meganmreads's review against another edition
3.0
For some reason, Escape Theory immediately reminded me of the show The Best Years that used to be on Teen Nick (right when the channel became Teen Nick after being previously known as The N.) I think the main character, Devon, reminded me a lot of Samantha from The Best Years, despite the completely different plot of the show.
I liked Escape Theory and I admired Devon for attempting to get to the bottom of Hutch’s death and figure out what happened when no one else did. I loved the whole mystery and the way Devon (along with myself) suspected various people throughout the novel of foul play. Did Hutch kill himself? If so, why? What caused it? If not, how did he die? Was he murdered? Is someone responsible? Why isn’t anyone else suspicious? Is Devon just trying to hold onto the past? Is Devon making a big deal over nothing? All of these questions were floating around and it made for an interesting read.
I enjoyed the plot of Escape Theory and getting to know the characters. From Devon and the people involved in her life to Hutch and the people surrounding his, a lot of different types of people made an appearance in the novel and they all played a role. While the book had a mystery aspect to it, it was also a great YA coming of age novel because Devon grew into herself and learned a lot of important lessons thanks to Hutch’s influence in her life.
I only gave Escape Theory 3 stars because, as much as I enjoyed the novel, I found it lacking in execution. I wanted more from it and I needed it to be a bit more serious in some places. There were certain events and scenes I didn’t see the importance of and Devon’s relationship with her roommate was weird. While I understand certain exchanges were supposed to display their friendship, it gave the book a sort of immature feel to it and didn’t work for me as well as I’d hoped.
Overall, Escape Theory was a good read and I would recommend it to others, especially if you are looking for something a little less run of the mill in the YA genre.
Review originally published at Love, Literature, Art, and Reason: http://meganm922.blogspot.com/2013/05/reviewescape-theory-keaton-school-1-by.html
I liked Escape Theory and I admired Devon for attempting to get to the bottom of Hutch’s death and figure out what happened when no one else did. I loved the whole mystery and the way Devon (along with myself) suspected various people throughout the novel of foul play. Did Hutch kill himself? If so, why? What caused it? If not, how did he die? Was he murdered? Is someone responsible? Why isn’t anyone else suspicious? Is Devon just trying to hold onto the past? Is Devon making a big deal over nothing? All of these questions were floating around and it made for an interesting read.
I enjoyed the plot of Escape Theory and getting to know the characters. From Devon and the people involved in her life to Hutch and the people surrounding his, a lot of different types of people made an appearance in the novel and they all played a role. While the book had a mystery aspect to it, it was also a great YA coming of age novel because Devon grew into herself and learned a lot of important lessons thanks to Hutch’s influence in her life.
I only gave Escape Theory 3 stars because, as much as I enjoyed the novel, I found it lacking in execution. I wanted more from it and I needed it to be a bit more serious in some places. There were certain events and scenes I didn’t see the importance of and Devon’s relationship with her roommate was weird. While I understand certain exchanges were supposed to display their friendship, it gave the book a sort of immature feel to it and didn’t work for me as well as I’d hoped.
Overall, Escape Theory was a good read and I would recommend it to others, especially if you are looking for something a little less run of the mill in the YA genre.
Review originally published at Love, Literature, Art, and Reason: http://meganm922.blogspot.com/2013/05/reviewescape-theory-keaton-school-1-by.html
losetimereading's review against another edition
3.0
Escape Theory. I hate an extremely large love/hate relationship with this book throughout reading it. I did come out liking it and it seems like it may be a series(correct me if I’m wrong, I’m honestly not even sure!) so I will most likely continue reading at least one more of the following books.
Escape Theory takes place in a ritzy boarding school in California. Devon, the main character, is a scholarship student and one of the only students that has not come from money and a rich lifestyle. I loved the setting, that’s one thing that I totally enjoyed. The boarding school is set on a hill overlooking a small surfing/tourist town, next to a vineyard. I loved the small town aspect, so different parts of the story took place in the town. Quite a few boarding school books take place solely in the school and they are usually secluded so this was a nice mix up from that type of setting.
I absolutely could not connect with the main character. I didn’t like or dislike Devon, I just found her bland and uninteresting so it was very hard for me to connect with her. The character I enjoyed most, ironically was Hutch, the student that dies at the start of the novel. I loved his sweet personality and that he was so focused on being the opposite of what everyone expected him to be. I did really like Raven and Cleo. I immediately took a liking to Raven, she was interesting and went “against the grain” of the typical boarding school student. Granted she was a day student, but she was free spirited and different and I loved that. I didn’t like Cleo straight away. The more she came to Devon’s sessions, the more I started to like her and by the end of the book I adored her. I thought she was witty, unique and her brutal honestly was awesome. One of the main reasons why I didn’t get along fully with Escape Theory was due to the characters, I just didn’t care about a lot of them. They were going through tough situations and some were barely hanging on to reality but I just didn’t care what happened to them.
Another thing I loved wholeheartedly was the flashbacks to a night that Devon and Hutch had shared. The first flashback, I thought that was it, that there wouldn’t be another one but throughout the story parts of that night are shown that relate to the current situation/events. I really enjoyed that part, it twisted up the plot a little bit and really made you think. If it wasn’t for those flashbacks I wouldn’t have fallen in love with Hutch as I would have only experienced him from other people talking about him.
The plot and pacing was the downside for me. The plot was great, that Hutch didn’t really kill himself but was actually murdered and Devon was trying to piece together the puzzle. The pacing was slow… sooooo slow. At times I actually thought that I would put this down for good. I can’t say I really go into the novel until halfway through. About halfway the mystery does pick up and it’s rather addicting. I was suspicious of so many people in the second half of the novel so I could not put it down.
Escape Theory is a really great contemporary mystery. I know a lot of people are going to love this one but for me the pacing was too slow to completely love it. I would still recommend it however because the book really does pick up in the second half. I believe based on the ending that this is going to be a continuation series… if that’s the case I will be giving the second book a try!
Escape Theory takes place in a ritzy boarding school in California. Devon, the main character, is a scholarship student and one of the only students that has not come from money and a rich lifestyle. I loved the setting, that’s one thing that I totally enjoyed. The boarding school is set on a hill overlooking a small surfing/tourist town, next to a vineyard. I loved the small town aspect, so different parts of the story took place in the town. Quite a few boarding school books take place solely in the school and they are usually secluded so this was a nice mix up from that type of setting.
I absolutely could not connect with the main character. I didn’t like or dislike Devon, I just found her bland and uninteresting so it was very hard for me to connect with her. The character I enjoyed most, ironically was Hutch, the student that dies at the start of the novel. I loved his sweet personality and that he was so focused on being the opposite of what everyone expected him to be. I did really like Raven and Cleo. I immediately took a liking to Raven, she was interesting and went “against the grain” of the typical boarding school student. Granted she was a day student, but she was free spirited and different and I loved that. I didn’t like Cleo straight away. The more she came to Devon’s sessions, the more I started to like her and by the end of the book I adored her. I thought she was witty, unique and her brutal honestly was awesome. One of the main reasons why I didn’t get along fully with Escape Theory was due to the characters, I just didn’t care about a lot of them. They were going through tough situations and some were barely hanging on to reality but I just didn’t care what happened to them.
Another thing I loved wholeheartedly was the flashbacks to a night that Devon and Hutch had shared. The first flashback, I thought that was it, that there wouldn’t be another one but throughout the story parts of that night are shown that relate to the current situation/events. I really enjoyed that part, it twisted up the plot a little bit and really made you think. If it wasn’t for those flashbacks I wouldn’t have fallen in love with Hutch as I would have only experienced him from other people talking about him.
The plot and pacing was the downside for me. The plot was great, that Hutch didn’t really kill himself but was actually murdered and Devon was trying to piece together the puzzle. The pacing was slow… sooooo slow. At times I actually thought that I would put this down for good. I can’t say I really go into the novel until halfway through. About halfway the mystery does pick up and it’s rather addicting. I was suspicious of so many people in the second half of the novel so I could not put it down.
Escape Theory is a really great contemporary mystery. I know a lot of people are going to love this one but for me the pacing was too slow to completely love it. I would still recommend it however because the book really does pick up in the second half. I believe based on the ending that this is going to be a continuation series… if that’s the case I will be giving the second book a try!
liralen's review against another edition
2.0
Unmet expectations, I guess.
I was hoping for something along the lines of [a:Jessica Warman|2921810|Jessica Warman|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-F-50x66-2a9d702c2a0f483c9f7dd119cc28a9a7.jpg] — dark and messy and full of both internal and external conflict. I love a good boarding-school story, in large part because group dynamics get so much stronger and more complex when they aren’t limited to the school day.
Where I ran into trouble with this book was that I just didn’t buy it. I didn’t buy that a strange man could show up in a student’s room and nothing would be reported, no alarms raised. I didn’t buy that the school would send students in mourning — or in trouble with the law, for that matter — to another student for multiple ‘counselling’ sessions, or that, if they were going to do that, there was only one student in the 'program'. (Incidentally, I know RAs in many schools provide student support, but the RAs here were virtually nonexistent, and anyway, RA duties do not — that I’ve ever heard of — include this sort of ‘counselling’.) I didn’t buy that students wandered around openly with blankets every night, looking for a good place to hook up. (I do buy that they spent lots of time looking for places to hook up. It’s the flagrant nature of the blankets that doesn’t make sense.) I didn’t buy that the whole school seemed complicit in, or at least aware of, a massive prescription-drug ring.
I really, really didn’t buy that the students Devon ‘counselled’ were all in agreement that she was entirely under-qualified and probably a narc — and then talked openly anyway.
Reviews on GR are pretty solidly positive, so I guess I’m in the minority here, but I just couldn’t credit it.
I was hoping for something along the lines of [a:Jessica Warman|2921810|Jessica Warman|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-F-50x66-2a9d702c2a0f483c9f7dd119cc28a9a7.jpg] — dark and messy and full of both internal and external conflict. I love a good boarding-school story, in large part because group dynamics get so much stronger and more complex when they aren’t limited to the school day.
Where I ran into trouble with this book was that I just didn’t buy it. I didn’t buy that a strange man could show up in a student’s room and nothing would be reported, no alarms raised. I didn’t buy that the school would send students in mourning — or in trouble with the law, for that matter — to another student for multiple ‘counselling’ sessions, or that, if they were going to do that, there was only one student in the 'program'. (Incidentally, I know RAs in many schools provide student support, but the RAs here were virtually nonexistent, and anyway, RA duties do not — that I’ve ever heard of — include this sort of ‘counselling’.) I didn’t buy that students wandered around openly with blankets every night, looking for a good place to hook up. (I do buy that they spent lots of time looking for places to hook up. It’s the flagrant nature of the blankets that doesn’t make sense.) I didn’t buy that the whole school seemed complicit in, or at least aware of, a massive prescription-drug ring.
I really, really didn’t buy that the students Devon ‘counselled’ were all in agreement that she was entirely under-qualified and probably a narc — and then talked openly anyway.
Reviews on GR are pretty solidly positive, so I guess I’m in the minority here, but I just couldn’t credit it.
untitledfornow's review against another edition
3.0
I loved this book! Definitely drew out a lot of feelings from me. I so wish that Devon and Hutch could have had more of a story together >_<
The only thing I don't really like about this book is that it's going to be a serious...I feel like this could stand on its own...
The only thing I don't really like about this book is that it's going to be a serious...I feel like this could stand on its own...
kingaphrodite's review against another edition
2.0
Meh, I assumed from the cover that it would be this sort of book. It has some psychology behind it but overall it focuses a lot on Devon. She's likable, but has noticeable flaws like her obsession with Hutch and...wanting to be alone?
The school she goes to is also amped up so we can't actually connect to it. It's the typical prodigious school filled with rich kids, sex, and drugs.
I think the part that ruined this book was the ending. I suspected a much more flashier ending. I even had a prediction that was off the charts. Alas, Froley had narrowed the suspects down with obvious foreshadowing. It's not a bad read, but it's not a good one either.
The school she goes to is also amped up so we can't actually connect to it. It's the typical prodigious school filled with rich kids, sex, and drugs.
I think the part that ruined this book was the ending. I suspected a much more flashier ending. I even had a prediction that was off the charts.
Spoiler
it was that Chloe would be the 'bad' guy. Instead she turned out to be some lame sidekick who liked to steal things. C'mon, it would have made this book 10x betterkaylaannsreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Death, Murder, and Pregnancy
xxsquigglesxx's review against another edition
OVERALL IMPRESSION: I tried so hard to finish this book, but I finally gave up at page 177. I was extremely interested in the mystery and wanted to keep reading to find out if there was more to Hutch's suicide, but everything about the story was just so boring. I felt like it wasn't going anywhere and it dragged on so much. I may pick this back up at a later time just to see if I can make it through to find out about what really happened to Hutch, but for now I have no interest in continuing with this one.
CHARACTERS: All of the characters, besides Hutch, were so flat and un-entertaining. The beginning of the story sucked me in because we met Hutch and got to see his awesome personality, but then after he was gone, the rest of the characters were just existing and didn't have any depth. I didn't connect with any of the characters and I feel like I didn't really know anything about anybody.
COVER: The cover is fine. It ties in with the story. I like the pink color in the title.
**I received an ARC of this book for my honest review.
CHARACTERS: All of the characters, besides Hutch, were so flat and un-entertaining. The beginning of the story sucked me in because we met Hutch and got to see his awesome personality, but then after he was gone, the rest of the characters were just existing and didn't have any depth. I didn't connect with any of the characters and I feel like I didn't really know anything about anybody.
COVER: The cover is fine. It ties in with the story. I like the pink color in the title.
**I received an ARC of this book for my honest review.
aprilbooksandwine's review against another edition
3.0
Escape Theory by Margaux Froley appealed to me based upon the publisher – Soho Teen. Read my full review here
redus_reuse_recycle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Drug abuse
electraheart's review against another edition
3.0
I'm ambivalent about this book because while there are a handful of good aspects, there are equally as many negative.
For starters, the negatives: The first section of this book is filled with an overabundance of product placement which threw me off. While the book had good intentions, the whole idea of it completely put me off. We surprisingly don't know much about Devon, so having her become a peer counselor came off as strange to me. She definitely didn't seem fit for the position, and the footnotes with instructions from the manual felt unnecessary. While I know it's typical for people to be angsty about therapy, it was annoying that every single character had an attitude toward Devon about the situation. All of the characters are completely flat and don't change whatsoever throughout the book; none of them have intricate backgrounds and the bigger characters don't add much to the actual story. I was surprised by how greatly the unimportant characters affected the plot. Also, can we talk about Presley? Because she got on my nerves like no other; the redundant about of slut-shaming thrown into literary references and her constant singing was obnoxious. While she might have been meant to be the comic relief of the story, she came off as incredibly ignorant instead.
Despite the novel I wrote about how awful this book is, there are some perks: Devon & Co. might not be the greatest characters, but Hutch was interesting as hell. I was constantly intrigued by his story, and I was happy that Devon was trying to get to the bottom of his case. While the author basically gives away part of the plot within the first dozen pages, the biggest plot twist was a surprise.
Overall, I'm not incredibly thrilled with this book, as it has plenty of ups and downs, but it wasn't awful. I don't think I'll be reading the sequel (because seriously, what could it be about?), though.
For starters, the negatives: The first section of this book is filled with an overabundance of product placement which threw me off. While the book had good intentions, the whole idea of it completely put me off. We surprisingly don't know much about Devon, so having her become a peer counselor came off as strange to me. She definitely didn't seem fit for the position, and the footnotes with instructions from the manual felt unnecessary. While I know it's typical for people to be angsty about therapy, it was annoying that every single character had an attitude toward Devon about the situation. All of the characters are completely flat and don't change whatsoever throughout the book; none of them have intricate backgrounds and the bigger characters don't add much to the actual story. I was surprised by how greatly the unimportant characters affected the plot. Also, can we talk about Presley? Because she got on my nerves like no other; the redundant about of slut-shaming thrown into literary references and her constant singing was obnoxious. While she might have been meant to be the comic relief of the story, she came off as incredibly ignorant instead.
Despite the novel I wrote about how awful this book is, there are some perks: Devon & Co. might not be the greatest characters, but Hutch was interesting as hell. I was constantly intrigued by his story, and I was happy that Devon was trying to get to the bottom of his case. While the author basically gives away part of the plot within the first dozen pages, the biggest plot twist was a surprise.
Overall, I'm not incredibly thrilled with this book, as it has plenty of ups and downs, but it wasn't awful. I don't think I'll be reading the sequel (because seriously, what could it be about?), though.