Emma Eggleston

Laila is Richardsville High's quirky girl. She's just biding her time until graduation when she has an unusual encounter with Matty, the all-American boy next door, everybody just can't get enough of. When Matty and Laila start to talk, he shares a secret with her. He's a part of a clinical study for a medication called effugium and it can really transport him to other places and times. Will Laila trust Matty enough to try the effugium?

Escape

Raven K

** spoiler alert **
           4.5! This book was so unique and just overall just too good. I wasn't able to put it down, it kept me so interested all throughout the book. There's so many good things about it!!

First, the characters. Laila was my favorite character. I absolutely loved the way she looked at life and how she was so positive sometimes. She's definitely a character I will remember. Matty was an amazing character, I loved how his mental illness wasn't overshadowed. I loved the representation, so amazing. I loved how the author didn't try to cover it up like it wasn't something normal, because let's be real: we all struggle. 

Next, I want to talk about the plot. Like I said before it was so freaking unique. I've never read a book like it and at first I was confused but as I slowly started reading it, I grasped the idea. It kept me so captivated, and I love how their relationship/friendship was platonic in a way. Like there was no romance feelings between them for the most part, and I loved it. 

Lastly, I want to talk about the ending! It totally shocked me and I was not expecting it. It wasn't the ending I thought was gonna happen that's for sure. Don't get me wrong it was a great ending, just one that hadn't crossed my mind (isn't that the point lol) but honestly the ending was unique also. 

But this book was so wonderful and I would absolutely recommend it!

Cathy

cw/ anxiety, depression, drug use, overdose + spoilers

ESCAPE by emma eggleston is a short read featuring matty and lalia, two teenagers who form an unlikely friendship through trying times in their lives.

matty suffers from depression and anxiety, and i excited to read about matty's struggles as i too suffer from it. i found matty's story with mental health well written. 

however lalia and matty both lack being people outside of their set character stereotypes.

lalia felt too much like the "i'm not like other girls", whilst matty felt like "i'm popular but no one knows how i really feel." i would encourage emma not to fall into character stereotypes for their next novel and suggest developing more individual and unique characteristics.

furthermore, like some other reviewers i felt that the first half the book felt lacking. felt like it was following a set guide, a bit robotic, but the second half the book really picks up from then on.

after being selected for a trial of a new drug called effigium, matty immediately starts feeling better and invites lalia to try some with him.

the whole escape part of the drug is very, very well written and kept me going towards the end. a highlight from this book.

as time goes on lalia realises she's in love with matty, and whilst i didn't mind lalia and matty staying friends, i'm not mad about it.

however lalia and matty have a falling out and they go a period of time without speaking.

when they finally reconnect, at their graduation party, matty invites lalia to have one last go at "escaping". 

and when i read the line "“After he saw Laila close her eyes, he popped the two other pills he had been hiding into his mouth and entered the escape." my heart dropped to the floor.

in his final escape with lalia, they discover the life they could have had, kids, marriage, family, the whole shebang through photo albums.

“These people in the pictures. We think they have a wonderful life, but we don’t know if they do or don’t. And they could be us but we’re not them. We’re just pretending to be.”

surprise, surprise, matty stays under his "escape" for 10 years (how did the doctors let the family allow for him to be in a coma for so long...) whilst lalia goes on, finds a guy called tom, has kids, lives the life matty wanted with her.

as if by miracle, matty wakes up, finally ending his escape with lalia after 10+ long years. he still loves her, she always will but she explains that she's got another life. she can't be the lalia he knew.

“How could you do that? You made me live without you for so long.”

“I needed you so badly in my life. I couldn’t ever risk not having you, so I sacrificed having the real you."

overall, a fun and short read. perfect for people who are just looking for an escape. i wish emma luck on her future novels!

* also a big, big thank you to emma for giving me a copy for an honest review!

Jessica Nottingham

TW: depression, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, substance abuse, self harm

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I definitely want to start with the positives about this book, because I believe that it dives into an important space that isn't often considered. By creating Matty's character, Eggleston is shedding light on the deep divides that still exist between the way men are taught to deal with mental health, and women are. We all know that in general it's still a tough topic for a lot of people. However Matty's character admits that he "knows" that this is not what guys like him are supposed to feel. He's embarrassed to talk about it with his friends and ashamed that he can't just "fix" himself. Even his dad's reaction to his ultimate confession was spot on. I appreciated that immensely. It's important for all readers to see themselves in characters, and stories that deal with mental health usually tend to have female protagonists. It's nice to see a shift happening.

Past this though, the story becomes tough to follow. My biggest issue was that after the initial build out of our two main characters, there is no more character development in the story. Anyone who knows my reading habits knows that character development is a big item on my enjoyment checklist. These two characters felt really thin, which made it hard to connect with them beyond a surface level. This led to the romance portions of this story feeling really rushed, and mildly uncomfortable.

Added on top of this is the fact that this story relies very heavily on dialogue to progress the story. This doesn't help much with feeling of thin characters, and also makes it hard to really immerse yourself in the story. I think this could have been okay, if the dialogue was a little bit more solid and fleshed out. However most of the interactions between Laila and Matty feel flat because they are generic conversations that any two sets of people could have. There weren't a lot of emotions build into their dialogue and, again, that made it hard to really understand them on a deeper level.

The ending of this book was the hardest part for me. I will not spoil it, for any potential readers. I also don't necessarily disagree with it but, because I never felt connected to these characters, it felt like a shock I was not prepared for. This story has a lot of potential. Like I mentioned above, the mere fact that it focuses on a male character while dealing with mental health is wonderful. I just feel like it needs some more editing, and some polish, to live up to that potential.

Escape

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