The Perfect Escape by Suzanne Park is a fun, unexpected mix of humor, heart, and light action. Nate and Kate’s journey from a zombie escape room to a survival contest showcases quirky banter, complex family dynamics, and a dash of romance. A charming, diverse read perfect for escaping reality for a while!

This was such a sweet read and definitely the first of many I will be reading by this author. I found all the characters relatable in their own way. The romance aspect was written so well.

DNF'd Our main girl was a little too *unique* for me despite her being a rich girl who has everything.

Thanks to NetGalley / Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

This book was so fun. Great rom-com with a unique premise. Kept me reading and just laugh out loud funny. Highly recommend.

I was not a fan of this book and I feel like Suzanne park‘a books just aren’t for me. Others will enjoy it!

ehhh it was okay, kind of boring, and I really expected the competition to take up more of the book. Also, is this going to be a series??? Felt open-ended, but I don't think I'll continue even if it is.

I absolutely loved this book! It’s funny and sweet, with lots of great banter and swoon-worthy moments. Definitely one of my favourite reads.

Nate is the main POV character of this novel even though it's dual POV, and this is an adventure romantic comedy, not a contemporary romance. It blends genres and doesn't fit in a box, which I think is a good thing, because stories shouldn't be so formulaic that they are predictable.

The Perfect Escape indeed! Nate is such a likeable character and his relationship with Kate brings his feeling to the surface. Who wouldn't enjoy a story of love, drama, grade fraud, tech competitions and zombie escape rooms? Super cute and fun. 5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read The Perfect Escape.

What I liked about this book:
The escape room was a fun idea (although I personally am not a fan of zombies! Eeek!)
It’s definitely YA and geared towards that audience.
Great cover
Romcom
Alternating POVs

What didn’t work for me:
This just was a slow book that I really struggled to stay connected and interested in. I’m sure that there will be many readers that connect with this book. It just wasn’t a favorite for me.

The Perfect Escape is unfortunately not for me. I had tried this book and set it down in hopes of one day coming back to it, but now it is time to mark as DNF.

I hate DNFing books, but at 116 pages I had to. I received this as an arc through NetGalley and part of why it took so long to review was the number of times I put it down and picked it back up months later. I really wanted to love this book. I wish I could have. I even tried buying a physical copy to see if that helped me get into it. Overall, I'm disappointed. This book had so much potential and what I found was a book that was barely about what the marketing said it would be. I was promised a fluffy romcom about zombie escape rooms and survival competitions and was given a lot of triggers and a bland contemporary without many zombies.

In the beginning I enjoyed the few scenes they had in the zombie escape room, but it soon got boring and I was trudging through, wanting to put it down after each chapter. I had a lot of issues with the fact that there was no warning of the mom's death, father's abuse, and illness. It felt like the book was misrepresented by the marketing. I recognize that the author likely had little control over that, but it makes me feel tricked and like the zombies were just a gimmick.

If books have triggers for a fair amount of people, could we PLEASE stop marketing them as fluffy? It's okay to acknowledge that a book isn't for everyone or that it involves a couple of darker topics so that people who need to can prepare themselves for it or avoid it if necessary.

"I simply existed. That was it, the best I could do. Because my childhood died when Mom did." p87

I'm trying to let go of the need to finish books just because I feel like I'm committed. I wish I could have liked this one more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles.
I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

Super cute, fun rom com. The girls love it, and some of my boys are reading it, too, just to see why the girls like it.

DNF. Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this early copy! I decided to not keep reading this one, it was not for me. Thanks!

Suzanne Park has such a witty and addictive voice for YA fiction! Thoroughly enjoyed all the escape room zombie love and high tech setting. Excited to see what she writes next!

This book snuck up on me. It's an unusual meet cute involving an Escape room and Zombies is creative and hilarious. These characters were fun and engaging, Nate and Kate were so cute and I was definitely rooting for them. Each with their own problems and moral quandaries they meet in the middle to their mutual advantage yet they find that they want more than that. I thought the stakes of both of their problems made this book interesting and made me want to keep reading. The survivalist competition was a fun element that I really enjoyed and added real life problem for them to solve together. I would recommend this book and I think its a fun read. 3/5 stars.

High school senior Nate Kim was doing his job running a zombie themed escae room, just like he did every Friday night, when a lone zombie appeared from inside a cabinet, causing his heart to race. The group at the escape room that night hadn’t really engaged with the puzzles and were eaten by a horde of zombies before their full hour was up. Nate had sent the horde home for the night and was about to lock up when out stumbled Kate.

Kate Anderson had just been hired as a bonus holiday-themed zombie for the escape room, and her first night had been a bust. But ate is cute, and he offered her a ride home, so it made sense for her to offer him a burger and shake from her favorite dive.

Over the next few weeks, Nate and Kate got to know each other better, finding a mutual love of Zombie films and crunchy cheesy foods a good basis for their friendship. But they also both had secrets.

Nate is worried about his family. His father lost his IT job, and the bank is sending the family letters about their late mortgage payments. He’s a scholarship kid at the local prep school, so his tuition isn’t a problem, but one of the other seniors offered Nate a lot of money to throw his GPA in his last semester. It wouldn’t matter for Nate’s college applications, but it could make a lot of difference for others in his class trying to up their class standings. It’s a lot of money, more than Nate expected, and clearly his family could use it, but he’s just not comfortable with the idea.

Kate’s dad is a workaholic, even more so since her mother died of cancer. As the CEO of a tech company, he has filled their home with gadgets galore, including a robot named Jeeves to watch over her. But he wants her to start an internship at his company as soon as she graduates, and she wants to join a friend of hers in New York to become an actress. She needs money for the move, since she knows her father won’t support her. That’s why she decided to ask Nate to join her for the competition.

It’s a weekend-long survival weekend with zombies. All they have to do is survive and show up at the finish line, and they could win $50,000. When Kate tells Nate about it, he’s in. But when the competition heats up, will it jeopardize the friendship they’ve been building? Or will it bring them closer to their dreams . . . and to each other?

The Perfect Escape is a perfectly charming rom com with lots of heart, some good laughs, roller skating, robots, and zombies. Author Suzanne Park has created two charming lead characters and brought them together in fun and creative ways. Nate, with his Korean heritage and personable family, is the perfect foil for Kate, whose nights at home are spent with electronics and her plans of escape. I loved spending time with them, and I look forward to seeing what Ms. Park writes for us next.

The narration for The Perfect Escape was taken in turn by Raymond Lee for Nate and Kate Rudd for Kate. For the most part, they both brought their half of the story to life. However, both of them had moments where they slowed down their narration, making it seems a little (sorry) robotic in moments. But overall, this listening journey was lots of fun. There was far more to enjoy about this audio book than there was to complain about. I would definitely recommend this one as a listen for anyone who enjoys a slightly off-beat rom com.

Egalleys for The Perfect Escape were provided by Sourcebooks Fire through NetGalley, with many thanks, and then I bought the audio book from Chirp.

Nate and Kate come from two completely different worlds. Kate’s family has a lot of money, and Nate wishes he was rich. But, they have something in common, they both love zombies! They both work at a local zombie escape room, and have teamed up for a zombie survival competition. They’re both excited for the large cash prize. Nate wants the money to help out his family, and Kate wants the money so she can leave her family. These two encounter a few challenges along the way that truly test their friendship.

I just loved this book so much! I loved the theme of zombies and escape rooms in this book. I love how much it focused on friendships and family in this book. I thought Nate and Kate’s friendship was just the sweetest. There is some romance in this book, but it’s very sweet and clean. I thought it was a fast paced book, and it will keep you turning the pages. I read it in two days because I enjoyed it so much! I would recommend this book to anyone who loves YA reads!

DNF at 50

Mostly bored. The voice feels off and it's trying to be funny/quirky but just feels weird.