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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
Just from the blurb, you can tell that this book has what potential it has to be the next great YA novel. The writing is very witty and clever, letting you into Mattie's head without the awkwardness a lot of other novels have. The banter and conversation have a flow to them that not every writer can capture and it is done brilliantly here. The writing alone is what could capture the reader and make them want to sit down and finish this book in one sitting. Right away, I was hooked and I haven't even gotten to the good parts yet, I can already tell. I want to keep reading to figure out what happens and how Mattie is caught in the midst of her deepest passion and deepest secret.
This is definitely a book that makes you want to keep reading and figure out what is going to happen!
This is definitely a book that makes you want to keep reading and figure out what is going to happen!
I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Hold on a second while I scream in my corner about how I am finally on time to write a review before a book actually releases. Just barely, but you know, it's still relatively on time. 😱
Maybe it's because I've decided to give up on the four books that have been there since 2016 and reset my priorities.
Okay, back on topic.
The Art of Escaping by Erin Callahan is a book that Roberta first introduced to me in sometime in a year far ago and honestly? Well, let's find out.
Erin Callahan's latest novel is about escapology, and maybe the title explains what escapology is, but there's probably multiple layers of meaning with the title aside from literally. (I approve of this approach.)
But here: I almost DNFed this one. But I wanted to know the end, so curiosity got better of me.
The Art of Escaping is told in two views: Mattie and Will. Three, if you count diary entries as an intermission between chapters. I'm not against multiple views and maybe I was tired, but I struggled sometimes with this one.
There were times where it felt like the story was being told right now as it is happening, and then there were times where it felt the story was being told by a future version of the characters. And then there were times the story kind of repeated itself, then went onwards. 🤷🏻♀️
There are some great one-liners in here, but a lot of the writing I glossed over. To be honest, sometimes I was bored and maybe it was just me in a very bad time (I felt like doing nothing for the past few weeks if my lack of posts say anything).
But I was also reading another book, and it was more interesting? Lack of motivation did nothing there. So maybe I'm not the only one who felt meh about the writing.
Well, not exactly. There are snippets here and there, but it's not a part of the storyline, which is 11/10 okay with me because every book and its sequel has a romance somehow these days. (Am I complaining? Not really. I like books with no romance sometimes.) But the main point is, it's not a huge plot bunny.
Okay, so I can live for the friendship and sibling dynamics because they were developed quite well, or at least, in the few months timeframe. The brother/sister relationship isn't much, but the friendship is a huge part of the book for both new and old relationships. It was lovely seeing Will and Mattie grow a friendship over escapology and then bringing the other characters in.
Early on in The Art of Escaping, Callahan introduces readers to Miyu, who ends up being Mattie's mentor who is CrabbyTM. Honestly though, I absolutely love Miyu - she's a crab, but deep down, she's a soft cookie filled with chocolate chips. Plus 95% of the best sentences in the book come from Miyu, so there is never a boring moment with her on the page.
This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts
Hold on a second while I scream in my corner about how I am finally on time to write a review before a book actually releases. Just barely, but you know, it's still relatively on time. 😱
Maybe it's because I've decided to give up on the four books that have been there since 2016 and reset my priorities.
Okay, back on topic.
The Art of Escaping by Erin Callahan is a book that Roberta first introduced to me in sometime in a year far ago and honestly? Well, let's find out.
A Few Things About The Art of Escaping
Erin Callahan's latest novel is about escapology, and maybe the title explains what escapology is, but there's probably multiple layers of meaning with the title aside from literally. (I approve of this approach.)
But here: I almost DNFed this one. But I wanted to know the end, so curiosity got better of me.
Multiple POVs was meh but okay.
The Art of Escaping is told in two views: Mattie and Will. Three, if you count diary entries as an intermission between chapters. I'm not against multiple views and maybe I was tired, but I struggled sometimes with this one.
There were times where it felt like the story was being told right now as it is happening, and then there were times where it felt the story was being told by a future version of the characters. And then there were times the story kind of repeated itself, then went onwards. 🤷🏻♀️
Occasionally I liked a line or two. Or three.
There are some great one-liners in here, but a lot of the writing I glossed over. To be honest, sometimes I was bored and maybe it was just me in a very bad time (I felt like doing nothing for the past few weeks if my lack of posts say anything).
But I was also reading another book, and it was more interesting? Lack of motivation did nothing there. So maybe I'm not the only one who felt meh about the writing.
There is NO romance.
Well, not exactly. There are snippets here and there, but it's not a part of the storyline, which is 11/10 okay with me because every book and its sequel has a romance somehow these days. (Am I complaining? Not really. I like books with no romance sometimes.) But the main point is, it's not a huge plot bunny.
Friendship and sibling dynamics.
Okay, so I can live for the friendship and sibling dynamics because they were developed quite well, or at least, in the few months timeframe. The brother/sister relationship isn't much, but the friendship is a huge part of the book for both new and old relationships. It was lovely seeing Will and Mattie grow a friendship over escapology and then bringing the other characters in.
Miyu is a precious bean.
Early on in The Art of Escaping, Callahan introduces readers to Miyu, who ends up being Mattie's mentor who is CrabbyTM. Honestly though, I absolutely love Miyu - she's a crab, but deep down, she's a soft cookie filled with chocolate chips. Plus 95% of the best sentences in the book come from Miyu, so there is never a boring moment with her on the page.
Honestly I was hoping The Art of Escaping would be good, but there were a few things missing to make it to that level. It wasn't a mess, but maybe a few sweeps needed.
This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts
content warnings: near-drowning, infidelity
representation: gay main character, japanese-american side character, portuguese-american side character, mlm side character
This was a perfectly inoffensive contemporary that, quite frankly, seems really underrated. It's about a girl who secretly loves escapology and her making friends through her weird passion, why have more people not been talking about this??
The plot is so close to being ridiculous, but it somehow always stays just grounded enough that you believe a teenage girl would be getting out of a straitjacket in a water tank in a speakeasy (yes, that is actually something that happens in this book). I credit most of the realism(?) to the characters, all who feel like people I know.
While none of them will leave a lasting impression on me, I still really enjoyed reading about each character because they all have depth and flaws, something which it seems like all characters should have and yet so many authors still fail. Erin Callahan is not one of those authors. Mattie and Will both have POVs throughout the book which obviously helps you to understand them, but even in each others' POVs you still feel like you would know them even without their thoughts.
Miyu, Stella and Frankie were all such fun additions, too, particularly Stella and Frankie as I didn't think either of them were going to be very important. I loved how we got to learn so much about Miyu without her saying very much at all, and I'm not going to lie the end had me tearing up a little.
The fact that there are two characters, Betsy and Meadow, who should so perfectly fit the bitchy mean girl trope and yet Callahan decides to not take that route should be commended. Both (admittedly, Betsy more so) are made to be human beings who are more than just popular girls and who can actually be gasp nice people.
The feminism sprinkled throughout the book also made me very happy. There were discussions on women being looked over in history, how a person finding gay people so fascinating can actually be harmful, how much we romanticise the past when it comes to discrimination, Mattie coming to the realisation that her secret is nowhere near as high-stakes as Will's, and so much more! I also really appreciated that there was no pressuring of Will to come out, from the narrative or the characters.
This is a fun book that more people should read because it was honestly a delight.
representation: gay main character, japanese-american side character, portuguese-american side character, mlm side character
This was a perfectly inoffensive contemporary that, quite frankly, seems really underrated. It's about a girl who secretly loves escapology and her making friends through her weird passion, why have more people not been talking about this??
The plot is so close to being ridiculous, but it somehow always stays just grounded enough that you believe a teenage girl would be getting out of a straitjacket in a water tank in a speakeasy (yes, that is actually something that happens in this book). I credit most of the realism(?) to the characters, all who feel like people I know.
While none of them will leave a lasting impression on me, I still really enjoyed reading about each character because they all have depth and flaws, something which it seems like all characters should have and yet so many authors still fail. Erin Callahan is not one of those authors. Mattie and Will both have POVs throughout the book which obviously helps you to understand them, but even in each others' POVs you still feel like you would know them even without their thoughts.
Miyu, Stella and Frankie were all such fun additions, too, particularly Stella and Frankie as I didn't think either of them were going to be very important. I loved how we got to learn so much about Miyu without her saying very much at all, and I'm not going to lie the end had me tearing up a little.
The fact that there are two characters, Betsy and Meadow, who should so perfectly fit the bitchy mean girl trope and yet Callahan decides to not take that route should be commended. Both (admittedly, Betsy more so) are made to be human beings who are more than just popular girls and who can actually be gasp nice people.
The feminism sprinkled throughout the book also made me very happy. There were discussions on women being looked over in history, how a person finding gay people so fascinating can actually be harmful, how much we romanticise the past when it comes to discrimination, Mattie coming to the realisation that her secret is nowhere near as high-stakes as Will's, and so much more! I also really appreciated that there was no pressuring of Will to come out, from the narrative or the characters.
This is a fun book that more people should read because it was honestly a delight.
~3.5 stars~
This was a great coming of age book. We have all these different kids who end up finding friendship in the most unlikely places/way. This book is about friendship.
Mattie is an outsider and only has one friend. She’s secretly in love with escapology but wants to do more. She has one friend, Stella, who is going away to a pre-college summer program. Since, she’s going to be alone, she decides to take things into her own hands and really get into escapology. She’s also snarky and I loved that.
Later we meet Frankie, who Stella befriends when she’s away at her pre-college program. I really liked Frankie. He was probably the most awkward but I loved how he just meshed into this group.
Will is your typical high school basketball star who has everything and a beautiful girlfriend. Except, he’s hiding a pretty big secret. He’s living a lie and really starting to unravel.
Mattie decided to go to Miyu and ask her to mentor her about escapology. It starts a bunch of actions that bring all these characters together. Will and Mattie end up making a deal but it blossoms into a friendship. This whole book is about friendship and finding yourself. I loved that there was romance but not between any of the main characters! How refreshing!! There’s a lot of different themes in this book.
Then there’s the story between Miyu and her mother Akiko. Akiko was a famous escapologist, who died at a young age, in a plane crash. Miyu is living in their house but has agoraphobia. I’m sorry but this story just crushed my soul. I don’t know if I’m in the right head space but it brought tears to my eyes. Okay, I’m definitely not in the right head space, I’m on a ton of fertility drugs. Anyways, Miyu has these journal/diary pages that kind of tell the story of her mother and herself. It was one of my favorite parts of this book.
I did have some issues with the book. There are some places where the writing wasn’t the greatest. I actually didn’t care for the dual perspective in this book. It wasn’t really needed. There were times that I would be confused about situations and find out that it was just Mattie dreaming.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and once I got into the book, I couldn’t put it down. It was fun, entertaining, yet tackled some tough issues.
I want to thank Netgalley and Amberjack Publishing for giving me an e-ARC of this book for review.
You can see my review here: Books Are The New Black
This was a great coming of age book. We have all these different kids who end up finding friendship in the most unlikely places/way. This book is about friendship.
Mattie is an outsider and only has one friend. She’s secretly in love with escapology but wants to do more. She has one friend, Stella, who is going away to a pre-college summer program. Since, she’s going to be alone, she decides to take things into her own hands and really get into escapology. She’s also snarky and I loved that.
Later we meet Frankie, who Stella befriends when she’s away at her pre-college program. I really liked Frankie. He was probably the most awkward but I loved how he just meshed into this group.
Will is your typical high school basketball star who has everything and a beautiful girlfriend. Except, he’s hiding a pretty big secret. He’s living a lie and really starting to unravel.
Mattie decided to go to Miyu and ask her to mentor her about escapology. It starts a bunch of actions that bring all these characters together. Will and Mattie end up making a deal but it blossoms into a friendship. This whole book is about friendship and finding yourself. I loved that there was romance but not between any of the main characters! How refreshing!! There’s a lot of different themes in this book.
Then there’s the story between Miyu and her mother Akiko. Akiko was a famous escapologist, who died at a young age, in a plane crash. Miyu is living in their house but has agoraphobia. I’m sorry but this story just crushed my soul. I don’t know if I’m in the right head space but it brought tears to my eyes. Okay, I’m definitely not in the right head space, I’m on a ton of fertility drugs. Anyways, Miyu has these journal/diary pages that kind of tell the story of her mother and herself. It was one of my favorite parts of this book.
I did have some issues with the book. There are some places where the writing wasn’t the greatest. I actually didn’t care for the dual perspective in this book. It wasn’t really needed. There were times that I would be confused about situations and find out that it was just Mattie dreaming.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and once I got into the book, I couldn’t put it down. It was fun, entertaining, yet tackled some tough issues.
I want to thank Netgalley and Amberjack Publishing for giving me an e-ARC of this book for review.
You can see my review here: Books Are The New Black
*I received a copy from NetGalley for a honest review*
I liked the concept of the book, however I couldn't make it more than halfway through. I dnfed this book at about 40%.
Unfortunately this book was not for me. I just couldn't connect to the characters at all and the plot line was personally just a mess. While, I think many people will enjoy this book and it could be an underrated favorite for some; I just couldn't connect well. This may be because of the e-book format, so I'm open to a rereading this in a physical format.
I gave what I read 2 stars for the potential it could have as a diverse contemporary novel.
I liked the concept of the book, however I couldn't make it more than halfway through. I dnfed this book at about 40%.
Unfortunately this book was not for me. I just couldn't connect to the characters at all and the plot line was personally just a mess. While, I think many people will enjoy this book and it could be an underrated favorite for some; I just couldn't connect well. This may be because of the e-book format, so I'm open to a rereading this in a physical format.
I gave what I read 2 stars for the potential it could have as a diverse contemporary novel.
I love this title! What a clever tie in between the main character, Mattie, and the overall feeling of being a teenager and dealing with what people see you as compared to what you feel you are yourself. Mattie is a budding magician escape artist who has tracked down her idol’s daughter hoping for guidance. Will with 2 Ls is the stereotypical BMOC at their high school. But, like Mattie, he has a secret life that he fears becoming public but also wants to escape into. Ms. Callahan focused on character development, using each event within the book to add a layer to each person and advance the story and their development. Somehow, this book felt light and fluffy but serious and heavy all at the same time. A wonderful, enjoyable balance!
A copy of this book was provided by Bookishfirst in exchange for an honest review.
A copy of this book was provided by Bookishfirst in exchange for an honest review.
HOLY CRAP. I absolutely did not expect this to be as amazing as it was. The Art of Escaping by Erin Callahan follows a girl named Mattie who is secretly fascinated by the art of escapology. When a boy from her school named Will finds out about her secret, he promises to keep it, and he tells her one of his own--he's gay.
This book. has. no. romance. AND IT WAS FANTASTIC. Not only was it one of the most refreshing YA contemporary novels I've read in awhile, it also taught me about an art form I knew practically nothing about before hand--escapology. Escapology is the art of escape acts, like Harry Houdini would do. It was fascinating to learn more about this and Mattie's passion for it.
The friend group in this was simply precious. As someone who's currently in a rough patch when it comes to their friendship and social life, it was so pleasant to read a group of friends who are completely weird(like myself) and yet so content.
And Will's coming out plot line made a lot of sense to me. Considering the background he come from, it seemed like a healthy progression and made a lot of sense for his character.
This book is an underrated gem that you need to check out, especially if the YA contemporary genre is just becoming meh for you. LOVE.
This book. has. no. romance. AND IT WAS FANTASTIC. Not only was it one of the most refreshing YA contemporary novels I've read in awhile, it also taught me about an art form I knew practically nothing about before hand--escapology. Escapology is the art of escape acts, like Harry Houdini would do. It was fascinating to learn more about this and Mattie's passion for it.
The friend group in this was simply precious. As someone who's currently in a rough patch when it comes to their friendship and social life, it was so pleasant to read a group of friends who are completely weird(like myself) and yet so content.
And Will's coming out plot line made a lot of sense to me. Considering the background he come from, it seemed like a healthy progression and made a lot of sense for his character.
This book is an underrated gem that you need to check out, especially if the YA contemporary genre is just becoming meh for you. LOVE.
Did not finish at 44%.
This book is not for me. I'm going to start by saying that because I know very well that there are people out there who might just love it, and adore it.
For me, I always try to connect with the characters, and their motivations, and what they're trying to get out of something. But Mattie? She just fell flat for me, and she had a rather bratty attitude, of acting like she was so special, and such a rebel just for mildly going against the grain.
Will, I wish I could like, because I'd probably identify most with him. But his chapters were written in such a way that I couldn't get through them fast enough.
I was so intrigued by the premise of this book but it was just kind of disappointing. Sorry.
Received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
This book is not for me. I'm going to start by saying that because I know very well that there are people out there who might just love it, and adore it.
For me, I always try to connect with the characters, and their motivations, and what they're trying to get out of something. But Mattie? She just fell flat for me, and she had a rather bratty attitude, of acting like she was so special, and such a rebel just for mildly going against the grain.
Will, I wish I could like, because I'd probably identify most with him. But his chapters were written in such a way that I couldn't get through them fast enough.
I was so intrigued by the premise of this book but it was just kind of disappointing. Sorry.
Received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
This book was absolutely amazing. I liked that it had all the hallmarks of a high school aged book without it having much highs school involved.
The friendships were the best part and I'm glad that even some potential enemies came around to the friendship side.
The escapism made this book a lot more interesting than it might have been and there was a lot of research that went into it. You can tell the author put a lot of thought into it and it paid off.
The friendships were the best part and I'm glad that even some potential enemies came around to the friendship side.
The escapism made this book a lot more interesting than it might have been and there was a lot of research that went into it. You can tell the author put a lot of thought into it and it paid off.