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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
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.
I really enjoyed this book. At first I thought the format was weird with the texts between Mattie and Will at the very beginning but I went back and read that part again after finishing the book so now their conversation makes a lot more sense. I really learned a lot about escapologists and escapology. I loved going on Mattie’s journey with her while she learned how to perform her escape tricks. I enjoyed the parts from the miary as they called it. I was glad she made friends with Will with two L’s. I enjoyed watching their friendship bloom and her performing giving him the courage to finally come out of the closet to his family and to his girlfriend. I would love to read a sequel about their life in college and beyond.
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Art of Escaping is a young adult novel about finding your passion, focusing on a very unique art: escapology, or escape art. I was intrigued by this book both because the topic sounded like something I’ve never read before, and because I heard that one of the POV characters is gay.
This book could have easily been a 5-star read if it wasn't so hard to get into. I really disliked the beginning, but once I pushed through that, I adored the rest of it.
I'm not really sure whether to tag Will (the gay boy) as a main or side character, because he has his own POV sometimes, but less frequently than the straight girl protag, and mostly in the second half of the book? I'm going to tag him as main, but be aware of this. (I'm tagging the m/m relationship itself as side because it only happens towards the end.)
To learn more about what specifically I liked and what I didn't, check out my full review on my blog.
warnings: there are some homophobic comments that are all called out in the book.
The Art of Escaping is a young adult novel about finding your passion, focusing on a very unique art: escapology, or escape art. I was intrigued by this book both because the topic sounded like something I’ve never read before, and because I heard that one of the POV characters is gay.
This book could have easily been a 5-star read if it wasn't so hard to get into. I really disliked the beginning, but once I pushed through that, I adored the rest of it.
I'm not really sure whether to tag Will (the gay boy) as a main or side character, because he has his own POV sometimes, but less frequently than the straight girl protag, and mostly in the second half of the book? I'm going to tag him as main, but be aware of this. (I'm tagging the m/m relationship itself as side because it only happens towards the end.)
To learn more about what specifically I liked and what I didn't, check out my full review on my blog.
warnings: there are some homophobic comments that are all called out in the book.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley
I thought so long about a sufficient review for this book but all what comes to my mind is ‘so so good’, ‘I love it so much’, and ‘I want to read it again!!’ Which is amazing because I don’t usually feel the need to reread things but, yeah, not good enough for a review. So, I’m gonna try something new!And maybe I’ll add more after I reread it possibly in the near future...
What this book made me FEEL??
✨like sun rays are shining on my face through really dark clouds
✨like I were dreaming
✨so so motivated to find something I LOVE and start DOING IT
✨also, motivated to open up to people
✨like, no matter what, I will find my place in the world
✨so so AMAZED by the escapology!! It’s such a niche subject I’m glad this book gave me a possibility to get to LOVE it!!
What this book have that I LOVED??
✨Mattie!! She’s so complex and she pursues her goal even though she’s So Scared!! And it influenced so many people including me!!
✨Will! At first I thought he’s just another privileged boy but I ended up feeling his fears, his growth, his fears again!!
✨woman in a position of mentor!!
✨Miyu is allowed to be complex and not perfect and still be a great mentor!!
✨how the legend became human
✨nicknames!!! or rather stage names!!
✨chosen family trope
✨but also really interesting born family dynamics
✨great parallels between Mattie and Will
✨the parallels still acknowledge how different their situation are
✨no focus on love life
✨character development! They all gained so much and went a really long way throughout this story!
✨great representation of mental illnesses! I can’t say much about Miyu’s agoraphobia but Mattie’s anxiety and her brother’s depression really connected with me and I related a lot
✨coming out scenes are so well-done! I won’t say too much about it so I won’t spoil it but it was great!
✨I loved the use of diary entries and text messages!
✨the writing style!! I was turning pages so fast!!
✨I thought I’m gonna go through it just turning pages and smiling at my phone but in the end I couldn't hold it and teared up at the last pages
I thought so long about a sufficient review for this book but all what comes to my mind is ‘so so good’, ‘I love it so much’, and ‘I want to read it again!!’ Which is amazing because I don’t usually feel the need to reread things but, yeah, not good enough for a review. So, I’m gonna try something new!
What this book made me FEEL??
✨like sun rays are shining on my face through really dark clouds
✨like I were dreaming
✨so so motivated to find something I LOVE and start DOING IT
✨also, motivated to open up to people
✨like, no matter what, I will find my place in the world
✨so so AMAZED by the escapology!! It’s such a niche subject I’m glad this book gave me a possibility to get to LOVE it!!
What this book have that I LOVED??
✨Mattie!! She’s so complex and she pursues her goal even though she’s So Scared!! And it influenced so many people including me!!
✨Will! At first I thought he’s just another privileged boy but I ended up feeling his fears, his growth, his fears again!!
✨woman in a position of mentor!!
✨Miyu is allowed to be complex and not perfect and still be a great mentor!!
✨how the legend became human
✨nicknames!!! or rather stage names!!
✨chosen family trope
✨but also really interesting born family dynamics
✨great parallels between Mattie and Will
✨the parallels still acknowledge how different their situation are
✨no focus on love life
✨character development! They all gained so much and went a really long way throughout this story!
✨great representation of mental illnesses! I can’t say much about Miyu’s agoraphobia but Mattie’s anxiety and her brother’s depression really connected with me and I related a lot
✨coming out scenes are so well-done! I won’t say too much about it so I won’t spoil it but it was great!
✨I loved the use of diary entries and text messages!
✨the writing style!! I was turning pages so fast!!
✨I thought I’m gonna go through it just turning pages and smiling at my phone but in the end I couldn't hold it and teared up at the last pages
__________________________
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3.75 stars
You can also check my review on my blog.
Okay, I’ll admit: this book was a bit hard to get into, but I believe that was because I wasn’t really familiar with the subject and my motivation wasn’t at its highest. Obviously, I wouldn’t give it a negative review or give up on the book because of that and I’m so glad I didn’t. As I mentioned, I wasn’t really familiar with escapology and so I had to kind of wrap my mind around it but after I did I got really into it and into the book itself.
Let’s talk characters, shall we?
First, we have Mattie. Mattie is not your typical main character. She’s not friendless, her family is not abusive in any way, and she does have a normal life. Except she keeps her secret obsession for escapology exactly that: a secret. Until she meets Will everything is fine really, she gets the daughter of her idol to train and mentor her and even if she’s not the easiest person to deal with, things go as well as they can go. In my personal opinion, Mattie is a really likable character and her narrative is really good to follow,
Next, we have Will. Our Will with Two L’s is not at all what he seems. To the outside world, Will is the popular guy who’s just too cool to ever befriend someone like Mattie, but it isn’t until we see Will’s side of the story, we realize that’s not the case at all. Will does want a friendship with Mattie and even though he presents himself as the typical teenage jock that’s not who he is at all. And it isn’t until he meets Mattie that he realizes that he doesn’t need to be that person anymore and could be true to himself. For me, Will was like that friend you can’t help but love even if they make dumb decisions, so seeing him get that development made me so proud and my heart so happy.
Now onto our side characters.
If I’m being totally blunt here I thought I was gonna hate Miyu. I thought she was arrogant and unnecessarily rude but as the story moved forward I actually started to like her a lot. She grew on me just like she did with Mattie over time. I kind of wish we had the chance to see a little bit more of Miyu to maybe understand her better but I’m content with what we’ve got.
Then we have Frankie. Now, I immediately loved Frankie. As soon as he was introduced, I loved him so much, I just wanted to hug him all the time and protect him from all the evil and after knowing he was Luso-American (his dad, I believe, was from Azores, Portugal) I loved him even more. You would think that you’d be fed up because he’s so much younger than the rest of the characters and he would probably act kind of childish or immature but you realize that Frankie is actually really mature for his age.
Now onto Stella. Stella is Mattie’s best friend in the world. She’s practically the reason why Mattie turned into escapology or rather, her going to summer school is the reason. We don’t get to see that much of Stella, but from what we see of her we get the impression that she’s a fun girl full of surprises. She’s kind and caring and she doesn’t really care about what people think of her. Even though we haven’t followed Stella’s whole story we do get to see her plenty to enjoy her and her company just as much as everyone else’s.
We do get to see a bit of Mattie’s family but their presence isn’t all that relevant in the novel. We get to see more her brother and his friend than properly their parents which to be honest didn’t bother me all that much.
My overall thought of the plot is that even though it took me a second to get into it, I ended up really enjoying it and I honestly can’t wait to read more of Erin’s writings. The narrative is really fun to follow because I feel like the way she gave voice to both of the main characters was really realistic and that made it really easy to follow the story as well (hence the 3.75).
You can also check my review on my blog.
Okay, I’ll admit: this book was a bit hard to get into, but I believe that was because I wasn’t really familiar with the subject and my motivation wasn’t at its highest. Obviously, I wouldn’t give it a negative review or give up on the book because of that and I’m so glad I didn’t. As I mentioned, I wasn’t really familiar with escapology and so I had to kind of wrap my mind around it but after I did I got really into it and into the book itself.
Let’s talk characters, shall we?
First, we have Mattie. Mattie is not your typical main character. She’s not friendless, her family is not abusive in any way, and she does have a normal life. Except she keeps her secret obsession for escapology exactly that: a secret. Until she meets Will everything is fine really, she gets the daughter of her idol to train and mentor her and even if she’s not the easiest person to deal with, things go as well as they can go. In my personal opinion, Mattie is a really likable character and her narrative is really good to follow,
Next, we have Will. Our Will with Two L’s is not at all what he seems. To the outside world, Will is the popular guy who’s just too cool to ever befriend someone like Mattie, but it isn’t until we see Will’s side of the story, we realize that’s not the case at all. Will does want a friendship with Mattie and even though he presents himself as the typical teenage jock that’s not who he is at all. And it isn’t until he meets Mattie that he realizes that he doesn’t need to be that person anymore and could be true to himself. For me, Will was like that friend you can’t help but love even if they make dumb decisions, so seeing him get that development made me so proud and my heart so happy.
Now onto our side characters.
If I’m being totally blunt here I thought I was gonna hate Miyu. I thought she was arrogant and unnecessarily rude but as the story moved forward I actually started to like her a lot. She grew on me just like she did with Mattie over time. I kind of wish we had the chance to see a little bit more of Miyu to maybe understand her better but I’m content with what we’ve got.
Then we have Frankie. Now, I immediately loved Frankie. As soon as he was introduced, I loved him so much, I just wanted to hug him all the time and protect him from all the evil and after knowing he was Luso-American (his dad, I believe, was from Azores, Portugal) I loved him even more. You would think that you’d be fed up because he’s so much younger than the rest of the characters and he would probably act kind of childish or immature but you realize that Frankie is actually really mature for his age.
Now onto Stella. Stella is Mattie’s best friend in the world. She’s practically the reason why Mattie turned into escapology or rather, her going to summer school is the reason. We don’t get to see that much of Stella, but from what we see of her we get the impression that she’s a fun girl full of surprises. She’s kind and caring and she doesn’t really care about what people think of her. Even though we haven’t followed Stella’s whole story we do get to see her plenty to enjoy her and her company just as much as everyone else’s.
We do get to see a bit of Mattie’s family but their presence isn’t all that relevant in the novel. We get to see more her brother and his friend than properly their parents which to be honest didn’t bother me all that much.
My overall thought of the plot is that even though it took me a second to get into it, I ended up really enjoying it and I honestly can’t wait to read more of Erin’s writings. The narrative is really fun to follow because I feel like the way she gave voice to both of the main characters was really realistic and that made it really easy to follow the story as well (hence the 3.75).
This book is not something I would usually pick up but I was intrigued by the premise and the talk of escapology as it's just something new that i've never really seen explored in a book before, and I really enjoyed it. It's such an original novel that explores finding your passion but more importantly, finding yourself. This book is fun. It discusses lots of topics, and there are some slightly deeper discussions going on, but overall it's just a great feel-good read that I found myself fully immersed in.