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A review by b_tellefsen_rescuesandreads
The Escape Room by Megan Goldin
4.0
Rating: 3.5 rounded up
I should start by saying that, while "Psychological Thriller" would likely be the best genre to describe this story, it does not necessary read as a thriller.
In the present day, we are following four colleagues who are employed by a prestigious New York finance firm. Their jobs are extremely competitive, high-stakes, stressful and time consuming, but also highly lucrative. They are able to live luxurious lifestyles, but maintaining these lifestyles comes with great sacrifice to their personal lives and to their morals.
After a rough year, when it seems that layoffs may be imminent, the four are asked to participate in a team-building exercise that comes in the form of an escape room...in an elevator. But when the elevator stops, the lights go off, and the doors don't open, even after an hour, they soon realize that it is no longer a game, but a rush for survival.
While in the elevator, we witness a myriad of emotions and reactions. These colleagues who have spent several years being teammates, yet often competing for glory and greed, start to turn on one another. Secrets are revealed. Their innermost feelings towards each other are exposed. The situation becomes increasingly tense as the heat is turned up and they realize they don't have much food and water.
So, we have one timeline that is following the characters in the elevator. Told from a third-person omniscient narration we are getting the perspectives of each individual which makes it easier to differentiate each one then it might have been had this been told from a different type of narration.
But there is an additional perspective we are witnessing. Set in the past, I will not go into detail about this perspective because, quite frankly, you know that the only reason this perspective is included because she connects to the four in the elevator and what is currently happening to them. But this person is one of the main characters and we spend a great deal of time chronicling her life and her connection with each of the other characters.
So, in many ways, this was a very character driven narrative. One that reads more like a contemporary than thriller. While we do understand that there are people trapped on a elevator, and we want to know why, that's really all there is to it. There isn't necessarily anything suspenseful or thrilling about it.
I will also say, that since this book was supposed to have an "escape room" type feel, that portion of the story should have been played up more. There were not very many clues provided. So really, we are just watching the deterioration of the characters in the elevator. This might have worked better if it were more representative of an escape room, where the clues were more high-stakes.
I should start by saying that, while "Psychological Thriller" would likely be the best genre to describe this story, it does not necessary read as a thriller.
In the present day, we are following four colleagues who are employed by a prestigious New York finance firm. Their jobs are extremely competitive, high-stakes, stressful and time consuming, but also highly lucrative. They are able to live luxurious lifestyles, but maintaining these lifestyles comes with great sacrifice to their personal lives and to their morals.
After a rough year, when it seems that layoffs may be imminent, the four are asked to participate in a team-building exercise that comes in the form of an escape room...in an elevator. But when the elevator stops, the lights go off, and the doors don't open, even after an hour, they soon realize that it is no longer a game, but a rush for survival.
While in the elevator, we witness a myriad of emotions and reactions. These colleagues who have spent several years being teammates, yet often competing for glory and greed, start to turn on one another. Secrets are revealed. Their innermost feelings towards each other are exposed. The situation becomes increasingly tense as the heat is turned up and they realize they don't have much food and water.
So, we have one timeline that is following the characters in the elevator. Told from a third-person omniscient narration we are getting the perspectives of each individual which makes it easier to differentiate each one then it might have been had this been told from a different type of narration.
But there is an additional perspective we are witnessing. Set in the past, I will not go into detail about this perspective because, quite frankly, you know that the only reason this perspective is included because she connects to the four in the elevator and what is currently happening to them. But this person is one of the main characters and we spend a great deal of time chronicling her life and her connection with each of the other characters.
So, in many ways, this was a very character driven narrative. One that reads more like a contemporary than thriller. While we do understand that there are people trapped on a elevator, and we want to know why, that's really all there is to it. There isn't necessarily anything suspenseful or thrilling about it.
I will also say, that since this book was supposed to have an "escape room" type feel, that portion of the story should have been played up more. There were not very many clues provided. So really, we are just watching the deterioration of the characters in the elevator. This might have worked better if it were more representative of an escape room, where the clues were more high-stakes.