My Review of Marissa Meyer & Tamara Moss’s THE ESCAPE GAME

This is my review of Marissa Meyer & Tamara Moss’s Young Adult Mystery novel The Escape Game.

Six months ago, season four of the hit escape-room-themed reality teen TV series The Escape Game ended in horror when contestant Alicia Angelos was found murdered on set.

Now season five is underway, and new teen contestants are ready to put their skills to the test solving the show’s trickiest escape rooms. There’s Adi, the cryptographer; Carter, the math whiz; Beck, the wannabe game master; and Sierra Angelos, the girl who got away with her sister’s murder. Or so everyone believes.

But Sierra’s not just here to win. She’s here for justice.

When the contestants begin uncovering clues that hint at the identity of Alicia’s true killer, it becomes clear that the stakes aren’t high just in this competition. They’re deadly. If these teens want to win—and survive—the game, they must solve the biggest mystery of all: who killed Alicia?

REVIEW

This book was a decidedly mixed bag for me. The authors seem to have been trying to replicate the same general Young Adult Mystery/Thriller formula that Karen M. McManus popularized with One of Us is Lying and that many other writers have since copied to varying but lesser degrees of success. (Multiple protagonists with distinctly different tics and personalities and problems showcased via multiple POVs are forced to work together to solve a strange murder. Along the way, they build a found family, navigate some type of romantic drama, and generally become better for knowing each other.) And that approach works more often than it doesn’t for this book, but the end product still leaves something to be desired.

This book’s setting didn’t do it any favors. On paper, doing an escape-room-themed murder mystery against the backdrop of reality television is an interesting concept whose novelty likely bolstered it when it was being pitched to agents and publishers. But the elements just didn’t translate well in writing. From the start, I felt like this book was made more so to be watched than read. The reality television aspects and escape room aspects, which were all tediously described, likely would’ve hit harder if this book had instead been a movie or streaming series. The escape rooms and the television backdrop all came across as creative and engaging but also like they were meant to be seen and heard. That is, after all, the general nature of puzzles and brain busters like escape rooms. They’re at their most interesting when presented visually or auditorily. Simply reading about them always strips away some of their magic.

The central mystery was sharp and was, honestly, the most interesting puzzle in a book about, indeed, solving interesting puzzles. I guessed (or suspected) both the culprits long before the final reveal; but the authors still did a fine job of building towards that moment with clues and red herrings and drama and, yes, the obligatory second murder disguised as a suicide.

Nevertheless, the mystery failed to land with me for two reasons.

First, there’s no real emotional core to the mystery itself. Sierra Angelos militarizes the other protagonists around using the reality show as a cover to solve her sister’s murder, but she and her sister are portrayed from the start as opposites and rivals who didn’t get along. As tends to happen with most ‘tough’ characters in stories like this, we get peeks at the chinks in Sierra’s armor to clue us in that she really did love Alicia and really is grieved that she didn’t get more time with her. And there’s naturally the fact that Sierra has a personal investment in clearing her own name regarding the murder. But their bond still never felt strong enough to me to justify the lengths to which Sierra (let alone the other protagonists, who didn’t even know Sierra’s sister) go to stay involved in their effective citizens’ investigation. Besides which, Sierra never really comes across as all that invested in clearing her name, because she almost always presents as someone who’s trained herself not to care what others think of her.

Second, the final reveal itself undercuts much of the magic of the mystery because of how ridiculous it is. The buildup to the reveal was strong, and the reveal itself retained some of that oomph. But the moment of confrontation felt generally like the ending of a daytime soap opera: overexplained, overdramatic, overcomplicated, and underperformed.

The protagonists themselves were probably the book’s strongest draw. Early on, all four main characters felt a little hollow and immature. However, they all built on and complimented each other as the chapters passed; and that work started to pay off with compound interest by the midway point, when the character dynamics began to improve exponentially. There’s the way that Beck’s lovable weirdness and confidence break down Sierra’s walls and bring the team together. Or how Carter begins as a timid wallflower but learns confidence slowly with sweet encouragement from Beck and by getting a friend like Sierra who stands up for her to others. Or how Adi and Sierra begin to respectively conquer pathological abandonment issues and self-loathing by being drawn lovingly into the group. Basically, it takes time, but the characters grow on the reader and grow very well.

The book ends with a direct setup for at least one future installment, one that may be focused more on Adi and Beck than Sierra or Carter. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Adi is admittedly the character who had the least presence and full-circle development in this book, followed by Beck. Still, this book did do a good job of telling a solid story with a beginning, middle, and end that don’t justify much continuation. It was a good story for what it was, but I’m not sure I’d be down to read future installments for any purpose beyond reviewing them. Nevertheless, it might be interesting to see where things go between this book’s main characters in future installments, especially given how they’ve found a solid stride by the end of this book.

RECOMMENDATION

The Escape Game is a good book that has a rough start but improves significantly as it continues. The character dynamics were solid. The mystery was strong but slightly tarnished by its own solution. The escape room and reality television elements didn’t work as well on page as they likely would’ve as am actual viewing experience.

I’m not clamoring for a sequel, and I’m not sure I’d even read one for non-review purposes if it came out. But the idea does hold some promise.

TRIGGER WARNING/CONTENT ADVISORY

The Escape Game is definitely for mature teenagers and new adults. It may be a turn-off for younger kids and/or those with religious sensibilities.

There is abundant foul language from most named characters.

Alcohol and other drugs are minimally present.

One major storyline revolves around child grooming, though it is handled within the boundaries of YA and is not graphically displayed.

One major storyline revolves around the discussion of suicide, though the 'victim' is a child predator and the suicide conversation remains YA appropriate.

Child abuse/neglect in a foster home situation is heavily implied but never explicitly depicted.

One main character is a trans male who is assigned to be roommates with another naturally born male.

MY OVERALL RATING

I give The Escape Game 3.5 of 5 cronuts.

Basically, it’s a fun yet very imperfect read.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.**