A review by rg9400
The Escape Room by L.D. Smithson

mysterious fast-paced

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

1.5

This book has an interesting premise that should, in theory, be right up my alley. I love escape rooms, puzzles, and mysteries. It starts out pretty cool, focusing on these 8 contestants in a reality TV show ostensibly about solving escape rooms and trying to figure out the mystery around this sea fortress. I zipped through the initial 60% of the book, enjoying the setup immensely. Why the very low rating then? Because this might be the fastest I've seen a book go from 100 to 0, delivering an ending that honestly made me mad. There is a specific event that breaks up the formula of the book, and in doing so, it starts a cascade of bad decisions and rushed resolutions. Suddenly, a bunch of important build-up for character dynamics just vanishes into thin air. A bunch of clues amount to nothing and are never explained again, specific things that happened or were said becoming completely forgotten. So much suddenly happens off-screen. And the true culprit and motive? Unbelievably dumb, simplistic, and unsatisfying in every way. I thought there was something interesting being done regarding the main character, but that's quickly discarded for a simple solution. I could probably go into spoilers, but I think this book's ending manages to fail in almost every single way, so even despite the interesting concept, it was a complete miss for me.