Adorable, so adorable! Loved this so much!!! I loved the characters, the protagonist, the friends, the everything. This was such a perfect escape book for me and I’m now recommending it to everyone!

This was fun and quirky, and at times I actually found myself laughing out loud. The protagonists seem like people I would rather hang out with than read about. Ultimately, this was good enough: a reprieve from the very heavy non-fiction I've been plowing through lately.

Huh! Well that was.. fun?! Zombie escape rooms and high school love.

Things I liked—
I really adored the MC of this book. Nate was completely adorable, lovable and the perfect male lead. His family was sweet (always love immigrant parents and little stay sisters winning) and his little nerd crowd of scholarship kid friends was cute and relatable, as well.

Kate was likable and real. She has a tough situation with her dad that I had a hard time putting my finger on..someone with dad struggles might appreciate this or he really put off. It landed on the unsafe side to me of things which I don’t mind being in the story but thought the way resolution pieces were handled didnt match the severity of what was going on. I was hooked into their narrative for sure at the very least, though.

The zombie theme was fun and made this romcom vibe feel different than other ones I’ve read. So all in all I liked this one.

My biggest critique would be the ending section. Ahhh. It felt like one of those quick ‘wrap it up’ moments which are tough and feel unrealistic / rushed. You read this whole story and get to know characters and then it’s just so unfulfilling when you know it’s rushed and the story shifts style and tempo completely. There were a lot of moving pieces and character tensions that would’ve needed to be resolved and we went from being able to experience them WITH characters to a quick ‘oh yeah they talk off camera and it’s fine!’ summarizing a story type of writing.

Anyways. The main portion of the book I liked and the rep was heartening and done well. There are some cute moments and some funny ones too.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was not the escape for me! The pros: cute, developed main characters that are zombie-obsessed weirdos, a Pacific Northwest setting that features both the mountains and an escape room, and a very relatable fear of heights. The cons: dialogue that never feels fully natural (even when they are playing it off as being character awkwardness), product name placement that wasn’t necessary, and a tech company that seemed more like a Disney channel villain than a real concern. Folks who want a more lighthearted Hunger Games will enjoy some of the games in the book without having to worry about stakes too high other than the central romance.

This was the most adorable, hilarious, delightful YA romcom. The escape room setting/competition premise is super creative, the characters are compelling and the stakes well-developed, and it's just a fun read from start to finish. I'm already eager for the next Suzanne Park book!

I loved the give and take between Nate and Kate as they danced around their feelings for one another. (Nate's internal dialogue is A+ entertaining, btw.) The zombie survival competition throws in some great twists, but probably the thing I liked best was how Park avoids the overworn trope of both characters making snap judgments about each other based upon their socioeconomic status. Bonus points for the characters of AI Jeeves and also for Nate's little sister.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy. "The Perfect Escape" is projected to be released on April 7th, 2020.

I was elated to get this ARC because there are very few things in this world than I love more than niche YA rom-coms. Meaning: ones that take place in the context of some unusual interest, setting, or topic. (To give you an idea of what I mean by that, some niche rom-coms I've liked include "Hart & Seoul" and "Somewhere Only We Know" with K-Pop, and "Every Reason We Shouldn't" with figure skating.) "The Perfect Escape," with a zombie/survivalist focus, falls squarely in that category, but...didn't really do it for me. Here's why. 

SUMMARY 

Nate Jae-Woo Kim wants to be rich. When one of his classmates offers Nate a ridiculous amount of money to commit grade fraud, he knows that taking the windfall would help support his prideful Korean family, but is compromising his integrity worth it?

Kate Anderson wants a fresh start, away from her controlling father. She fantasizes about escaping to New York, where she can pursue her dreams. But how can Kate get there when she can't even buy dinner without his approval?

Worlds collide when Nate and Kate meet at the zombie-themed escape room where they both work. As sparks fly, fate steps in: a local tech company is hosting a weekend-long survivalist competition with a huge cash prize that could solve all their problems. The real challenge? Making it through the weekend with their hearts intact...
REVIEW

Without a doubt, my favorite thing about this book was the zombie/escape room/survival competition thing. Whenever Nate and Kate discussed their favorite zombie movies, planned for the survival contest, or worked at the escape room together, the book took on a whole new kind of energy. It was funny and fast-paced and enthusiastic and exactly what was promised by the book jacket. 

Unfortunately, though, the zombie stuff took up very little actual page time. 

Up until the 62% (I'm pretty sure) mark, when the survival contest started, we got a lot more of their personal lives than we did of the zombie thing. Instead of spending time at the escape room (I'm pretty sure there are only two scenes that take place at work - it was almost like the author forgot about their jobs after the plot no longer needed them), we're taken to a high school party at a roller rink. When I was expecting the two to be geeking out over zombies and plotting for the contest, Kate was fighting with her father - who might be the worst father in all of YA, mind you - and Nate was juggling his chaotic family life with his classmates' insistence that he commit grade fraud on their behalf. Certainly, those issues had a place in this story, but they took up so much of the book that I felt myself missing both the zombies I was promised and the rom-com that this story was marketed as.

That was all the more sad because when those things were in the spotlight, I really enjoyed them. This could have been so fantastically unique and hilarious had it been okay with being a little...lighter. Oftentimes it felt like the book was trying so hard to be deep and substantial that it forgot that it was a rom-com. Had it let loose in a few more places, it would likely have been one of my favorite reads in recent memory. "The Perfect Escape" was an example, to me, that it's okay to have fun with a story. It's certainly noble to try to say something with your work, and I commend Park for doing that. But sometimes, a story can exist just because it makes people happy. A story can exist for the joy of it. "Escape" got a little depressing at times, and though everything sort of gets its magic band-aid in the end, I wished that I would've spent more of the time it took me to read this laughing. Because if the bright spots in this book showed me anything, it's that this book knows how to be absolutely hilarious. 

I just wish it would have been more often. 

ENDNOTES

Favorite Scene: the scene where Nate visits his sister's kindergarten class as her show-and-tell. Small children saying weird things in front of crowds because they have zero filter is honestly a recipe for comedy gold (see: children's messages at my church) and I was dying of laughter this entire scene. DYING. I wanted more of that in this book.

What Made This Book Stand Out: the uniqueness of a rom-com about zombies. 

One-Sentence Summary: what it says on the tin, with a few less zombies and a little more crying. 

Something that Bugged Me: the tonal whiplash whenever the story switched from rom-com to family drama and back - see literally my entire review.

 Adult Content: a LOT of cursing and, like, two kisses, but that's pretty much it. 

Overall Rating: 3/5 Confused Llamas

Here's the thing! I wasn't quite sure of what to expect going into this book, particularly because the cover and synopsis gave it huge cheesy rom-com vibes to me, while the zombie competition that the relationship of the MCs was based off of seemed less friendly and more cutthroat.

And the result was a strange balance between the two? I'm still very confused about how dramatic of a shift I feel like the book took from the beginning to the last 1/5. Just because it started out very casual and ended up more dramatic, but mutedly so.

I don't think the leads had any real chemistry at all. They just met and decided that they liked each other for no apparent reason? Their respective backgrounds were interesting in how they contributed to the characters' developments, but I feel like the author didn't quite get the dynamics right between them.

I'm sure that you can have romance and adventure in a complex setting, like Katniss and Peeta, but there's a reason why they didn't actually get together until later on in the series! Because the emphasis was mostly on the adventure and Katniss's journey before her priorities could shift more. But this book didn't really create a believable working/romantic relationship between our two MCs.

Unfortunately, tackling both the development of the relationship and the competition took away from the presentation of the plot. But still, I did like the creativity and have some admiration for the author's decisions about where to take the storyline, particularly toward the end.

My appreciation to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the lovely ARC!

This was adorable! I will admit, the whole zombie thing and evil genius of a father kind of threw me, but it all added up to a lot of fun. Its definitely not your typical YA romcom, but that's what makes it so refreshing. It's totally worth a read!

What a great story of first love! This book is an endearing story that leaves you laughing, smiling and sighing. This is a great read for the beach, travel or a rainy day at home.
Nate Kim is on scholarship to high school. He is a nerd and helps the school look good with his GPA. His quirky family is not rich by any means. Nate is working his way through high school at an escape room and hoping for a college scholarship. A family crisis comes up and Nate wants to fix it.
Kate Anderson is alone most of the time. Her dad is a bigwig CEO of a tech company but is never home. Mom recently died. Kate gets a job at the escape room for normalcy.
The two form an instant friendship. Kate asks Nate if he’ll do a zombie survival competition with her. They’ll get big money if they win. Nate agrees in an attempt to get closer.
As they prepare for and enter the competition, the friendship buds into something more. However it leaves more questions. Will Kate still go through with her plans if they win? Will Nate be able to save the day for the family?

I thought this was a fantastic YA book! I loved the zombie theme and enjoyed getting to know Nate & Kate. They seemed like exact opposites, but they bonded over similar tastes. I liked that they weren’t “perfect” and they both had real life issues to deal with. I hope this author writes more about the characters in this book!


I will review on Amazon and Goodreads once this book is released.

3/5
I think this book and I started off on the wrong foot. If there’s one trope that I dislike more than any other it’s instalove and, unfortunately, this was the main driver of the romance in this story. That being said, I tried to look past it and not let it colour my opinion of the entire narrative - but it was difficult because, oh boy, do I hate that trope.

I think the stronger points of this story were the friendships. I just wish they had been a larger focal point of the narrative. I liked the idea behind the fractured father-daughter relationship too, but it became comic movie villian-esq by the end and I just couldn’t take it seriously. The father was a caricature, rather than a layered and interesting character.

I enjoyed the setting of a zombie survival competition. Although I think that also made it slightly confusing at times because it changed the tone and made it feel more like a horror/thriller. This could have been played on to make it feel more deliberate, but as it was, it just felt odd.

I think there is definite potential from this author. The writing and pacing were solid. But, overall, it just didn’t hit the mark for me.

<b>Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Fire and NetGalley for providing me a copy of this title to review! </b>

An entertains and captivating YA that explores themes which will resonate with young readers. Park does a fantastic job presenting the perspectives of Nate and Kate and this book will draw in both male and female readers as a result. Highly recommended.

I’m honest here, the blurb and the cover drew me in, but unfortunately the plot didn’t deliver.

This debut novel, needed some polishing and some more editing. Marketed as a rom-com, I was missing the fun aspect of it. The writing wasn’t funny, the dialogues weren’t funny and the overall plot wasn’t funny either.

On top of it, the romance felt lackluster, since the couple had no real chemistry. The plot had holes, and the sub plots were rather unbelievable. Additionally the plot was actually a bit creepy at times.

Also, which was a bit unfortunate, but the blurb was misleading, since the main attraction, the weekend-long survivalist competition ended up only being a very small part of the actual story and happened towards the end of the book. The rest, besides the zombie-themed escape room, felt unrealistic and didn’t really add to the overall enjoyment of the novel.

I had incredibly high hopes, since the story sounded realistic, trendy, and authentic. Unfortunately it didn’t end up being either.

This was a very cute read, and I enjoyed it immensely. I found Nate to be very endearing and a typical nerdy, awkward teenage boy. I liked Kate a lot, and I liked that she never backed away from what she wanted in life. The drama or the climax was a bit contrived, and it makes you REALLY hate her dad. Her dad was the sore spot in the book for me. Even if there was some talk at the end of them working on fixing the relationship, her dad was just too over the top for me to go, "Aw, that's awesome." The psychological abuse he inflicted wasn't addressed enough in the book. There were moments in the book where it was portrayed as him just being a worried dad, but nah, that doesn't fly with me. There was also a part where Kate talks about being a Girl Scout, and how she earned her Gold Award by learning how to build camp fires and put up tents. It was obvious that Suzanne has never been a GS or she would have known there is a lot more that goes into earning your Gold Award. Other than that, I enjoyed the dynamics between Kate and her friend, Nate and his friends and family, and of course there are zombies and a survival game. It's definitely a cute quick read.

This was a cute, quick ya rom-com read. I enjoyed the characters and the story, but I wanted a little bit more from the romance. I loved the zombie references! Each of the two main characters are dealing with different parental issues and it is nice how they find each other for friendship and support when they need it. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

<i>The Perfect Escape</i> was a really rough one for me to get through, and probably would have ended up in my DNF pile if I didn't have to review it. The characters are enjoyable, but the plot is so unrealistic, especially when it comes to the ending. It may work well for very young, young adult readers, but I think older YA readers and adults who like to dip into the market are going to have a hard time accepting the premise and resolution of this book.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed about the first 40% of this book. I especially loved Kate's character. i thought she was spunky and funny, and I wanted to know more about why she was so secretive about her home life. I thought the chemistry between she and Nate was kind of cute.

However, close to the halfway point of the book it seemed the plot sort of lost focus. The characters became a bit too angsty and kind of unlikeable for me. I get that Nate's parents were struggling but I thought it odd that they seemed to eat out a fair amount and his Xbox live subscription and new games were still a top priority for him. Not to mention all the valuable collectibles he hung on to and all of his activities and the fancy private school. Generally scholarships don't cover all expenses. It was hard to believe they were struggling as much as we were supposed to believe just because they had an old car, as opposed to Tesla, and chose to do home repairs themselves. I also thought Kate's motives were incredibly selfish and unbelievable. I mean her dad was definitely awful. But in a cartoonish, over the top way. The whole thing just stretched my suspension of disbelief a bit too far. I also thought the characters lost their wit and chemistry. I struggled to care what happened to them as the story went on.

Ultimately this book wasn't awesome or terrible, it was just fine.

A quick, cute read, with deep characters and a sweet romance at its heart. Laughed out loud more than a few times, which is always surprising (but wonderful!) Will definitely recommend to my rom-com loving students.

I have a personal policy that I will not post negative reviews for YA novels. If I cannot assign an honest 4-5 stars to a book, I don’t review it.

For me this was a 2-star read. If you want to know why, below are some of my reading notes that I jotted down as I read the book. Again, I will not be posting this as a review.

At 41% into this book I am increasingly disappointed that, though it's supposed to be a romantic comedy, I haven't found a single part of it that is funny. It is also not romantic as the main two characters have spent the entire time sweating from anxiety every time they are around each other, and they have zero sexual or emotional chemistry with each other.

The heroine is suffering from anxiety and depression ever since her mother died a year before. Her mother had pneumonia that was not treated soon enough because Kate’s horrible father told Kate’s mother that she was being weak and needed to tough it out when she first got sick. Then he left town for work and abandoned her, and by the time Kate took her to the hospital, it was too late. Ever since, her father has been constantly keeping Kate under surveillance via robots and a smart home that records her every action, and he regularly has the robot scan her body to see if she is getting sick. None of this is presented as Kate assuming dear old Dad deeply cares about keeping her safe because he is horrendously ashamed of how he treated his dead wife. Instead, Kate is plotting how to get enough money to escape from his Snidely Whiplash clutches. Nothing funny about any of that.

I keep waiting for Kate and Nate to get to the zombie contest and I'm 50% in and it hasn't happened yet.

Nate is handsome, brilliant, and athletic and skilled at martial arts and yet he is presented as an anxious dweeb who's never dated. It makes no sense and is not funny. Nate is Alpha Male hunk material, and he’s presented as a clueless doormat. Yes, some of his insecurity is motivated by the reality that his family is poor due to the fact that he is Korean American and his parents seem to be struggling, first generation immigrants. He is a scholarship student at a hugely expensive, snooty private school and bullied by many of the mean, rich kids there. His parents have also raised him to be blindly obedient, which is not conducive to learning how to be assertive in the face of hard knocks.

We don’t find out until very late in the book why Nate’s parents are having money problems—it is due to his father getting fired from what one would presume is a high-paid tech job. I am surprised that, as frugally as they live with his father doing all the home repairs and his mom driving an old car, and Nate not having his own car, that they haven’t saved a substantial cushion of money. In addition, Nate’s father has only very recently been fired and we are told they are in danger of foreclosure! That doesn’t happen in five minutes! You have to have missed at least three payments before the process even begins.

Speaking of Nate’s dad: we learn late in the book that Nate’s dad has been fired because of the machinations of Nate’s main villain, a privileged white guy at his school who wants to bribe him with $50,000 and intimidate him as well to get him to help the guy cheat on entrance exams to improve his chances of getting into an Ivy League university. One would presume, since it is this villain’s father who does the firing, that his father is in on the plot to have Nate help his son cheat. After the recent cheating scandals by famous parents to help their kids get into prestigious universities, this seems to be a risky move for both the bad buy and his dad.

In the midst of the subplot of Nate's family’s money problems, there is page after page, that reads like slice of life rather than a forward-moving plot, of his day-to-day life with his Korean parents. Then we get a scene where Nate’s obnoxious, bratty little sister (who is not funny) plays with one of his Star Wars collectable action figures that was worth $500 before little sis destroys it. Several things occurred to me that made no sense: Why doesn’t he lock up his valuables? How can his family be so poor and he manage to afford to buy expensive action figures? Why isn’t he putting that money toward his college fund? Why are his parents extremely strict with him but they seem to be letting his little sister run wild? Destroying property is a cardinal sin in any culture.

The book drags on in the boring middle…. There is no real sexual chemistry between these two characters. There is a huge amount of focus on boring day-to-day life for these characters. Nothing is funny.

It is not clear what school Kate goes to. Does she attend Nate’s school? If not, how do they end up at the same party, both of them coming separately, and both of them not on the guest list? Why would rich kids have a party at a ratty roller-skating rink? At the party, Nate alternates between not being able to skate well, and zooming over to help Kate up when she falls down. Inconsistent. Then the author brings in a girl he had a long-time crush on and he drops Kate and the starting of them warming up together for the insertion of an obnoxious romantic triangle. But, of course, we learn later, that’s so Nate can stupidly trust this girl twice so she can help the buffoonish cheater villain to betray Nate at the zombie adventure.

Multiple times in the book Kate states to herself that Nate means nothing to her, he's just a means to an end to when the $50,000 zombie contest so she can head to New York City to try to be an actress. That’s not romantic and it’s not funny.

The zombie apocalypse survival contest doesn't start until 60% of the book. Finally! It’s the main selling point of the book. This is the point in the plot where we are to believe that these two are finally falling in love.

The zombie adventure reads like a poor man's Hunger Games. There is no concern among the people running this disaster of a contast that participants are threatening each other with tasers and attacking each other with fists. In fact, the zombie robots are threatening the safety and even the lives of the participants. Who does that in our litigious society? Kate’s father turns out to be running the show, and he drugs both Kate and Nate in a thriller type turn of events that is anything but funny. I also couldn’t help thinking how, for this one contest, millions of dollars worth of robots are destroyed.

It is downright creepy how one of Nate's techie friends helps him track down Kate at her work at a theater in NYC after she successfully flees her father. The friend uses face recognition software that he invented.

The book ends with a “happy for now ending” with the romance. They plan to go out on their first real date and are presented as, out of the blue, being madly in love.

After presenting the father as a scary control freak who kept Kate under tight control all through the rest of the book, such that she fled from the house to escape him, the ending turns him into a paper tiger whom Kate is starting to “talk to” and work things out with. That is far, far too simplistic a resolution for how sinister he has been presented throughout the book. And, once again, that’s not funny. It’s irritating.

It is also tied up with a neat little bow about Nate’s father getting fired. He just waltzes into a brand new job just as good as the old one, and life is just fine again. Sheesh.