This book was absolutely amazing. I liked that it had all the hallmarks of a high school aged book without it having much highs school involved.

The friendships were the best part and I'm glad that even some potential enemies came around to the friendship side.

The escapism made this book a lot more interesting than it might have been and there was a lot of research that went into it. You can tell the author put a lot of thought into it and it paid off.

This was well written and a good read

"Good-looking boys who play sports and get good grades can get away with murder. You know, as long as no one knows they’re gay."

The description of this book first intrigued me, but when I started it, I wasn't sure if I'd really relate to and like either Mattie or Will.
But I did. I ended up enjoying this book far more than I ever anticipated. And this Review is going to be much longer than I thought it would be.

When I retell the story of this book out loud it sounds so weird. And the reason for that is mainly that the whole story builds on Mattie and Will connecting and then becoming friends because each of them has this huge secret that they’ve never told anyone else before:
Will is gay.
And Mattie... has an unusual hobby.

The only thing that bothered me while reading the book was the fact that it felt like those two things were put on the same level.

I mostly understood why Mattie didn’t want to show this part of herself and this thing she really cares about to the people close to her. She spends a lot of time reflecting on her fears and reasons, so it doesn’t feel like it’s just a plot point to connect those two characters. And of course it’s fully understandable to think that her parents would never allow her to continue to NEARLY DIE every day.
So the hypothetical 18-year-old escapologist-me would have probably kept that secret the same way real-me kept her sexuality to herself, too.

It still just shouldn’t sound like it’s as huge of a burden to live this double life as it was for Will to be in the closet.

BUT, and this is a big BUT:
I was really impressed that exactly this concern was later addressed in the book.
There is a moment where Will talks about how his life will look from the point he first comes out:
“I’m facing an endless line of people assuming I’m something I’m not.”

He explains to her that he will have to continue to come out again and again in every new area of his life and that he can never know if the next person he has to come out will be one that won’t be okay with him.
And Mattie, as a person who might have been afraid to be judged and called weird for what she loves but ultimately could not have known what it really means to come out, comes to understand what had bothered me the whole time before:

"I finally saw the fundamental difference between our secrets— no matter how strange people thought my hobby was, it would never threaten to knock me down the ladder of privilege."

That whole talk was done really, really well.

Also, I’ve seen on Goodreads that the author took note of critiques like this from early reviewers and worked on the story accordingly before the final publication, which is a really great thing to do. So big kudos to that.

Overall:
I found myself very invested in Mattie’s training and performances. I found myself loving the whole subject of stage personas and what they can mean to different people.
I also loved Will’s and Mattie’s friendship and thought it was really well done, no matter how weird the whole thing sounded in the beginning.
Usually I don't like when the same situation is told more than once in a book. But in this case I even liked reading their first meeting from both the MC's perspectives.
And besides Will and Mattie there are a few more very cool side characters and interesting settings.

The plot is mainly focuses on Mattie’s story, which gives the book an adventurous vibe with the training and her growing through her art and kind of connecting to her hero, instead of it being a common high school story.
Still, in the end it is Will’s story that affects both of their ‘ordinary’ lives more. While Will made mistakes and I don’t want to excuse what he did, I’m really happy everything turned out fairly well and with a positive prospects for the future for all of them.
And my boy Will got to kiss a boy, so yeeeeey!

We have Mattie an intelligent and witty seventeen-year-old who hides her passion for magic and escapology from everyone. Even her best friend, Stella, also whom away to a summer boarding school. Mattie left alone seeks the supervision of a famous escape artist in their neighborhood. Or someone related to her. With the help, she became an escapist performer.

Mattie now secretly lives and performs as an escapist then discovered by someone who goes to the same school as hers, Will. Mattie was scared for the people in school that she will be the pariah if Will tells. But Will assures Mattie that he won’t tell a soul about it but sealing the deal with another secret. This is where it all began…

I love the narration of the characters. Told from Mattie, Will and Akiko’s perspectives. (Dashed with a little something in Akiko’s. Hehehe) Characters easily infiltrated my mind. Aside from the narrators, the interaction of the characters. (I am very much fond of Miyu watch out), entanglement of each other’s intricacies the portrayal is realistically heartfelt. Their development all throughout. The display of how deeply the camaraderie among them formed makes my heart burst into joyful pieces. Oh, it was lovely! I enjoyed the company of Mattie, Will with two L’s, Miyu Miyaki’s sharp tongue, and an Azorean-American Star Trek geek, Frankie.

A novel filled with hopeful stories about chasing your passion. Not only with Mattie but with the people around her too. With her brother, Kyle’s predicament and his friends. A coming out story. Dealing how it is to be closeted all those years, being scared of how people will react to it. Hence title it has the theme of escaping, quite literally and figuratively, their current situations, and taking that step to change. And the literary part it features the art of escaping. This is the first time I’ve read this in a novel in an in-depth manner. I only see performing arts like this on TV. Which by-the-way had my Kindle wet with sweat! The behind-the-scenes and performances were all breathtaking.

Surely a read that I couldn’t put it down even for a bathroom break. My eyes were glued in. It was a read that highlights what it is like to be a young adult. And surely young-adults and adults alike will love. But if you’re looking for a YA Romance read this is not for you. It has no hint of romance but centers more on the formation and withholding camaraderie.

A solid one sitting read. I highly recommend this book!

“Real secrets weren’t sweet nothings you whispered in your arm candy’s ear.”

I am such a sucker for stories with good characterization.

I just need to say that even though I was not a fan of the plot and all at first, the characters really intrigued me and I was very much pleased with their development by the end of the book.


~ the plot did not intrigue me enough at first which I think was mainly due to the fact that I expected whose plot revolved more on, literally, "The Art of Escaping". I expected it to deal with different issues and topics and sadly, that was not what I got.

It felt like your typical modern teenage story at first. It started slow but was also able to pick itself up about halfway. It was greatly amusing though and I believe that it is something that would appeal to younger teenagers since it seems like this was the target audience the author had in mind while writing this.

I'm not saying that the actual plot wasn't good, but it was not the plot that I was looking for.


~ I love the characterization. I thought that the characters would also be following the steroetypical template. Every character had a life in them, no matter how ridiculous thir names sounded or how absurd they were acting.

Our main character, with a snarky attitude, seemed to be against the world or have the world against her and I can't help but feel sorrow for her, but not pity, which I think is a very fine line that a lot of authors forget was there in the first place.

I felt bad for her without pitying her, so she still appeared strong, in a way, to me.


~ the excerpts before each chapter was a big part of what gave the whole story depth and meaning. It tied together the story more and the chapter titles were really creative for the writer.

They honestly balanced out the ridiculousness that might have been happening in the plot itself and put the plot on the right path again. They were most certainly not random and you can understand how the author put a purpose to each one that was placed there.


~ the writing style was not bad, I just don't think it was meant to appeal to me. It had a light tone, which was unexpected, for me, because of the title. It had good morals and things to realte to, whc

I was ready for some hardcore-heart-pounding book. It is a potentionally good coming-of-age story and this is something that those along the lower end of the age range should try picking this up.

Why did I give it 3 stars, then? Why not 4 or 5? Before I get into that - what I perceived as the flaws or weaknesses in the novel - I’m going to spend a hot minute complimenting its strengths.

➼ First off, the writing line-to-line and scene-to-scene was done well; readers can tell what tone or mood the author was going for without difficulty. Mattie’s and Will with Two L’s voices are clear, and though their humor didn’t always jive with me, they felt alive with personality and wit.

➼ Speaking of the characters, the supporting cast of Miyu, Meadow, Stella, Frankie, Betsy, and even Mattie’s parents and brother were all interesting, even the ones who were only in occasional scenes. They felt fleshed-out and realistically flawed, lending them a vibrance that worked well alongside Mattie’s and Will’s personalities. There’s also some pleasantly surprising subversions of tropes near the end of the novel: the protagonists think that, in stereotypical cutthroat-high-school fashion, the Mean Girls™ and the gossip mill will ruin their social lives, only to find that it doesn’t happen that way. (That’s not to say it’s pulled off well during the majority of the novel. I’ll address that when I get into the stuff I didn’t enjoy about TAOE.)

➼ Finally, I did like the overarching thesis of the book: that finding what makes you tic and a group of people who can share in your interests (even if they don’t always perfectly overlap) are so important, especially for teens and young adults who are figuring themselves out. That search for self-realization and the growth that comes from it were depicted well.

Now for the stuff that I, personally, did not like.

➼ As much as I appreciate Mattie being a prickly, blunt, often self-deprecating character, some of her attitudes regarding LGBT+ stuff were...eh. Like when an adult advising her to fluff up her extracurriculars asks if she’d join the gay-straight alliance, and she responds with something like “I’m apolitical.” That definitely prompted a genuinely-annoyed eyeroll from me. It’s nice to know that, as a queer person, my existence is still political. I know that line comes at the beginning of the book and that she grows from there, but it was nevertheless frustrating.

➼ Tied into that is Mattie continuously (for much of the plot) comparing her hesitance to tell her parents about escapology to Will’s struggle to come out not only to his parents, but everyone in his life. (He actually has a great - and relatable - line about how it’s daunting to face the prospect of people always, always assuming you’re straight, continuously having to juggle the pros and cons of letting people know they’re wrong VS. how they might react/your own safety.) Like, I get that Mattie would be nervous about telling her parents. I think most parents would be concerned if their kid was continuously risking her life, however fulfilling it was for them. But it’s not at all like the danger a LGBT+ person could face when coming out; I felt that her revelation on that came too late to really satisfy me.

➼ Another nitpick: Mattie’s inner monologuing with her alter-ego and the octopus got on my nerves. Maybe I’m just easily-annoyed my monologue gimmicks after reading a few really bad ones over the years, but it almost never works well for me. Will’s voice, as well, seemed a bit gratingly syrupy with its use of slang at first, though I adjusted to it over time.

Okay, in the end, I was surprised by how much this novel won me over. I’m not even usually a fan of contemporary YA, but due to The Art of Escaping’s strong characters and their growth, I enjoyed this coming-of-age tale. And despite my problems with it, I’m looking forward to seeing what else this author will write in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

“The Art of Escaping” is such a cute and memorable YA book. I like a book with different perspectives - this is told in the perspectives of Mattie, the young girl who is learning more about the escape art, Will, a boy who enters her world by accident and becomes her assistant, and Akiko Miyake, a world-renowned escape artist. The perspective changes help you understand better the story in the eyes of each of the characters. Even though it focuses mostly on Mattie and her quest to learn how to become an escape artist (a performer, not the criminal type, just to be clear), the main purpose of the book seems to be the idea of pursuing your passion, no matter how weird and specific it might be.

Mattie is a secondary school junior who has some quite peculiar goals of turning into an escapologist. She's fixated on Houdini and so forth, yet particularly Akiko - a world class escapologist gone route before her chance. Be that as it may, Mattie is resolved to discover Akiko's girl and discover as much as she can. At the same time, no-0ne in her life knows her privileged insights or wants to wind up this extremely cool execution artist. Not her folks or her family, or even her best, dearest companion.

The story additionally has a few bits of Akikos past, the existence she drove, and the introduction of her little girl, giving you some understanding of the life of this puzzling entertainer and her similarly shut off little girl. We additionally meet Will, another with a few privileged insights, and a few other extremely cool secondary school kids who are so very much created, develop however fun. It torments me to consider how extreme secondary school was, and how hard it is for kids just to act naturally.

The art of escapology is up front, through preparing and Mattie's stage exhibitions that actually make them hold your breath! Be that as it may, the art of escape is obvious is different courses, with a great deal of avoiding reality and dread of being discovered.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Good novel. I think that many YA readers will enjoy it.

I was drawn to this book for two reasons: the mention of escapology, and my love of the ‘unlikely friendship’ trope. The Art of Escaping manages to put a fresh spin on the common YA theme of escaping from your current life that feels very contemporary. The specificity of the escapology element helps with this, but I also like how this novel tries to portray high school in a more ‘realistic’ way, rather than sticking to familiar stereotypes.

The novel highlights the pressure to conform to people’s expectations in life, especially when you’re a teenager, whether you’re a high achieving student like Stella or an athlete like Will or an ‘average’ middle-of-the-class coaster like Mattie. But it also suggests that all the false fronts and personas that you project in high school don’t necessarily need to be torn down in order for you to be comfortable with who you are, because sometimes you don’t want to deal with all of the confrontations which go along with it.

I really enjoyed this book: the characters are likeable, the dialogue is snappy and funny, and there are lots of very specific references to nerd culture and people who are interested in vintage things.

I'm still thinking about the rating, it might change.

Okay, the premise was really original. I don't think I've ever read a YA about escapism, or about a teenage girl that lives a literal double life. But the execution was just... average? There was a sad backstory going on with a japanese escapist (is that how you call it lmao sorry I'm translating from spanish), but I don't think it was given enough time for me to get fully invested in it.

One of the side characters is a gay boy and has a lot of on-page time. It was a great surprise, as the gayer the merrier for me. His story was treated very respectfully, but not like the author was walking on egg shells. I wish more LGBT+ characters were treated like he was.

The acts made my anxiety S U F F E R, AND I'm claustrophobic. So maybe if you're in a extremely bad place mentally don't read this book right now, but it wasn't unbearable for me. I was just really glad I wasn't in her place.

I liked the writing!! I always appreciate a good written, easy to follow contemporary. And this was it, thankfully.

A great way of describing this book is quirky. Callahan's witty writing is to the point. Refreshingly intelligent without ever becoming preachy, soul searching but not overly sentimental. With one liners you wish you have thought of yourself, she never goes for the easy laughs but is genuinely outright funny.

Really like the chapter names in the form of Mattie vs... or Will with two Ls... and etc. Intriguing and pulling at your heart strings, are the little excerpts from the life of the famous Miyake.

The escapology lessons we're as entertaining as I hoped, but not at all as you might expect them. Full of characters with instant likeability (even those which are 'unlikeable') For me, the back and forths in the protagonists timelines were a little aggravating and maybe the tying up of loose ends at the 'finish line" a little abrupt.

This is such an honest exploration of the difference of hanging out and true friendship. Friendship that can help you grow. How we should live life to the fullest, take care of ourselves and engage in what we truly like. Be yourself, not what others think you are/should be.

The Art of Escaping: Come for the escapology, stay for the heart.

I'm torn. 
Really, it's a mixed bag of wonderful feel good moments with some of the most off-putting characters in YA. At first, I didn't understand why I couldn't relate to Mattie and even found her dreadful at times. Then it finally dawned on me that I'm not supposed to like her because she is the antithesis of a decent person. To be honest, this is a semi-accurate representation of a teenager. I admit I was like Mattie at some point of my life. Totally self-absorbed and indignant of an apathetic world to my melodramatic life.  Constantly judgmental of people who were happy being who they were simply because I was unhappy with myself. I didn't like the way I looked and there wasn't anything particularly special about me. 

Mattie faces the same issues but handles it much worse. She remarks her "mousey brown hair and under eye bags" can't be fixed (in reality there's such things as concealer and hair dye). Instead, she mocks other girls for modifying their looks to fit Western standards of beauty. That's the point though isn't it? People can decide for themselves how they should look and not be pressured one way or the other. However, Mattie obviously feels inferior and resorts to bullying as a coping mechanism. Betty (the popular girl) has glowing blonde hair and a radiant smile therefore she somehow deserves all this resentment. 

In addition, we're constantly reminded of how much Mattie likes Jazz, vintage dresses, and knickknacks. Of course, she isn't vapid as Meadow who cares about such things as makeup and current fashion trends! The horror. It is frankly pathetic that Mattie cannot realize she's putting others down in order to validate her own individuality not understanding the hypocrisy. Purposefully, alienating others so that they don't have a chance to hurt her fragile ego. Having delusions that she is better than others because she cares less. Typical high school demeanor. 

What I can't excuse is the adults who also participate in the same sort of behavior. Will's mom continuously jokes about his "Stepford-wife" girlfriend and makes vulgar comments that he should find someone else.

“Yeah. Though she’s not really my friend.”
My dad laughed. “Smart. You don’t want to get stuck in the friend zone.”
“What? No! I have a girlfriend, remember?”
“Never hurts to keep your options open,” my mom grumbled.
It's totally uncalled for and a little disgusting for adults to shit on kids when kids already get enough shit from other kids. This is a point of contention as Will's mom is prejudice of the lgbt+ community and can't fathom that they are also human beings, not a badge to prove her "coolness" or tolerance. Unfortunately, this is a B-plot pushed aside for Mattie's straight-girl problems.

On that note, due to cruel ignorance, Mattie accepts that Will's confession is "mutual assured destruction". This cannot be farther from the truth. Will may face ridicule, rejection, hatred, and fear. Friends affronted, college recruiters not wanting someone so "controversial", and his family disowning him. While Mattie might...get grounded? 

In the end, Mattie matures into a confident person. In the sense that when we find who we are, we no longer have to be jealous of those who got there before us. 

*I think what happened with Connor is technically really icky. Maybe even against the law. 

This is an advance reader's copy in exchange for a fair review thanks to NetGalley.

The age old conflict in design is finding a medium between dynamic art and legibility. While the current cover seems to be the final version, I actually like the one with the letters pulled apart. It's harder to read but I like the water effect on the hand and the letters playing with foreground and background. The author's name has a nice flow that mimics the waves The graphic shapes and gradients are nicely done. Centered text makes the cover too static but I understand that marketing is a thing too. Overall, I am enamored and impressed that for a YA book, this cover isn't slacking.

Love love love! This book captured my attention from the start, with such a different plot. I mean yes, it's kind of a coming of age story, but escapism? Cool. Maybe it's just me; I have always been fascinated with magic in all it's many forms, but something about spending a summer without ones friends but learning a skill one is passionate about is just great. I felt that the descriptions of the actual training were well done. I did find it a little hard switching between the two POV's, but not so much that I put it down.

~3.5 stars~

This was a great coming of age book. We have all these different kids who end up finding friendship in the most unlikely places/way. This book is about friendship.

Mattie is an outsider and only has one friend. She’s secretly in love with escapology but wants to do more. She has one friend, Stella, who is going away to a pre-college summer program. Since, she’s going to be alone, she decides to take things into her own hands and really get into escapology. She’s also snarky and I loved that.

Later we meet Frankie, who Stella befriends when she’s away at her pre-college program. I really liked Frankie. He was probably the most awkward but I loved how he just meshed into this group.

Will is your typical high school basketball star who has everything and a beautiful girlfriend. Except, he’s hiding a pretty big secret. He’s living a lie and really starting to unravel.

Mattie decided to go to Miyu and ask her to mentor her about escapology. It starts a bunch of actions that bring all these characters together. Will and Mattie end up making a deal but it blossoms into a friendship. This whole book is about friendship and finding yourself. I loved that there was romance but not between any of the main characters! How refreshing!! There’s a lot of different themes in this book.

Then there’s the story between Miyu and her mother Akiko. Akiko was a famous escapologist, who died at a young age, in a plane crash. Miyu is living in their house but has agoraphobia. I’m sorry but this story just crushed my soul. I don’t know if I’m in the right head space but it brought tears to my eyes. Okay, I’m definitely not in the right head space, I’m on a ton of fertility drugs. Anyways, Miyu has these journal/diary pages that kind of tell the story of her mother and herself. It was one of my favorite parts of this book.

I did have some issues with the book. There are some places where the writing wasn’t the greatest. I actually didn’t care for the dual perspective in this book. It wasn’t really needed. There were times that I would be confused about situations and find out that it was just Mattie dreaming.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and once I got into the book, I couldn’t put it down. It was fun, entertaining, yet tackled some tough issues.

I want to thank Netgalley and Amberjack Publishing for giving me an e-ARC of this book for review.

Thank you to NetGalley for my free copy of this book.
First of all, I found this book thoroughly enjoying and much more entertaining than your average YA novel.
Secondly, I loved the lack of a romance storyline as that is all the YA genre usually delivers. Instead, this book focuses on interesting characters and their friendships plus the unusual add in of escapism!
The conversations between characters seemed realistic though a little stretched by Will continual use of ‘20’s slang’. However, having been a pretentious teenager myself once maybe it isn’t so unrealistic!
This is certainly the first book I’ve read about escapism (maybe by choice not chance!) however, I did find myself drawn into the drama of it all. Overall, this was an enjoyable, easy read that I would happily recommend to others.

This was great! I love how for once in a YA the two MC's don't fall in love...bc one of them is GAY. I loved watching Will and how he deals with wanting to come out. He was so adorable and I was rooting for him the entire novel.!!! Mattie was interesting to read as you really get to see into her head. I really loved the friendship dynamic they had and how you see both really be there for another and build the other up positively and be so encouraging of one another. 4 stars from me!

I really enjoyed this book. At first I thought the format was weird with the texts between Mattie and Will at the very beginning but I went back and read that part again after finishing the book so now their conversation makes a lot more sense. I really learned a lot about escapologists and escapology. I loved going on Mattie’s journey with her while she learned how to perform her escape tricks. I enjoyed the parts from the miary as they called it. I was glad she made friends with Will with two L’s. I enjoyed watching their friendship bloom and her performing giving him the courage to finally come out of the closet to his family and to his girlfriend. I would love to read a sequel about their life in college and beyond.

Just reading the premise of this book was enough to grab me, but the execution was even better than expected. Callahan has crafted a novel with a very specific adolescent voice, which radiates off the page. I felt simpatico with Mattie, because each of us is a little (or a lot) like her. Her quirky fascination with escapology actually goes much deeper than that, and her connection to Akiko, a famed escapologist who has since died in a plane crash. She creates a new persona for herself, and throws herself into the practice and death-defying reality of being an escape artist. Just when she starts to feel the most herself, those around her, including her friend Will, struggle to find their true selves amidst the drama of high school life. Again, I was amazed with Callahan's ability to capture the nuances of teenage speak, and create multi-dimensional characters that readers can relate to from the get go. I really admire this book, and hope that those intrigued by the premise and cover, like I was, delve into this coming-of-age story right quick. I received this book via NetGalley, courtesy of AmberJack Publishing, in exchange for an honest review. taylorhavenholt.com/thhbooks.html

A YA novel about two teens brought together during a difficult period the summer before their senior year. Both have a secret and need a friend, and date brings them together. Centered around Mattie learning the art of escape artistry, the novel is well constructed and drew me in quickly. A one day read

This book content and concept was really good and interesting. The characters were really fun to read and it really made me sit at the edge of my seat. I loved getting to know Mattie and Will so much and seeing their friendship come to be was just amazing. Mattie is such a relatable and funny character; definitely, a character worth spending time reading, and the same goes for Will. It was also fantastic seeing a male and female character getting involved in a totally non-romantic way at all. However, this book was a tiny difficult for me to get into but maybe that's just that my motivation wasn't at its fullest when I was reading it.