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carinamiya's review against another edition
3.5
3.5
I read this book in one sitting because I wanted to know what the ending was going to be lol...So the premise is that an AI puts 9 teenage stereotypes in an escape room to see who comes out victorious and who dies along the way. The stereotypes include: the rebel (Saffron), the know-it-all (Georgia), the princess (Millie), the jock (Joey), the geek (Henry), the criminal (Aiden), the star (Olympia), the weirdo (Helix), and the artist (Geoffry). The story is told from the POV of Saffron and Georgia, who are twins and who start the book completely at odds with each other. Along the way, the group realizes that some of them have secrets and are wiling to go to extreme lengths to keep them hidden.
Full disclosure here, I thought the game was based on the show Survivor and was so so excited to read this...forgot that other games existed. The game Sole Survivor is where people are dropped into a scenario and need to work together to escape but only one person will make it out.
I really loved Georgia. She worked so hard to try to get the group of teenagers to be a team and to get them out of the crazy games the AI put them through, and she was mistreated so badly by all the other characters. Saffron did not treat her well at all--like I get being upset that Georgia got Saffron in trouble, but Saffron neglected to acknowledge that it was her stupidity that got her in trouble in the first place.
I had some minor plot issues.First, after the crazy death ball pit and Geoffrey's death, why didnt they work together?? Why was the petty drama getting in the way of them doing anything productive? Why couldn't they just have a conversation about all the things that AI was telling them in order to work together? . Second, the vast majority of the book was from Georgia's POV, which I don't mind, but it makes it an odd choice to have Saffron as the main character (she's the main one in the blurb and we start w/ her). Saffron had little impact on most events of the book and her perspective was very absent. I didn't mind because I really liked Georgia, but I did notice Saffron's absence.
Overall, this was a fun, fast-paced YA thriller. I highly recommend for people who love escape rooms or games similar to Sole Survivor, or for people who like reading YA thrillers.
Thank you to NetGalley + Sourcebooks fire for this ARC!
I read this book in one sitting because I wanted to know what the ending was going to be lol...So the premise is that an AI puts 9 teenage stereotypes in an escape room to see who comes out victorious and who dies along the way. The stereotypes include: the rebel (Saffron), the know-it-all (Georgia), the princess (Millie), the jock (Joey), the geek (Henry), the criminal (Aiden), the star (Olympia), the weirdo (Helix), and the artist (Geoffry). The story is told from the POV of Saffron and Georgia, who are twins and who start the book completely at odds with each other. Along the way, the group realizes that some of them have secrets and are wiling to go to extreme lengths to keep them hidden.
Full disclosure here, I thought the game was based on the show Survivor and was so so excited to read this...forgot that other games existed. The game Sole Survivor is where people are dropped into a scenario and need to work together to escape but only one person will make it out.
I really loved Georgia. She worked so hard to try to get the group of teenagers to be a team and to get them out of the crazy games the AI put them through, and she was mistreated so badly by all the other characters. Saffron did not treat her well at all--like I get being upset that Georgia got Saffron in trouble, but Saffron neglected to acknowledge that it was her stupidity that got her in trouble in the first place.
I had some minor plot issues.
Overall, this was a fun, fast-paced YA thriller. I highly recommend for people who love escape rooms or games similar to Sole Survivor, or for people who like reading YA thrillers.
Thank you to NetGalley + Sourcebooks fire for this ARC!
honestlyyours77's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.5
Rounding up isn’t my norm but I think the book was a decent enough read to recommend it to other YA readers who like escape rooms.
I am thankful for the ARC received from NetGalley and Sourcebooks. My honest review is voluntary and my own opinions. This book is for the future 11/24 US release of a book that was released in the UK in Nov 2023. From the reading of other reviews from the first release I have a feeling that the book may have gone through a major edit as it didn’t match up with the negative reviews to the same extent.
The prose itself was fine from a grammatical sense and not choppy at all. What was problematic was that it got a bit confusing at time with the various games and how character ended up in different places seeming out of the blue.
I don’t think teens would have acted how they did at all. There seems to be a disconnect with the author understanding her characters ages and motivations. This would have worked a bit better if she set the characters as a college age and marketed it as NA. The internships and the responsibilities each twin had at their internship would have made a lot more sense had they been in college.
But overall it was a mix of breakfast club, War Games and The Game by Lindsay Miller mixed into one. It’s not a literary masterpiece by far but it’s entertaining to think about when AI goes wrong. Although I wish the “voice” of the AI was fitting more with technology. It was too much like a real person to be plausible.
My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.
⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again
I am thankful for the ARC received from NetGalley and Sourcebooks. My honest review is voluntary and my own opinions. This book is for the future 11/24 US release of a book that was released in the UK in Nov 2023. From the reading of other reviews from the first release I have a feeling that the book may have gone through a major edit as it didn’t match up with the negative reviews to the same extent.
The prose itself was fine from a grammatical sense and not choppy at all. What was problematic was that it got a bit confusing at time with the various games and how character ended up in different places seeming out of the blue.
I don’t think teens would have acted how they did at all. There seems to be a disconnect with the author understanding her characters ages and motivations. This would have worked a bit better if she set the characters as a college age and marketed it as NA. The internships and the responsibilities each twin had at their internship would have made a lot more sense had they been in college.
But overall it was a mix of breakfast club, War Games and The Game by Lindsay Miller mixed into one. It’s not a literary masterpiece by far but it’s entertaining to think about when AI goes wrong. Although I wish the “voice” of the AI was fitting more with technology. It was too much like a real person to be plausible.
My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.
⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again
graslayie's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
kayceeisbookish's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Love love love the concept of rouge A.I. causing chaos. The setting of being locked in an escape room also gave it very claustrophobic creepy vibes that I was LIVING for! I loved that it really showcases human nature when normal people are put in survival scenarios.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
runaps's review against another edition
2.0
This book was a bit messier than what I would’ve liked. Annoyingly, the characters’ actions did not make any sense just for the sake of the twists that felt super random and only for shock value.
ashbyteacher77's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5