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A review by lidia7
No Exit by Taylor Adams
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
Read in one sitting. Not a perfect book but still good enough. It was engaging but definitely had some relatively minor flaws for me. A lot of twists (perhaps a couple too many) and a couple major ones which I did not anticipate!
There were some hard to read stuff in order to show the prejudice, biases, history and motivations of the characters (misogyny, ableism, racism, along with other things that would venture into spoiler territory but are listed among TWs for those who need that). The book was quite gorey, had some gross moments(like the scene of being stuck in the van or the romantic delusions of that one character) . I think this book's pacing could've been a bit better. It is fast but some parts really drag.
I thought Taylor Adams was a woman but some of the writing choices made a lot more sense to me once I found out that the writer is a man - nothing bad really! Just things you might find more often in books written by men. I think the writer did a good job with this book and I would recommend it to people who like reading action and plot heavy stories dealing with survival and to those that aren't easily triggered because this book has some really dark, messed up scenes? (mostly short and some of the stuff is insinuated only). There were some borderline too convenient things happening but still, it wasn't too much to take me out of the story completely.
Oh and I kind of want to reread the book again, especially the first part, because some of the stuff will read out differently now that I know what happens later. (Also adding this a bit later: I've been thinking about this book's characters a lot even a day after and so that bumped up my star rating from 3.5 to 3.75. If I keep thinking about this book for longer I'll update it to 4 stars.)
Major spoilers from here! Only read this if you read the book!
I think Ashley was my favorite character to read about because he simultaneously feels like the kind of guy you might meet/know but also so unbelievably out there as in a mix of red flags gathered from serial killers so more like a idealtype than a person. Both he and Lars did awful things and Ashley was basically a textbook mix of narcissistic and antisocial traits but the reasons why the brothers might be the way they are are explored and I thought that was really interesting. I like thinking about stuff like that, generational trauma, nature vs nurture, how far gone does a person have to be before you can give up on them, but also the responsibility we hold ... For example, Ashley was just a kid then but then again he chose his uncle over the woman in the cellar... How different his life and his development could've been if he'd chosen differently. Just how Jay's and Darby's (everybody who's involved actually) could've been as well if Darby chose to ignore everything. Ed's fear is basically about this.
Darby was a somewhat relatable character and easy to root for. (So was Ed 😔). I would've approached Ed and not Ashley for help and was kind of annoyed at her at that point of the story but obviously the story would've gone differently if she'd chosen Ed to trust... I'm not impressed with the ending, I don't mind that much that Darby survived but I think the epilogue was really not enough for me with the way it was written. I don't think the writer pulled it off because it pretty much sounded like Darby was dead but then she wasn't... I also think some stuff could've been explained more like how did Sandi meet Ashley and Lars. Darby's family life could've been more developed since she's our main character and I feel like I know more about Ashley and even Lars than I know about Darby.
I haven't written anything about Jay... She was a very smart kid, really handled herself well which I'm not sure how realistic that part is but I don't care. I liked her character and her relationship with Darby. I thought the short dialogue about the housekeeper was cool.
There were some hard to read stuff in order to show the prejudice, biases, history and motivations of the characters (misogyny, ableism, racism, along with other things that would venture into spoiler territory but are listed among TWs for those who need that). The book was quite gorey, had some gross moments
I thought Taylor Adams was a woman but some of the writing choices made a lot more sense to me once I found out that the writer is a man - nothing bad really! Just things you might find more often in books written by men. I think the writer did a good job with this book and I would recommend it to people who like reading action and plot heavy stories dealing with survival and to those that aren't easily triggered because this book has some really dark, messed up scenes? (mostly short and some of the stuff is insinuated only). There were some borderline too convenient things happening but still, it wasn't too much to take me out of the story completely.
Oh and I kind of want to reread the book again, especially the first part, because some of the stuff will read out differently now that I know what happens later. (Also adding this a bit later: I've been thinking about this book's characters a lot even a day after and so that bumped up my star rating from 3.5 to 3.75. If I keep thinking about this book for longer I'll update it to 4 stars.)
Major spoilers from here! Only read this if you read the book!
Darby was a somewhat relatable character and easy to root for. (So was Ed 😔). I would've approached Ed and not Ashley for help and was kind of annoyed at her at that point of the story but obviously the story would've gone differently if she'd chosen Ed to trust... I'm not impressed with the ending, I don't mind that much that Darby survived but I think the epilogue was really not enough for me with the way it was written. I don't think the writer pulled it off because it pretty much sounded like Darby was dead but then she wasn't... I also think some stuff could've been explained more like how did Sandi meet Ashley and Lars. Darby's family life could've been more developed since she's our main character and I feel like I know more about Ashley and even Lars than I know about Darby.
I haven't written anything about Jay... She was a very smart kid, really handled herself well which I'm not sure how realistic that part is but I don't care. I liked her character and her relationship with Darby. I thought the short dialogue about the housekeeper was cool.