This was not the book I was expecting. I did not enjoy the beginning and at first I found the double narration jarring. But, by the end, I really enjoyed the cast of characters and the different kinds of relationships shown in the book. Some of the book had me rolling my eyes, but I think this may be the perfect book for some of my teen readers!

Gosh.

I loved this one a lot! I had a little trouble getting into it and following the format at first, but once I was hooked it was all over. This book follows our main characters, Mattie, who is following her dream of becoming an escapologist. This book is a coming of age story about friendship, growing up, finding your passion in life and making your dreams a reality.

10/10 would recommend.

“But I didn’t have to, because Mattie made it okay. More than okay, because that’s the magic of Mattie. She resides at that strange little way station between stark reality and larger than life fantasy. She wants so much more than just-the-facts-ma'am. She lives for those miraculous moments when you stumble upon something that’s somehow truer than the truth.”

I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Amberjack Publishing. I requested this book based on a recommendation from Roberta at Offbeat YA, who had a chance to beta read it. Check out her blog for a post talking about that experience or her exclusive cover reveal!

When Mattie is faced with a summer without her best friend, she screws up her courage to ask the cantankerous, reclusive daughter of renowned escapologist, Akiko Miyake, to be her mentor. Soon, Mattie is immersed in a world of lock picking and underwater escape tanks, but her braver alter-ego is threatened when Will, a popular basketball player from school, witnesses one of her escapes. Worried that he’ll tell everyone, including her parents, about her strange hobby, Mattie and Will strike up an uneasy friendship based on mutual secrecy and learn that sometimes, our secret selves are the truest ones of all.

This is contemporary YA very well done. Callahan is a solid story-teller, and the novel is well-written and well-paced with a cast of interesting, believable characters (and some LGBTQ representation). Most of the tension in the novel is self-inflicted from Mattie’s insistence on keeping her new life a secret, but I enjoy plots that don’t take drama to extreme heights. Mattie and Will feel like people I could have known in high school, and their problems deal mainly with acceptance–self and otherwise.

One of the major themes is authenticity, and that’s a great angle to explore in YA fiction. Mattie is frequently preoccupied by this question: how to be a real person in a world where teenagers are expected to do extracurricular activities just to pad their resumes. It’s the Holden Caufield question approach on a much less obnoxious level (I can hardly stand The Catcher in the Rye, even while acknowledging its merits). I remember being very concerned about this in high school, and it makes Mattie easy to relate to.

She’s so middle-ground that it’s refreshing. Mattie isn’t the best student or the worst, but she has a few things that she really loves. Will’s chapters were a little more trying for me. I understand his love for twenties slang, but it’s distracting in the way it litters his narrative. I don’t know if this is a thing that actually bothers teenagers, or if I’m just an old woman stuck in a younger person’s body, but it tries too hard to sound hip. That aside, I like Will, and I like his friendship arc with Mattie even more. I also enjoy the resistance toward mean high school girl cliches; even the minor characters feel well-rounded, and there are no flatly wicked pretty girls trying to ruin everyone’s lives.

There’s barely a hint of romance throughout the whole novel because the characters are distracted by much bigger questions than “does that person like me.” Mattie and Will’s friendship, and their secrets, provide them an outlet for testing out new, better, and more authentic selves, and it’s a fascinating and well-drawn process. They give each other the space to become who they really are. Having the courage to be yourself is a major part of growing up, and Callahan’s portrayal is realistic, sometimes funny, and often heart-warming. Plus, who doesn’t love a good escape act? I’d absolutely recommend it for fans of the genre, and I’m going to need a physical copy for my library when it’s published.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

This book had everything a good teen novel needs. A strong female character, humor, a sence of adventure
and a story that really keeps the reader hooked. Its hard to do a typical review on what the real story
is about because while the story is amazing its more what it brings to the reader that makes this book
special. It has a feel to it that is hard to explain there is no special gifts but the young girl in this
book is very special is someone that all women young and old can look up to. While most reviews tell a bit
about the story this one is a little harder to write. This book has a basic story but its really more about
how it made you feel that is what makes it so good. The story is good however it starts out with the main
character Mattie hiding her love of magic from her friends and family because she doesn't want to get judged. When her best friend leaves however she becomes friends with Miyu, the daughter of an escape artist. With Mayu's help the two put together an act of pure magic. Things can't be any better for Mattie. When Will a popular student from Mattie's school finds the two girls at the magic show her double life is about to be exposed. Or is it? When Will confesses a secret he's never told anyone the real pressure is on. And with secrets bubbling to the surface who knows what will be the next one revealed. I liked everything about this book. This book has every thing that makes young adult books so magical. A sense of adventure, very entertaining characters and the best part was there no love triangles and no actual magic. I loved the way that the author wrote this the whole thing just read out like a movie with each paragraph flowing into the next one. I feel that the simplicity of this novel makes it easier to relate to. This is one that should not be missed.

A good and probably-about-to-be-underrated-read! This was my first-ever physical arc I received directly from an author and publisher, and I have to say I’m pretty pleased it was this one.

The Art of Escaping is a book about finding your passion, whatever it is, and finding a group of people who want to be a part of that passion. I think in high school, wanting to find a group who want you - it could be one person or fifty people - is one of the most important things in the world. This is a book that knows how important that can be, and wants to show you.

First of all, can I just say: this book is really humorous. The humor here didn’t always fit my sense, but several moments of sarcastic humor gave me a good laugh.

And there were so many minor things that worked for me! I appreciated the moments of poking fun at typical high-school tropes. I also really liked, though it was minor, Mattie’s history class - cool good teachers in YA are always something I really enjoy.

And okay, a nitpick section for somewhat eh lines and themes that I, personally, disliked? Okay, there’s one moment - this is arc and not final copy - where a teacher suggests a gay-straight alliance and the main character responds with “I’m apolitical” and, you know, I am dead tired of being queer being defined as a political thing. Would love if that got released. And the minute girl hate element is... hm. On one hand, Mattie talks a lot about how Meadow isn’t really bad, just above it all, and puts her on the same level as several dudes. But on the other hand, the intro is so filled with bouncy hair that the entire thing feels like yet another “wow, aren’t girls who fit western beauty standards terrible?” And in general, I think a few of the attempts to point out racism and homophobia fall a little short. Will’s thoughts on his mother’s treatment of gay men as objects beyond people are so amazing and important. And then… they disappear in two pages. His later coming out exemplifies his mom’s homophobia, but the whole thing is written off.

And in general, I think this book was not without flaws — a few more complicated sections feel somewhat messily written in that debut-novel way. There’s a dream sequence towards the beginning that could use some editing.

Whatever, though. In the end, I thought this was a really fun story about finding your passions. I’ll definitely be reading more by this author.

Seventeen-year-old Mattie is a lover of many things: jazz music, history, Star Trek, and famous escape artists. Her mom has been criticizing her for spending her life consuming those things she loves instead of creating something, and when her best friend goes away for the summer Mattie finally has a chance to change that. After finding the reclusive daughter of a famous escape artist, Miyu, Mattie manages to convince Miyu to mentor her and help her learn escapeology. As she starts to perform at a local club, things seem to be going incredibly, but a chance appearance by a popular athlete from her school threatens to shine the spotlight on Mattie's secret life. When Will shares a secret of his own, a new friendship is born. Can this continue when her best friend comes back to town, or will everything be different now?

I found myself enjoying this book an incredible amount, even though I had a feeling I knew where it was going. The "teenager with a secret" plot has been done so many times, I tried to prepare myself for the giant explosion as everyone's secrets came to life and wrecked everything else in the book. I hoped that it would not take away the enjoyment I had experienced so far. Amazingly, this was not the case in "The Art of Escaping." The focus stayed on the characters and their lives, and it was much better for it. This book was an amazing ride, and well worth a read for any fans of the genre.