The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer & Tamara Moss

ARC, 416 pages
Release Date: April 7, 2026
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: March 31- April 2, 2026
 Stand-alone (?)
Source: The Publisher (I received this ARC free from the publisher and their app. This did nothing to influence my review!)
Content Warning: Murder, Violence, Gun Violence, Adult/Minor Relationship, Pedophilia, Suicide, Child Abuse, Sexual Assault, Death of a Parent
For Readers of: Action, ARC, Contemporary, Sparkly Covers, Most Anticipated, Multiple POV, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Thrillers, YA

    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 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*

I didn’t realize how many books there were about Escape Rooms until I read two back to back. It sparked the reviews obviously, but also a podcast with my job, and a Two for Tuesday with a display idea. Definitely something I’ll constantly be on the look out for now lol

Ok so the concept was cool. I liked that you couldn’t really tell whether the clues were from the game or the real mystery about Sierra’s sister. The way they mixed it up and hid the clues in the escape rooms was bad ass. That way the people who were hiding things would never be able to tell. Definitely a great place to hide things. I was hella impressed. But on the other side of that, there wasn’t much in the “thrilling” department because they were basically waiting for each room to come up. It got a little boring after awhile.

The other thing that bothered me was the whodunit. I don’t want to say more, but if you’ve read it, you probably know why I’m mad. There’s no way to guess it right. Even if you are trying to. It just was weird af.

At the end someone shows up. And I remember almost throwing the book. Because WHAT?! lol I had to read that part twice. But I did have to ask out loud if that means there’s going to be a sequel and if they’re going where I think they’re going? If so, this is going to be crazy! I wonder who’s going to get hurt that next time…..

I don’t want to say much more because of the mystery/thriller aspect. I don’t want to give any spoilers out so yeah, just read it! And don’t forget to check out the podcast! I’ll add it somewhere here once it’s been edited!

Overall, I give this