of emotional and dramatic moments. Some of these are executed really well, especially the angle about Hannah’s reason for installing the camera in the lift. That was easily my favourite part of this book. But some of the themes make just a superficial appearance and are ignored later. For instance, there is an extended scene at the start about the tough security measures to enter the Park Productions building, with a new guard harassing those who aren’t carrying their badges. This guard doesn’t pop up later at all in the story. Hannah wears something called “reaction glasses” but I needed to use Google to discover that these glasses help people with social anxiety. The glasses are mentioned many times, but the reason for Hannah’s wearing them or who advised her to opt for them isn’t mentioned directly, and later, we don’t even know for sure if Hannah gave up using the glasses. On that note, her social anxiety also seems somewhat inconsistent, as many of her actions don’t match those of a person who is socially anxious.
The blurb reveals a bit too much, and that added to my disappointment because I already knew the vital reveals way before they occurred in the plot.
All in all, this is still a good debut novel, though it could have done better with some of the subtopics, either by detailing them properly or cutting them out entirely.
The book will definitely be funny for many readers, but the emotional side of it worked far better for me. (I seem to be having a mixed week wrt funny reads. Whatever is promised to be funny isn’t tickling my funny bone, and vice versa.) Despite some reservations, the fact is that I was very interested in the story and in knowing how things were sorted out at the end.
Recommended to romcom readers looking for a slow-burn love story with atypical romcom characters and the unusual setting of a lift. The story has as many emotional ups and downs as an elevator, so when you add romcom elements to the mix, the result is a quirky novel.
My thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and author Chrissie Harrison for a complimentary copy of 'Floored', and for allowing me to be a part of this blog tour. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
The book is available for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
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Blurb:
FLOORED is a charming romantic comedy guaranteed to give you a lift.
Hannah and Drew work in the same office.
Hannah and Drew use the same elevator.
Hannah and Drew certainly aren’t looking for love.
They haven’t even met.
Yet something is happening…
Amiable TV production accountant Drew turned his back on dating after the death of his fiancée, an incident which cemented his longstanding elevatophobia. When Drew moves home, hoping for a fresh start, he hears a voice in the office lift telling him to “be careful”.
Is it his fevered imagination, the ghost of his fiancée, or someone playing a cruel prank? Quickly, he becomes desperate, foolish… and unexpectedly smitten.
Cute, sparky Hannah wouldn’t mind finding romance, but keeps choosing the wrong boyfriends. Her innate social anxiety, deepened by bad experiences with a preying boss, is a huge barrier to dating anyone new.
Yet, to expose her boss’ antics, she must be lucky and smart. However, talking to a sweet but hapless co-worker isn’t the answer… is it? After all, she could never find the courage to meet him in person.
When Drew discovers the adorable girl behind the voice, a relationship blossoms alongside a shared determination to bring justice to their workplace, risking everything.
Will their daring plan succeed, or will it jeopardize the happiness they’ve found with each other?
This wonderful, laugh-out-loud, will-they-won’t-they romcom is perfect for those who loved Beth O’Leary’s “The Flatshare”, Laura Jane Williams’ “Our Stop”, or Sally Thorne’s “The Hating Game”.
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Author Chrissie Harrison:
"I’m an incurable romantic at heart, and a sucker for great humour. I’ve been writing for many years, and all the stories contain either love, or humour, or both – I simply can’t keep these elements out of my work.
I’m inspired by the big and small screen as well as books, and have a soft spot for Richard Curtis’ romcoms, timeless TV comedy like The Good Life and Blackadder, less well-known feel-good films and romances (Always, Forget Paris, Roxanne), and books which make me laugh (Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, The Rosie Project).
I have a soft spot for stories with strong women and nerdy or hapless guys.
Fundamentally, I try to write the books I like to read. I hope to distil humour, romance – and sometimes pathos or bittersweet vibes – into my novels.
Outside of writing, I enjoy photography, great scenery, a nice peaceful train ride, delicious coffee and cake, and catching up with old friends. I’m also something of a geek, fascinated by maths, science and even fonts!
Chrissie Harrison is a pen name."
Connect with her on:
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Check out this book:
Purchase From:
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CRLG9WPK
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRLG9WPK
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This has been a stop on the #Floored blog tour conducted by Rachel's Random Resources. (@rararesources) Thanks for stopping by!
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