I expected so much from this book. Don’t get fooled by titles and covers.

The book was roughly a hundred and seventy pages and eighty percent of the story took place in one day. The three best friends did not seem like they’re best friends. It’s kinda awful.

The writing style was off and cringey and very repetitive.

I enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed. I loved the way the author used the chapters to switch between each character's point of view. I also loved the short peaks into the "suspect's" mind throughout the story. Giving you just a tiny bit of info to try to figure out who the bad guy was. The author gets you interested right away. You want to know what each character's issue is as soon as you meet them. You wonder which one is going to cause the problem because you know one of them will. Then, when it happens, you wonder how they are going to save themselves. The ending is slightly predictable but still thoroughly enjoyable.

A quick read that's impossible to put down, a YA thriller about 3 friends who spend the night at an escape room with another teen from their high school. The escape room is supposed to be spooky but fun, and it is, until the host turns it into a house of horrors.

* 3.5 Stars *

Escape Room was interesting teen thriller that revolved four friends and the escape room game they signed up going wrong. It was about revenge, mental illness, self-discovery, self-esteem issue, and friendship.

Writing was gripping, super easy, to the point. There was plot fillers or lengthy character or setting description, which made it quick read. I finished this book in few hours. It was multiple first person narrative from alternative POV of Sky, Mint, Julie, Miles, and ‘x’. Each narration gave different view point on each character that helped in understanding them better. X’s narration was poetic and interesting to read, it was creepy and gave supernatural feel.

X’s identity was revealed too early. As soon as they reached the place where the escape Room was organised, we Know who was the X but the reason why X was out for revenge was revealed at climax. We also know who from four friend was not right and was hiding something and could be as dangerous as X pretty early in the book but why that friend was accomplices was again revealed along with the motive.

This isn’t a horror or there isn’t anything scary or supernatural element. This is character driven, psychological thriller with interesting setting of escape game, lots of secrets, deception, and puzzles. All characters were complex and flawed. Mint and Sky were my most favourite of all.

Mint was timid, protective, caring. She stayed in the shadow of Alissa, with self-esteem issues. She had unique ability to feel other people’s pain but never shared it in fear of being called crazier they what people already believed. It was easy to empathize with her. The escape room transformed her into brave, smart, and confident person who no longer lived in shadow of Alissa but it also affected her at the same time. Her actions and reactions were realistic.

Sky was direct, strong and brave one but behind that front face he was sensitive and kept a secret he never shared with anyone. That secret was surprising but the way he handled it was great. He saw his friends’ view changing that hurt him even more than what he lost in revealing it and yet he helped each friend. He was best person of all.

Alissa was most beautiful who never had problem in making friends or getting boyfriend. Things came easily to her at school but at home things weren’t as rosy. Her father was firefighter and was suffering from PTSD. It had been hard and trying for her and her little sister. I found her self-centred and she behaved like everything revolves around her, maybe not knowingly, but she made others feels that way. Her reaction with her dad was horrible and It was unbelievable she fell for Miles so easily and instantly. Just because Miles asked questions or discussed things that Mint or Sky never did, she started trusting Miles more than her friends! She was moat naïve and weak among four.

Miles was mysterious. From the beginning we know there was something off about him, he was hiding his true self and was lying to everyone around him. His actions and reactions were questionable and I didn’t trust him. But one thing was clear, he really cared for Alissa even after his veil of mystery was lifted.

X was crazy. His/her motive was questionable and I can’t believe x was taking revenge based on something that wasn’t anybody’s fault. I don’t feel anything for ‘x’ even though what happened to him/her was sad and terrible.

I liked the elements of mental illness, PTSD, self-esteem issue, teen angst along with LGTBQ. I enjoyed how friendship was tested throughout the book. Twist and turns were good. Some were predictable while some were surprising. Climax was most interesting. Though motive was unconvincing, I really felt for all characters specially for Miles. End was good and I liked how things were wrapped up in the end with character growth.

Why 3.5 stars-

Like I said it was easy to figure out who was the bad person and identity was revealed too early. I wish the book was a bit longer and both plot and characters had little more depth.

I still don’t understand Mint’s parents specially her mother and why she was always panicky or why Mint built up walls around her and felt she wasn’t beautiful enough or nobody find her interesting. I wanted more for Miles or at least a chance for him.

Overall, Escape Room was interesting, short and quick teen/YA thriller. It was like those books that you go along with, is no- brainer, and somewhat predictable but you still enjoy it.

2.5
Like her other one, Fright Night, its good for teen horror readers looking for a little scare. Nice little twists and fairly simple characters. Doesn't translate well for adult readers of YA lit.

Guess it’s my own fault, because expected something different. It’s a kinda solid teenage slasher, without to much plot-twist. Or at least no surprising twists.
The characters fell pretty flat. No depth at all and I didn’t get why they have been even friends. All of their reactions were unpredictable, but not in a good way. They were just inconsistent.
It wasn’t at all bad, but too many things fell flat. And for such a short book, it had too many characters, scenes and unneeded stuff.

This book was crazy good and kept me on the toes and trying to figure this out. I enjoyed the cast of characters and trying to solve the mysteries. Really good story .

2.5 ⭐️

the positive thing I will say about this book is that it was quite a fast read.
that being said I found it completely predictable and didn't enjoy the pacing of the novel.

I wasn't on the edge of my seat which I like to be if I am reading a thriller/ mystery/ horror book

Honestly, I struggled with this book. I keep picking up titles that have escape rooms as a central plot because I want to love them, but in the end they have all fallen flat. Maren Stoffel's entry in the genre is no exception. The characters are lack luster, the action is lack luster, and ultimately I did not care how the book ended. I wanted edge-of-your-seat puzzles, but instead I was left feeling like I had wasted my time.

The concept of this is absolutely terrifying and it is exactly the kind of book teens will love. This book was hard to put down and I can't wait to get it into my classroom.

Different type of action/adventure/horror/mystery, all wrapped in one. Those who enjoy Escape Rooms will like this book. Easy to read, 4 POV; 2 girls/2 guys. Writer leaves you guessing until almost the end. Lots of red-herrings. The story reminded me of the Storyline of the movie Saw, without the gore. It's almost a bait and switch type of story. Elements of self-discovery, self-esteem issues, along with LGBTQ storyline.

I don’t read many thrillers because the suspense can get too much for me but in this case I felt no suspense at all. It was all very predictable from the start.

I liked the characters individually, Mint and Sky were definitely my favourites, but even they weren’t great. I also thought that the supernatural element of the story felt wrong. I think if it had been taken out, it story would have felt scarier, maybe? I just thought it was completely unnecessary.

I liked that the setting was an Escape Room because they have so much potential, especially for a thriller or murder story. Unfortunately, I don’t think this one worked for me.

You are invited to play a game. Sky, Mint, Alissa, and Miles decide to go to what appears to be a house filled with different rooms that allows the players to solve puzzles in order to escape within an hour. However, the four friends are in for a surprise when the game becomes a strategy for survival. Stoeffels alternates between the four characters, allowing the reader to get various points of view on what is happening in this life and death situation. Aside from solving puzzles and fighting to stay alive, the author reveals that there is more to this game than what is intended. Filled with moments of suspense and deceit, Escape Room will have readers thinking twice of who is in the room with them and the person in control of the game.

Simply put, this novel was not good. I'm not sure if something got lost in translation, because I noticed on Goodreads that this novel was translated, but I couldn't take this seriously. The writing is some of the worst I've read, the characters are archetypes of bad YA tropes, and the plot was just not good. I appreciate being given the opportunity to read this book early, but I can't recommend this to anyone.

Trigger warning for homophobia.

Thanks so much to the publisher for providing my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!

My students are constantly looking for horror or suspense novels, and I feel like this would be a great one to recommend. It might not be full of deep meaning and themes, but sometimes, you just need a great read that engages you.

#EscapeRoom #NetGalley
Thank you for the opportunity to read Escape Room by Maren Stoffels. It is a suspense filled mystery of adventure and a whodunit.

Escape Room is another great YA Mystery you won't be able to put down. The title caught my attention because I am a fan of Escape Rooms and I was not disappointed. But, next time I visit an escape room I'm going to be thinking about this story and freaking out a little. Great mystery!!!

I'm really more 2.5 stars on this one. The book is really more topically for an older young adult. Story-wise, the plot was very surface, characters were superficial with allusions to depth, but none really given the time to get deeper. There are a lot of characters, all with different P.O.V.s, which ultimately detracts from getting to know any one character well enough to feel connected or invested in their story. All have some kind of crazy tragedy, and the Escape Room itself was nuts. I would have liked more focus so that the story could feel a bit more contained.

I was really disappointed in this book. It seemed really rushed and lacked a lot of details. The first couple of chapters were so shallow and vapid. There’s NO explanation of Mint’s “abilities.” No real redemption arcs. This could have been really great and had a good idea as a background. Also, seriously? The first words of the book are one character blatantly questioning another character’s sexuality? I really didn’t like this one at all.