ARC Review: The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer & Tamara Moss

The Escape Game
Author: Marissa Meyer & Tamara Moss
Publication: G. P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers (April 7, 2026)

Description: It’s all fun and games until someone ends up dead.

Six months ago, season four of The Escape Game ended in horror when contestant Alicia Angelos was found murdered on set.

Now season five is underway, and new contestants are ready to put their skills to the test solving the show's trickiest escape rooms. There's Adi, the cryptographer; Carter, the math whiz; Beck, the wannabe game master; and . . . Sierra Angelos, the girl who got away with her sister’s murder. Or so everyone believes.

But Sierra’s not just here to win. She’s here for justice.

When the contestants begin uncovering clues that hint at the identity of Alicia’s true killer, it becomes clear that the stakes aren’t high in this competition, they’re deadly. If these teens want to win—and survive—the game, they must solve the biggest mystery of all: who killed Alicia Angelos?

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer and rising star Tamara Moss comes a twisty thrill-ride, filled with sabotage, betrayal, and puzzles to die for.

My Thoughts: This YA mystery tells the story of four teens who are chosen to take part in season five of The Escape Game where they need to pit their skills against other teams who are trying to solve the puzzles and escape first. 

Season four ended in tragedy when Sierra Angelos found her sister's body in a prop coffin at the finale. Since Sierra had been arguing with Alicia earlier, she's the prime suspect but there isn't evidence to arrest her. She's back to try to solve what she is certain was her sister's murder.

Beck has joined the cast. He's trans and has the goal of becoming a game master himself. He's created many escape rooms on his own. Carter has also joined the cast. She's a math wizard and an influencer who is big in her persona as Kick It Carter on the online community built around the show. In person, she's looking for friends who are like her and lacks the confidence of her online person. 

Finally, there is Adi. Adi has a broad base of knowledge and is a cryptographer. He's also the son of a has-been actress who is more than willing to use him to force her way back into show business. He'd like to know more about his absentee father who is one of the show's backers. 

As the four try to learn to be a team and solve the puzzles of the various escape rooms, they are also dealing with other clues that someone who calls themself the Real Game Master is leaving inside the puzzles that will guide them to Alicia's killer. 

The story is filled with intriguing puzzles, suspicious characters, and dangers for our heroes. This is the first book in a series. Sierra's mystery is solved giving her resolution. The other three main characters still have dangling threads left to unravel. 

I enjoyed this story where smart kids were looking for, and finding, their people and learning more about themselves along the way. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Killer Instinct
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Narrator: Amber Faith
Series: The Naturals (Book 2)
Publication: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (November 4, 2014)

Length: 9 hours and 23 minutes

Description: A chilling copycat killer has the Naturals in his crosshairs in this exhilarating crime thriller from Jennifer Lynn Barnes, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Inheritance Games.

Seventeen-year-old Cassie Hobbes has a gift for profiling people. Her talent has landed her a spot in an elite FBI program for teens with innate crime-solving abilities, and into some harrowing situations. After barely escaping a confrontation with an unbalanced killer obsessed with her mother's murder, Cassie hopes she and the rest of the team can stick to solving cold cases from a distance.

But when victims of a brutal new serial killer start turning up, the Naturals are pulled into an active case that strikes too close to home: the killer is a perfect copycat of Dean's incarcerated father—a man he'd do anything to forget. Forced deeper into a murderer's psyche than ever before, will the Naturals be able to outsmart the enigmatic killer's brutal mind games before this copycat twists them into his web for good?

With her trademark wit, brilliant plotting, and twists that no one will see coming, Jennifer Lynn Barnes will keep readers on the edge of their seats (and looking over their shoulders) as they race through this thrilling novel.

My Thoughts: In this sequel to THE NATURALS, the five kids are still getting over the events of the first book when Agent Sterling moves in. She is a profiler like Dean and Cassie and she and Dean have a history. The kids get involved in a murder investigation when a crime is committed that looks like a copycat crime mimicking the crimes Dean's father committed. 

Last book, the focus was on Cassie. This time the focus is on Dean though Cassie is the viewpoint character. Cassie, Lia, Sloane and Michael all want to protect Dean from getting swept up into his father's games. But Dean's father is a complex character who has set up some long range plans.

The kids all use their skills as they try to out-think Dean's father and save lives. Michael read emotions; Lia is a human lie detector; Sloane is great with facts and details. They all need to use all their abilities in this case. 

Cassie also has to make some decisions about her relationships with both Michael and Dean. She really likes both boys who have a rivalry between them. Cassie doesn't want to hurt either but it is inevitable that she does.

The story is fast-paced, action-packed and still takes time to work on the relationships between the five kids. I enjoyed every page!

I bought this one using an Audible credit November 5, 2025. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Prom Dates from Hell by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Prom Dates from Hell
Author: Rosemary Clement-Moore
Publication: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (April 22, 2008)

Description: Maggie Quinn, girl reporter. Honors student, newspaper staffer, yearbook photographer.

Six weeks from graduation and all she wants to do is get out of Avalon High in one piece. A sensible nerd would have kept her head down, done her drive-by photo shoot of the prom, and continued the countdown to Deploma Day. But fate seems to have different plans for Maggie.

High school may be a natural breeding ground for evil, but the scent of fire and brimstone is still a little out of the ordinary. It's the distinct smell of sulfur that makes Maggie suspect that something's a bit off. And when real Twilight Zone stuff starts happening to the school's ruling clique—the athletic elite and the head cheerleader and her minions, all of whom happen to be named Jessica—Maggie realizes it's up to her to get in touch with her inner Nancy Drew and ferret out who unleashed the ancient evil before all hell breaks loose.

Maggie has always suspected that prom is the work of the devil, but it looks like her attendance will be mandatory. Sometimes a girl's got to do some pretty undesirable things if she wants to save her town from soul-crushing demons from hell. And the cheerleading squad.

My Thoughts: Maggie Quinn is just holding on and laying low and waiting until graduation. She wants to let all the high school drama pass her by. But when she asked to prom by one of the nerds and then witnesses his being hazed, actually tortured, by the high school elite, she finds herself getting involved in more than she wants to.

Maggie has some sort of psychic gift that she has been denying most of her life. She doesn't want to believe any of that irrational stuff. But when the group of Jocks and cheerleaders - all named Jessica - start having some strange accidents and exhibiting strange behaviors, she finds herself involved. In fact, she was almost one of the victims when a fellow student takes her place in line for the diving board in PE class and suffers an accident. Maggie has a terror of water if she can't see the bottom and when she sees a strange shadow in the water, she just can't force herself onto the diving board.

But bad dreams and high school drama aren't enough to keep her from dredging up her hidden Nancy Drew and investigating the strange occurrences. 

This was a fun story of an intrepid - and sarcastic - high school student. I liked her circle of friends and helpers including a new love interest. I liked her supportive parents and grandmother. I liked the pop culture references which might be a bit dated for a new generation of teen readers since it was written in 2007.

This book has been sitting on my TBR mountain since 2008. But now I bought the other two books in the series and hope to read them without waiting for fifteen years. 

Favorite Quote:

I'd always thought Hamlet was a dumb play about a guy who can't make up his mind. I mean, I face the same drama in the lunch line. But at that moment I understood: When it comes to the big stuff, it is hard to decide whether to let things just happen, especially when it's to other people, or to take a stand and cause yourself a world of trouble.

I bought this one July 19, 2009. You can buy your copy here.