Member Reviews
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.,,,
I requested this book because the book cover and title caught my attention. Overall, i really enjoyed reading this book. This book is a must read for fans of suspense thrillers.
Thank u netgalley for the arc!!
A group of friends are trapped in an AI experiment after a conversation gone wrong. Saffron was simply speaking with the AI at her job that helped run the gamerooms, Lightman. A simple statement about stereotypes leads to Lightman trapping her group of friends in a gameroom.
This book had more unexpected plot twists than i can count! I loved almost every part of it. The only thing I did not like was the first few chapters of Saffron's perspective. I found it to be too annoying. She seemed to be obsessed with the concept of being the family rebel. However, this quickly went away. I behan to love every chapter. I could not put this book down. This is a gripping thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat.
I would like to thank @netgalley, @sourcebooksfire, and @kathrynfoxfield for the opportunity to read this ARC!
kinda generic at points and at points pretty eh, although in total it was a reasonable read. I found Georgia and the other protagonists reasonable but a bit confusing, and there were a lot of things that, if thought about, didn;t make any sense at all. In general, though, okay. 3 stars. tysm for the arc.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.
I was really excited for this book. I love her others and knew I wouldn't be disappointed. It took me a bit to get into this story. I think there was a lot of characters which made it a little hard to connect but as the book goes in you really start to root for some of them. Like The Breakfast Club and an AI had a baby and Kathryn Foxfield sent it out into the world. Loved the journey!
Kathryn Foxfield brings us yet another pulse-pounding thriller with Getting Away with Murder, a novel that grips you from the first page and refuses to let go. As someone who loved Good Girls Die First, I was eager to see how Foxfield would follow up her breakout success, and I’m happy to say this one did not disappoint.
The story revolves around two sisters—Saffron, the rebellious, walking disaster, and Georgia, the perfectionist twin—who bond over their shared obsession with the video game Sole Survivor. While working at a cutting-edge escape room, Saffron innocently asks the AI which high school stereotype would survive longest in a real-life version of their favorite game. But when the AI decides to run the simulation for real, the stakes go from virtual to life-threatening in an instant.
The setup of pitting classic high school archetypes against each other in a survival-of-the-fittest challenge felt like a fun blend of The Breakfast Club meets The Hunger Games. Each character, from the geek to the jock, brought their own flair, and Foxfield’s ability to lean into these stereotypes while giving them depth kept me engaged throughout. The AI twist—transforming an innocent escape room into a battle for survival—was both exhilarating and terrifying, pushing the thriller into high-octane territory.
Saffron and Georgia’s sibling dynamic added a lot of heart to the plot. The rivalry, love, and shared obsession with the game grounded the story amid the chaos. I particularly enjoyed Saffron’s character growth as she starts to question whether her rebellious, rule-breaking attitude is truly the way to survive—both in the game and in life.
However, the reason this is a 4-star read instead of 5 is that some of the twists were slightly predictable if you’re a seasoned thriller reader. There were moments where I anticipated what was coming, and I think the suspense could have been amped up even more. That being said, the action-packed pacing and gripping nature of the plot kept me on my toes enough that I devoured this book in one sitting!
If you’re in the mood for a darkly entertaining thriller where no one can be trusted (not even the AI), Getting Away with Murder delivers. Just make sure you clear your schedule because once you start, you won’t want to stop!
That was...an experience, I guess. I mean. I haven't learned anything. Was I entertained? Occasionally, but not thoroughly, how's that?
Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. This was a fun read about an escape room controlled by AI. It was slightly predictable at times, but still a fun & fast read. I would recommend to others that enjoy locked room puzzles, tech and mystery. 3.5 stars.
I was immediately intrigued by this one with the plot of an AI run escape room - something that seems so surreal and yet totally a possibility in the not too distant future. The novel was very fast paced and there is a definite thrill vibe throughout. If you're looking for a quick read and like gaming and/or escape room situations, this may be of interest to you. What brought my rating down were the characters - I couldn't really connect with them and they were all incredibly whiny. I think the author was trying to imitate the voice of teens, but I think it missed the mark.