Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin

20 reviews

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Death of parent, Alcohol, Gun violence, Blood, and Bullying

Moderate: Drug use, Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Terminal illness

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, and Domestic abuse

beckyremillard's review

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide, Sexism, Gun violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Physical abuse and Infidelity

julienicole1106's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Torture, Physical abuse, Blood, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexism, Alcohol, Misogyny, Murder, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

annhorchata's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The number of triggers in this book oml... I wished I checked the content warnings before I went in, but I tried to add as many as I can remember under this review. Please read!

An extremely gripping read, nice start to November! As a self-professed thrill-seeker reader I can't stand books that don't have good pacing, slow burn is really not my style. This book keeps you on edge at all times. 

Nevertheless, the ending felt a bit rushed. I wished there was more to the escape room tho I would love to have more puzzles to solve. I understand that the escape room is not the main focus of this book, but... don't name it like that if its not ;-; At times the plot seems too convenient, I would prefer everything to happen more organically. 

I love how I started out rating this book 4.25 our of 5 stars, but when I wrote my review I gradually decrease it to just 3.5 stars. I still made it to the end and *relatively* not that disappointed, but don't think this is a future reread.

9 March 24: second re-read, the resemblance between the first quarter of this book and my new corporate job is very uncanny…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Violence, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Sexual violence, and Misogyny

carissa230's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Sara is getting desperate for a job when a dream career comes along. Working in finance, making more than she ever imaged. What could go wrong? 

Sara enters the company, but never makes it to the inner sanctum. The heads of the company are ruthless and care about making the deals at any cost.

The other perspective is the leaders of the company in an escape room. They’re stuck in an elevator and forced to escape to survive. It starts as a hardcore escape room, but quickly devolves as secrets are spilled.

The rotating perspectives keep things fast-moving. There is never a really dull part. Fun, quick read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual assault and Death

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

 4.25 stars- This book was very enjoyable and kept me guessing. I also liked that everyone even the "villains" was a full-fleshed-out character. The unexpected consequences of our actions were a great thing to highlight. The only characters I liked were Lucy, Lucy's mom, Sara, and Victor. But I think it was supposed to be that way.  I really liked the ending.  

I was glad Victor was the only one to survive the elevator

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Terminal illness

Minor: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, and Drug use

middumullu's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.0

read as a paperback copy. some things to note - it was a LACKLUSTER escape room and the tension from that situation went away quickly. the flashback story was actually very interesting and the dynamics of the characters working in finance was compelling because they were all so messed up. there was an autistic character who i think fell into a lot of stereotypes (absolute genius and bad at social interaction to the extreme!) and probably the book that i've read with the most white characters to date. all that being said it was a quick and fairly engaging read. rating as a three because it was very compelling and i wanted to keep reading it, even with all of the issues previously discussed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Bullying, Car accident, Physical abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Toxic friendship, Classism, Chronic illness, and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Alcoholism, and Infidelity

suicide -

turns out to be a murder covered up as a suicide, but the details are all in there

death of parent -

main character's parents die

lots of sexism throughout the book, sexual harassment in work environments (the firm it takes place in and the restaurants the main character works in.

sheilasamuelson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Rating: 5 Stars!! 
Review: 
This was my first time reading a book by Megan so i wasnt sure what to expect but im so glad this was a successful New to Me Author Read. 

The Characters Diversity is what i loved most cause not alot of Thriller's feature 8 different Characteristics that arent the same which i think made this book even better. 

The Setting was very interesting since ive never read a book featuring Wall Street Bankers and Investors before which i think was a good dynamic for a Thriller. I especially loved all the Twists and Turns as well as the Shocking ending cause i did not expect said Character to be the killer, i thought for sure it was Sylvie.

Overall a Phenomenal Thriller even tho i do wish this was part of a series cause i'd love to see how some of the characters lives are now!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Gun violence, Murder, Death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Blood, Death of parent, Bullying, Drug use, Rape, Gaslighting, and Grief

ronnieb's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Trigger Warning: Death of Parents, Chronic Illness, Sexual Assault, Abuse of Power, Murder, Suicide

This was my second Megan Goldin (I read the Night Swim last year) and what I am realizing is that she loves to tackle serious issues that are very prevalent and IMO she is great at it. I gave Night Swim 3 stars because I thought it was a classic mystery/thriller but really the commentary is what is more important in her works. This was a very high concept novel that follows the ruthless world of Investment Banking and the terrible things people will do to obtain and hold onto wealth. I went into this one with really no expectations and was blown away but the emotions Megan Goldin got me to feel were excellent. The backdrop of the setting and the mystery keeps you reading to figure why these people are in this position and how it is going to all play out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Chronic illness

Minor: Emotional abuse

kazik's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual assault