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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
There is so much to love about Erin Callahan’s The Art of Escaping. Mattie, the main character, is delightful. She’s relatable, intelligent, funny, and charming. Her voice shines on every page, and it’s a voice that you’ll definitely enjoy spending time with.
What I really loved about this novel is the direction Callan takes with the other characters and their relationships. Mattie and Will are the best, and they are NOT romantically involved. They are just two platonic friends who support each other and love each other and think the other is really cool. Not every guy/gal friendship has to be a romance for the ages. And the parents! I love that the parents in this novel are real, flawed people who care about their children, instead of the stereotypical clueless meanies. I love that the kids don’t hate their parents and even want to hang out with them sometimes.
There’s a great message in this novel about the importance of finding your passion and your people, one that I think teens need hear and most adults probably need to hear again.
There is so much to love about Erin Callahan’s The Art of Escaping. Mattie, the main character, is delightful. She’s relatable, intelligent, funny, and charming. Her voice shines on every page, and it’s a voice that you’ll definitely enjoy spending time with.
What I really loved about this novel is the direction Callan takes with the other characters and their relationships. Mattie and Will are the best, and they are NOT romantically involved. They are just two platonic friends who support each other and love each other and think the other is really cool. Not every guy/gal friendship has to be a romance for the ages. And the parents! I love that the parents in this novel are real, flawed people who care about their children, instead of the stereotypical clueless meanies. I love that the kids don’t hate their parents and even want to hang out with them sometimes.
There’s a great message in this novel about the importance of finding your passion and your people, one that I think teens need hear and most adults probably need to hear again.
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
I loved aspects of this story so much - escapology is not something I've ever read about before and I loved how it played such a major role in this book. Mattie was not really a character I liked much, but I absolutely loved Will and Miyu, those two were such good characters. I loved the friendship that blossomed between Will and Mattie, and the mentor-mentee relationship between Mattie and Miyu was awesome!
However, there was just something missing from the story... I found the writing very awkward and blocky, rather than something I could easily follow. There seemed to be massive blocks of descriptive text which were unnecessary to the book, the plot and the genre of book. Other than that, I liked it.
I loved aspects of this story so much - escapology is not something I've ever read about before and I loved how it played such a major role in this book. Mattie was not really a character I liked much, but I absolutely loved Will and Miyu, those two were such good characters. I loved the friendship that blossomed between Will and Mattie, and the mentor-mentee relationship between Mattie and Miyu was awesome!
However, there was just something missing from the story... I found the writing very awkward and blocky, rather than something I could easily follow. There seemed to be massive blocks of descriptive text which were unnecessary to the book, the plot and the genre of book. Other than that, I liked it.
Made it 30% of the way through and I’m calling it quits. The writing jumps all over the place and is quite disorienting. There is also a lot of “I’m not like other girls” stuff and hating on popular preppy girls from all the characters. Like I totally did that when I was 16 too but I don’t need to read about it. I also can already sense where it’s going with the sharing each others secrets even tho one secret doesn’t even make sense as a secret. Like escapology is cool and also literally no one cares. While coming out in high school is still hard to do and can have serious repercussions.
I was provided an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Art of Escaping tell Mattie’s story.
When it starts, she’s finishing her junior year. She has her one friend Stella and is passionate about jazz, Star Trek and escapology.
She’s gonna take us through her journey to how she made new friends and discovered a new talent.
This was a fast read and a pretty enjoyable one too.
I enjoyed getting to know escapology but what I enjoyed most was the relationships, dynamics and friendships between the characters. They were very well written and captivating to follow.
This was mostly a story about friendships and family and a good one.
The Art of Escaping tell Mattie’s story.
When it starts, she’s finishing her junior year. She has her one friend Stella and is passionate about jazz, Star Trek and escapology.
She’s gonna take us through her journey to how she made new friends and discovered a new talent.
This was a fast read and a pretty enjoyable one too.
I enjoyed getting to know escapology but what I enjoyed most was the relationships, dynamics and friendships between the characters. They were very well written and captivating to follow.
This was mostly a story about friendships and family and a good one.
(Disclaimer: I received this free book from Netgalley. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
The Art of Escaping is a story about friendship. But it's also about finding our inner strength and our relationships with our family members. It deals with that turbulent time when you aren't sure about college and that moment where we all feel a little lost. We're scared to embark on a path. The fear keeps us rooted to that very spot. To the status quo. And sometimes we need a little push.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/review-the-art-of-escaping-by-erin-callahan/
The Art of Escaping is a story about friendship. But it's also about finding our inner strength and our relationships with our family members. It deals with that turbulent time when you aren't sure about college and that moment where we all feel a little lost. We're scared to embark on a path. The fear keeps us rooted to that very spot. To the status quo. And sometimes we need a little push.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/review-the-art-of-escaping-by-erin-callahan/
DNF at 20%.
I just can't deal with this book anymore. The escapology part was cool, but literally everything else is just...not for me. Not even remotely. I was drowning in "not like other girls" vibes, and "everything old is automatically better than everything new" vibes, and I'm really not here for either of those. Plus, here are some choice quotes (note: these are from the ARC, and may not be final) from the 20% I did read that really closed the deal for me.
I mean...at least she said it was misguided?
A conversation about high school extracurriculars:
That's not really a political issue. Or shouldn't be.
I'm really disappointed, because the idea of escapology in a book was really intriguing, and the first 4% or so of the book was really good. The rest of it was just very much not for me.
I just can't deal with this book anymore. The escapology part was cool, but literally everything else is just...not for me. Not even remotely. I was drowning in "not like other girls" vibes, and "everything old is automatically better than everything new" vibes, and I'm really not here for either of those. Plus, here are some choice quotes (note: these are from the ARC, and may not be final) from the 20% I did read that really closed the deal for me.
I can only say for certain that I got more jazzed about the art of escapology than anything else I could remember - even the first time I read The Diary of a Young Girl, after which I refused to leave my room for a week, claiming - like a misguided and pretentious ten-year-old - that I was trying to experience some level of solidarity with poor Anne.
I mean...at least she said it was misguided?
A conversation about high school extracurriculars:
'Gay-Straight Alliance?'
'I'm apolitical.'
That's not really a political issue. Or shouldn't be.
I'm really disappointed, because the idea of escapology in a book was really intriguing, and the first 4% or so of the book was really good. The rest of it was just very much not for me.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 - THE ART OF ESCAPING
...
Baby’s first #netgalley book! Mattie Ross McKenna - yes, named after THAT Mattie Ross (the True Grit one) - is obsessed with escaping. Not escaping her life or her Rhode Island town or her family, necessarily. Escapology.
.
.
.
With clever exposition reveals and lovable characters, The Art of Escaping is a YA read that manages to be light while discussing death-defying feats and serious matters, including coming out of the closet, finding yourself, and anxiety in many forms. It’ll be a great summer or back-to-school read for teens looking for...wait for it...an escape. Mattie and Will’s world is seductive and believable. To be honest, if I wrote a YA book, I imagine it might come out a bit like this one. There’s something familiar in @erinpcallahan ’s writing style. This one will be available on Tuesday, June 19. Check it out!
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.
.
#book #bookstagram #carlyisbooked #carlyreads #netgalley #theartofescaping
...
Baby’s first #netgalley book! Mattie Ross McKenna - yes, named after THAT Mattie Ross (the True Grit one) - is obsessed with escaping. Not escaping her life or her Rhode Island town or her family, necessarily. Escapology.
.
.
.
With clever exposition reveals and lovable characters, The Art of Escaping is a YA read that manages to be light while discussing death-defying feats and serious matters, including coming out of the closet, finding yourself, and anxiety in many forms. It’ll be a great summer or back-to-school read for teens looking for...wait for it...an escape. Mattie and Will’s world is seductive and believable. To be honest, if I wrote a YA book, I imagine it might come out a bit like this one. There’s something familiar in @erinpcallahan ’s writing style. This one will be available on Tuesday, June 19. Check it out!
.
.
.
#book #bookstagram #carlyisbooked #carlyreads #netgalley #theartofescaping
Thanks NetGalley for the free e-book! This is the first novel that I read from you. So far I've only read poem collections or comics or graphic novels.
I must say that the main reason why I chose this book to read out NetGalley's catalogue was that it was marked as LGBTQIA. I didn't care about the escapology stuff that much, though it sounded interesting. I was here for the gays (as always).I actually thought that the main character was the gay one, fool me, instead of her sidekick which very rarely happens of course and I was kinda disappointed because I wanted gay girls.
Mattie is a teenage girl obsessed with escapology, 1920s jazz records and history. I felt the author tried too hard to make her interesting or special or something worth standing out when she's really not. She tries to hide her obsession with escapology as if it were a matter of life and death instead of just a hobby, an unusual one yes, but nothing to actually be ashamed of in my opinion. It frustrated me how often she would point out how weird and different she was for liking this stuff, as if the world would care.
I get the stage fright when she starts performing in front of strangers, or even friends and family, but that's a whole different thing. She's so aware of what people might say and think that she starts being a bit paranoid and insufferable about the whole thing. Chill out, Mattie.
The LGBTQIA aspect wasn't that big. It's a coming out case. Boring. Overused trop. I get these kind of stories were something new and draw attention some years or even decades ago, but in case you don't know it's 20-GAYTEEN and coming out stories don't have the same impact. We want wlw or mlm stories with up and downs, happy endings or heartbreaking ones, where sexuality is just a detail and not the whole focus of a book, not the main attribute of a character. We are much more than that.
All in all, it was not a bad book but not a good one either. At times it was very difficult for me to engage in the story (no wonder it took me almost 2 months to read it) and even if it sounded interesting at first, the development of the plot wasn't incredible.
I must say that the main reason why I chose this book to read out NetGalley's catalogue was that it was marked as LGBTQIA. I didn't care about the escapology stuff that much, though it sounded interesting. I was here for the gays (as always).
Mattie is a teenage girl obsessed with escapology, 1920s jazz records and history. I felt the author tried too hard to make her interesting or special or something worth standing out when she's really not. She tries to hide her obsession with escapology as if it were a matter of life and death instead of just a hobby, an unusual one yes, but nothing to actually be ashamed of in my opinion. It frustrated me how often she would point out how weird and different she was for liking this stuff, as if the world would care.
I get the stage fright when she starts performing in front of strangers, or even friends and family, but that's a whole different thing. She's so aware of what people might say and think that she starts being a bit paranoid and insufferable about the whole thing. Chill out, Mattie.
The LGBTQIA aspect wasn't that big. It's a coming out case. Boring. Overused trop. I get these kind of stories were something new and draw attention some years or even decades ago, but in case you don't know it's 20-GAYTEEN and coming out stories don't have the same impact. We want wlw or mlm stories with up and downs, happy endings or heartbreaking ones, where sexuality is just a detail and not the whole focus of a book, not the main attribute of a character. We are much more than that.
All in all, it was not a bad book but not a good one either. At times it was very difficult for me to engage in the story (no wonder it took me almost 2 months to read it) and even if it sounded interesting at first, the development of the plot wasn't incredible.
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
solid coming-of-age book, centered around friendship which I really appreciated coming from this genre. can't say I was a huge fan of the voice of the book when I started out, but it grew on me.
The Art of Escaping was a thoroughly pleasant read. It tells the story of Mattie, a young woman preparing for her final year of high school. She lives a mostly unremarkable life, but like most teenagers, she wants more. She has a secret fascination with the art of escapology and when a series of unexpected events reveals that the heir to a famous escapology act lives nearby, Mattie's life will change forever. She goes from a girl with one friend, to a star on a small but quirky stage, bringing crowds to their feet. She will struggle to keep her dual-life secret, all while making some new friends and generally kicking butt at life. This story has some truly excellent dialogue and you will find yourself chuckling often. The sentiments are perhaps more mature than a teen might express, but it will leave all who read it feeling sentimental for those times when finding your place in the world was terrifyingly exciting. The plot moves along quickly and the backstory of escapologists is fascinating. The characters are well-rounded and struggle with realistic issues facing today's young adults. This one might stay under the radar, but it is a winner in my book.