Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin

16 reviews

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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

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.

shereadsmysteries's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Suicide, Murder, Misogyny, Sexual violence, and Death

Moderate: Violence and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Fatphobia, and Infidelity

suneaters's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Very satisfying read! High tension, ending that makes sense, and you really don’t know if Sara’s narration is past or present.

Even the characters were sympathetic even though they were terrible people and I hated what they did to Sara and especially Lucy. It’s fitting that only Vincent survived and he was the only one who actually didn’t partake in Lucy’s assault and murder. Lucy was a great character and I loved her relationship with Sara, wish they had run off together. In the elevator, I did find myself sympathizing with Sylvie though she threw Sara under the bus and had a hand in Lucy’s death. Still, good book by a talented author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Violence

Moderate: Sexism, Ableism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Sexual assault

rachelreadthese's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Confinement, Stalking, and Bullying

Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, and Car accident

outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No

4.0

Four high-flying financiers meet at an out-of-the-way building to take part in an escape room challenge. Vincent, Sam, Sylvie, & Jules board the lift which whisks them to the 70th floor. Then the lights go out and a strange message appears on the screen “Welcome to the Escape Room. Your goal is simple. Get out alive.”

The story is told in alternating chapters from the present scene in the lift to the story of Sara Hall, a young woman who is offered a lifechanging opportunity by Vincent. The four main characters in the lift run the gamut of bad behaviour: greed, fraud, infidelity, backstabbing, and violence. There's practically nothing they couldn't rationalise in the pursuit of money. I worked out what was going on pretty early on but it was still an entertaining read.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Orion Publishing Group, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault