This book was good! I liked it but didn’t love it. I definitely see potential in it and look forward to seeing what else the author does.

I was excited for this book but I did not enjoy it. It had all the elements of things I would typically love but it did not come together for me. The story is told from Saffron and Georgia's POV. Saffron was extremely irritating and I dreaded her POV.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

alright, buckle in. this may be one of the longest reviews i've written in a while.

i will start off with the things i liked because i don't want to completely crap on this book. in the nicest way possible, this book was not for me. maybe if i read it a few years ago i would have loved it but i had a very hard time getting through it and i felt the strong urge to dnf it multiple times but wanted to power through so i can say i gave it an honest chance.

starting off, saffron and dare i say lightman were the only likeable characters in the book. i enjoyed a lot of their dialogue and just the personalities they have in general. sadly, saffron didn't get much time in the books which sucked because i could care less about the main storyline...sorry. at times i have to admit that the writing was almost poetic in a way and i found myself highlighting a few of the sentences.

i like the idea of the story, the premise, but the execution could have been better...

i also like the idea of this escape room and everyone turning on each other, a morally gray antagonist. in a way, it feels like a knock off of illuminate but not done as well...also, atlas was a good character in my opinion. the willy wonka comparison just made me like him more even though he didn't get a lot of time to dialogue.

now to move on to the things made it so hard to get through this.

firstly, the "gendered insults" thing that Geroriga kept talking about. the first time it was like a cute little character quirk, the second time i was like..."oh. okay i guess." by the time we got to the third time it was less a character quirk and more annoying and repetitive. and even when she explained her reason at the end as to why she didn't like it, it was barely an explainion at all.

At times, it was hard to remember the characters were supposed to be 17 and not 12 because the dialogue made them regress so much that it felt like a group of middle schoolers on a field trip gone wrong. A good portion of the jokes fell flat, and the characters had very slight moments when they were likable. The rest of the time, they were all just annoying and irrational.

which brings me to millie. she accused Georiga of the same thing over and over again multiple times throughout the book and never provided a reason as to why she thought it was her. at first it was intriguing because i wanted to know if there was more history behind them but it quickly became overly repetitive and very annoying to the point that i didn't care about their relationship it storyline anymore and i just wanted her to shut up about it.

It was very obvious from the start who was going to make it out, so I wasn't really feeling the tenseness of the situation when Georgia would get in compromising positions because it felt like it had no value. When I got to around 30% of the book, I thought I was just being a major hater about the book, but a lot of people seemed to agree.

it's nothing against the author at all but i just simply didn't enjoy it and i tried to give the benefit of the doubt (thinking this was a debut novel) but in the end acknowledgments it says this is the fourth book from the author...so....

I'm glad i got the opportunity to read this bit i don't think I'll be reading anything else from this author, respectfully.

When AI gets involved with a escape room , no one is safe. I loved the characters and uncovering all of their secrets.

I really enjoyed this book it gave me Squid games vibes meets pretty little liar. I also think that these days with the tech we have that the AI robot thing can be so real its scary. The book was good and it kept me on the edge of me seat. I recommend it to everyone one that likes squid game and likes bloody things. because its a pretty dark book.

This was an interesting read with an eye-opening plot to the harsh realities of AI. The concept was interesting, but the story was lacking for me. Although it is categorized as young-adult, the bickering all throughout a life-threatening situation felt almost forced. The characters were highly unlikeable, and the ending left me feeling like something was missing. The writing itself, however, was done by a very talented hand that even though I was not crazy for this, I still found it hard to put down. Overall, this was an okay read, and I give it three stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for this ARC.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

Kathryn Foxfield’s Getting Away With Murder is a high-octane thriller that blends elements of Cabin in the Woods and Squid Game into a gripping narrative. The story centers on Saffron and her perfectionist sister, Georgia, who find themselves trapped in a deadly escape room orchestrated by a rogue AI.

Foxfield’s latest novel is a thrilling ride from start to finish. The premise is both unique and chilling, as the AI’s twisted experiment forces the characters to confront their deepest fears and darkest secrets.

Saffron’s rebellious nature and Georgia’s meticulous planning create a dynamic interplay that drives the story forward. The supporting characters, each representing a high school stereotype, add to the tension and unpredictability of the plot.

Foxfield’s writing is sharp and engaging, with a fast-paced plot that doesn’t let up. The themes of survival, sibling rivalry, and the ethical implications of AI are explored in a way that is both thought-provoking and entertaining.

Getting Away With Murder is a must-read for fans of young adult thrillers who enjoy a mix of psychological tension and high-stakes action. Kathryn Foxfield has delivered a novel that is electrifying and thought-provoking, making it a standout in the genre.

Thank you to Netgallery and Sourcebooks Fire for an early release copy of Getting Away With Murder by Kathryn Foxfield.

I found Getting Away With Murder to be rather flat and anticlimactic, the characters that we follow are rather annoying to read from. They start arguments over the stupidest and pettiest things, this makes it really hard to try and get into the plot when every chapter they are arguing over things. Not to mention the cringy diary scene or the way in which Georgia annoyingly pins for Joeys attention in nearly every chapter.

All male characters in this book constantly call the females the b word when insulting them, they don’t use any other insults. It’s also really convenient that all the characters suddenly have pockets knifes towards the end of the story. When reading this I was expecting a story that would fall something along the lines of Squid Game where the characters would genuinely try to play the games and things would happen. Instead we get whinny flat characters that pick fights with each other over pointless petty things, male characters that can’t think of anything other then the b word to insult female characters, cringy dialogue/scenes, and rather nonsensical games.

This was a unique YA Thriller novel! It had a really interesting plot.

I received an e-ARC of the book from the publisher.

"Getting Away with Murder" is a solid YA thriller for fans of authors Natalie D. Richards, Holly Jackson, & Karen M. McManus.

I never found myself gripped by this story. The idea behind this book was really interesting, and is why I originally requested it, however the motivations of the characters just never made sense to me. Was this horrible? No, I thought that the plot could have fleshed out quite well. But, I just wasn't very entertained by this--it just fell flat for me.

I was quite bored. I wasn’t interested to find out what would happen. Very slow moving. It was a DNF for me. :/

Twin sisters, a deadly battle royale game turned real life....and last player standing wins, or rather gets to escape with their life. Twin sisters, disaster Saffron and perfectionist Georgia are both in love with a video game....and when Saffron begins working at a new high tech escape room and uses the resident AI....things get out of hand as the AI decides to test out the survivor game in real life with Saffron and Georgia and their friends... but there are real life life and death consequences as well.This book just kind of fell flat for me unfortunately. I wasn't that invested in the story and it never really hooked me as much as I had hoped. I loved the author's previous books but I guess this one just wasn't for me.

Release Date: November 5, 2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire | Sourcebooks Fire for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This is like the modern day horror movie novel but it is now a horror video game novel. I read this fast and reacted to it out loud many times! It was good!

I have a lot of mixed emotions after reading this book. On one hand the premise and characters were intriguing, on the other the story made no sense. The abrupt changes in the characters behaviors and strange motivations never seemed believable or made much sense.

I enjoyed the escape room setting and games that the group played, but the constant fighting really took away from what feels like could have been a stronger part of the story.

The abrupt ending of the game was unbelievable. I thought the message about stereotypes was good, but the rest of it left something to be desired. I don’t want to say anything else, as to not spoil the ending!

Overall, a YA thriller with an interesting premise that just didn’t quite work for me. I wanted less bickering, more gaming!

Thank you NetGalley! I loved the premise of this book, but could just not get into it. It did have great characters and plot

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Kathryn Foxfield for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Getting Away With Murder coming out November 5, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I really love murder mysteries and I was excited to check this one out. The book didn’t scream Cabin in the Woods and Squid Game to me. I really love both of those things, but this book felt different. I couldn’t really connect to the characters. I didn’t care for the dialogue and I didn’t understand the motive or actions behind most of the characters. There was something missing for me. Some people might enjoy this book more than me.

As someone who loves escape rooms to their core, I found this to be a great story rendition of one. It takes a bit to get into, but then really kicks off and sucks readers in through the very end.

Oh this one was fun! I love escape rooms so I knew I was going to be down for this one the second I saw it, though it does make one side eye how intellengent AI has gotten...

Written well, this was a fun, fast read for me and I'm so glad I gave it a shot.

This is definitely YA for YA, not so much for adults to enjoy, but things set in escape rooms are always entertaining (except these guys almost never actually complete the task, so, well, of COURSE they are going to die, right? I mean, that’s only fair.).

Saffron (a name that will always make me think of “AbFab,” a reference completely lost on the target audience for this) and Georgia are twins, but Saffron is a bit of a mess, and Georgia plays by all the rules (I’’m guessing teens are meant to connect with one or the other, I thought both were pretty irritating and they never. Stop. Bickering.). They do share one thing, their affection for the video game Sole Survivor which they play online with a group of friends.

Saffron has a summer position at a high tech escape room while Georgia is interning at a newspaper. Saffron gets in a discussion with the escape room’s AI….what high school stereotype would be best equipped to win in a real life version of Sole Survivor? I do not recall these things being an issue when I was a lifeguard. I mostly just twirled my whistle.

Anyway, the AI decides to stage the query for real with Saffron and Georgia’s SS group, pitting the rebel, the know-it-all, the princess, the jock, the geek, the weirdo, the star, the artist and the criminal in a battle to the death. I’ll bet you can guess how this goes.,,,