Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - No Exit

This was a very fast paced, action packed thriller. It leaned a little too far into horror for my tastes and contained a lot of graphic violence. I will say, it was a very compelling story and I continued reading wanting to find out what happened, so it was definitely successful in drawing me in and building suspense. Overall, it just wasn’t really for me.

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mmarquis1158's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated

4.75

I was on the edge of my seat for the entire read. I never knew what to expect next which kept me engaged throughout. My only complaint is that there were a few scenes that felt a little unnecessary drawn out and I was anxious for it to just move along (ex: a really long and descriptive scene of running/chasing). Other than that, this was an exciting read. It was chilling, intriguing, and had me surprised all the way to the end

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missgrangerr's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

To me everything about this book is pitch perfect. I felt like I was there the whole time and the description made it a little too easy to visualize everything (IYKYK) This cat and mouse was dead phenomenal.

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buer's review

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dark tense fast-paced

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

Young college student, Darby Thorne, finds herself trapped at a rest stop on her way to say goodbye to her dying mother. After a strange series of events, Darby realizes that there is a kidnapped child in the back of one of the vehicles in the parking lot. She must figure out which of the four strangers at the rest stop is the killer and what she needs to do to save the kidnapped girl.

I want to like this book - it’s fast-paced, easy to read, and has an overarching theme of a young woman realizing that she is a better, stronger, and more resilient person than she could have ever imagined. Taylor Adams has a simple, visceral writing style that I like and introduces several interesting twists.

However. Much like one of the characters in this book, Adams feels like the kind of person who knows how to convincingly wear a mask. The mask he has chosen is that he’s the kind of person who believes that women are strong and capable, but considering that he sexualizes every female character in his book with varying degrees of brutality, I’m not convinced.

I also find it difficult to enjoy a book in which the author goes out of his way to introduce prejudice into the story. Taylor names an imaginary geographical landmark with a slur. He has a character tell multiple misogynistic jokes and a racist one that involves yet another slur. He uses the r-word and repeatedly references a probably homophobic piece of graffiti that he invented for the bathroom wall at the rest stop.

Maybe I’m wrong about Taylor, but I can’t recommend this book in good conscience. There are too many moments that got under my skin for reasons that weren’t serving the plot or adding depth to characters.

There are plenty other books that accomplish what this book does without also reeking of ick. Read those instead.

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