The Escape Game Review: A magical mystery tour de force
This year, thanks to my wonderful girlfriend's recommendation, I read The Lunar Chronicles, which has since become one of my favorite book series. Marissa Meyer has a magical way with words, and that series was so good that, after it concluded its chronicle, it left a pit in my stomach for days because it was like a hangover. Thankfully, Meyer has published a ton of books, so the second I finished Stars Above, I put this book, The Escape Game, on hold since it's her newest. After a few grueling weeks of survival through binging R.F. Kuang, Fergus Craig, Lillian Li, Xiran Jay Zhao, and Holly Jackson? It finally popped up on Libby, and I dove in immediately. Did Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss cook with this novel? That's what I, Brighton Nelson, will be discussing in today's review. Thanks so much for joining me here on the site today, and I hope you enjoy!
Let's start with the negatives. I felt like the actual reality show here had some missed potential and could've been much more exciting. It just felt a little less sensational than real reality TV. Not that I wanted it to be generic shock value or sterile showmanship like a lot of those, but I just felt it could have been more fun. However, the sequel seems like it's going to go bonkers with that, so I'm not too sad. Still, it would've been great to lengthen the book a bit with games and spread out some of the slower pacing around the 33% mark. The pacing was still great overall, but more challenges would have been the perfect excuse to throw in some extra fun.
The other missed opportunity—yet another that would have called for more length—is fleshing out more of the side characters. While the side characters who do get screen time are iconic and supremely interesting, especially Adi's mom, more is more here. Not less. The other teams got so little page time, and it would have benefited both the emotional storytelling and the mystery if the authors had expanded on them. Since Meyer is all about fairytale-adjacent endings, seeing the stakes heightened through beloved characters being eliminated—à la a less nihilistic Squid Game—would have been elite. Also, the more possible culprits there are, the more I get invested in a mystery, and the less obvious it becomes. While I only guessed about 70% of the plot twist, this book would've been even better with more suspects. I think about 50 more pages would have made this book more well-rounded and terrific. However, since I can appreciate that some books aim for concision, my couple of gripes aren't too consequential.
Now for the positives. This book takes everything I adore about Marissa Meyer—wonderful characters, huge heartfelt crescendos, and seamless yet powerful prose—and elevates it through Tamara Moss's wonderful contributions. I can't tell who wrote what, but I can tell that Moss made the prose even better. And, of course, she must have also gotten rid of most of the instances of the word "glower." The novel takes both of their styles and layers them onto a story with all the makings of my favorite Holly Jackson book. Not that it feels any less like Meyer, but Meyer's prowess, fitted into a Jacksonian mold, was something I didn't know I needed. This Moss-Meyer M&M dynamic duo executed it incredibly well.
While the mystery procedure and reveal weren't quite as interesting as Jackson's, the characters were significantly better, so it rounded out well. The cast in this book reminded me of the Rampion crew meshed together with the fantastic characters of Just Add Magic, one of my favorite TV shows. Telling the story from four perspectives added so much to the narrative. While it took me a little time to love Carter and Adi as much as Sierra and Beck, by the end, all four members of Team Helsing showed me that the end of The Lunar Chronicles didn't just signal the loss of my beloved Rampion crew—it signaled something much brighter. It gave Meyer a chance to write more books: to create even more wonderful casts of characters.
The book also experiments with multiple interview, recording, and newscast interludes. I enjoyed the creative structuring, but I wish these elements had a bit more depth. Outside of the awesome character-introduction interviews, the gimmick feels slightly underutilized. More flashbacks of Alicia's previous games—heck, even just 25 more pages—could've made Alicia as beloved as the rest of the cast. However, I'd still say these fun little liminal chapters are a net positive.
As for the mystery elements—both within the escape rooms and the murder mystery itself? They were fantastic. The contrast between Sierra's sheer willpower, Adi's bookworm knowledge, Carter's math-maniac mannerisms, and Beck's knack for design (accentuated by his synesthesia) led to a book that was deeply character- and team-driven. Many mysteries don't do the best job of highlighting specific strengths within a team, so seeing that executed here was wonderful. It's unfortunate that so many Goodreads reviews seem to expect Meyer to be a monolith who can't switch genres—if you summon a little media literacy, you'll see this is still Meyer at her best. It's just not SFF; it's mystery and thrills.
The Brighton's Bookshelf Verdict
Brighton's Bookshelf Score - 9/10
Letter Score - S
The Escape Game proves that Marissa Meyer still has the sauce, no matter the genre. It also proves that Tamara Moss is a force to be reckoned with, and needs more recognition. With all the fairy-tale magic and lovable characters of Meyer's previous work, but in the mystery-thriller genre, The Escape Game is a tour de force of YA mystery.
Interested in checking out some of my other Marissa Meyer book reviews? Or other mystery, YA, thriller, and crime novels? Check them out below!
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