Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD (very minor)
This is a really cool story about an MC with an unconventional hobby who somehow become friends with a popular guy with a *shocking* secret. It's not that shocking, but still.
It's kind of a play on the popular guy meets shy girl, except they don't get together and the MC likes escapology. It's really cool to learn about and see how Mattie gets better and does bigger escapes. She is also really hilarious! The other characters balanced each other out, which made for a diverse cast. I really appreciated that. The fact that there is no romance is refreshing and allows us to really focus on the characters and how they grow.
One thing I didn't really like is the writing style. Don't get me wrong, it portrays the teenage voice well and makes the characters relatable. But, it's also a little messy in that debut-novel way. It could use a little more general editing. Also, how Will's mom saw gay men as objects is important, but it wasn't exactly addressed for more than two pages. Even when he came out to them, it wasn't exactly talked about for too long.
Overall, I really enjoyed this! It was an interesting story about finding your passions and friendships. I'm interested in seeing what else this author has up her sleeve!
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD (very minor)
This is a really cool story about an MC with an unconventional hobby who somehow become friends with a popular guy with a *shocking* secret. It's not that shocking, but still.
It's kind of a play on the popular guy meets shy girl, except they don't get together and the MC likes escapology. It's really cool to learn about and see how Mattie gets better and does bigger escapes. She is also really hilarious! The other characters balanced each other out, which made for a diverse cast. I really appreciated that. The fact that there is no romance is refreshing and allows us to really focus on the characters and how they grow.
One thing I didn't really like is the writing style. Don't get me wrong, it portrays the teenage voice well and makes the characters relatable. But, it's also a little messy in that debut-novel way. It could use a little more general editing. Also, how Will's mom saw gay men as objects is important, but it wasn't exactly addressed for more than two pages. Even when he came out to them, it wasn't exactly talked about for too long.
Overall, I really enjoyed this! It was an interesting story about finding your passions and friendships. I'm interested in seeing what else this author has up her sleeve!