I’m not sure which book some of the promo reviewers read, but I definitely didn’t find this to be a "nail-biting horror" novel. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it but the ending made no sense to me and was so disappointing.
I did enjoy the author's writing style and loved some of the descriptions, especially countries but I’m not I
Would be willing to give the author a second chance with his next book.,

A brilliantly written book that uses the horror genre as a lense/medium to explore, not only racial fetishisation, but the fetishisation of horror and all things scary itself.

[DNF @29%]

I hate not finishing a book and this is one of the only ones I've had to put tuck away in my Kindle folder of shame this year.

The premises sounded amazing - an escape room (I love those damn mind-fuck rooms) where you have to find little red envelopes and someone gets murdered. I never made it to that part. The characters drove me insane and everything chugs along at a snail's pace.

I have honestly no idea what's going on and for that very dull reason, I'm giving up.

This book is clever, disturbing and a type of horror that is quite unique. You may think the story focuses on the horror that happens within the full-contact haunted escape room but it is a more complex story offering the reader 3 completely different lives of the people it happened to. We get 3 distinct POVs from Kendra, Jaidee and Leonard with in depth detail about their whole lives and the events leading up to that night.
The book is further split into details of each room (cell) that the team of 4 work through on the night and the questionings in a court room after the event and slowly pieces begin to fit together to create an incredible story full of greed, prejudice and obsession.
All of the characters are well developed with some being more flawed than others and there are multiple instances that are sure to shock you.
An incredible read about normal people who are thrust together on one disastrous night.

This book was interesting but not exactly what I was expecting. I did find it quite confusing, however I’m pleased I persevered as it did pick up for me.

Oh hello, my unexpected winner horror debut of the year! I am so glad I took a chance on this unknown release when I saw it on Netgalley and so grateful to the publishers for giving me this chance. Because, for me, this was a stunning, mind-blowing, multi-layered read that I won’t forget.

This book hasn’t been out long, and it’s still got relatively few reviews on Goodreads but already it has a pretty average overall rating of 3.55, which makes me a little sad. I’m not sure if readers were maybe expecting something a little different, but for me this book delivers on all it promises and more.

Yes, this is promoted as a horror about a full-contact haunted escape room. And there’s not that much haunting, or even escape room, in this story. But it’s a lot more than that.

In my opinion, really good horror transcends the genre. Horror is really about people and their fear. And this book explores that in a way which is unique and powerful. It has the creepy, dilapidated mansion. It has an eerie, uncomfortable atmosphere. It even has gore and violence.

But it also has the gradual unravelling of people, spun out painfully over lengthy chapters we see the descension of young, ambitious people into almost madness. It exposes people at their limits, doing extraordinary things for nonsensical reasons, acting on pure emotion.

“Horror tests limits. Horror shows who we are. When we’re faced with a monster, or a ghost, or a serial killer, what we’re actually made of comes forth. I like to see what people are made of. Therefore I like horror.”

The story itself is a slow burn. The opening scene is a court testimony, so we know something has gone awry at the mysterious Quigley House. But then, we’re whisked back. We meet a series of characters individually through long chapters exploring their lives. Not all of the characters are likeable, in fact most of them aren’t, but I found all of their stories strangely fascinating. We have Kendra, a black teenager who has recently lost her father. Jaidee, a Thai student in America, and Leonard, a lonely white American who struggles with relationships. Through them, the author explores themes ranging from grief to racism to sexuality, and it’s all gripping, authentic and chilling. Slowly, we learn how they all come to be at the monstrosity which is Quigley House.

There are multiple characters and three timelines – the characters’ journeys before Quigley House, their time spent in each “cell” in the multi-room Escape Room experience and the court case after. But this isn’t the type of story where you I ever got lost or confused by the multiple views. It’s a dark and creepy but at its heart it’s a character-driven tale at heart that had me glued to the pages. And the scenes that take place inside Quigley House are truly horrific, and should definitely satisfy any die-hard horror fan’s cravings this Halloween.

This was an interesting horror novel. It verged the line between thriller and horror and I think at time it didn't really read as horror but I did like it. The characters and settings were done well and I liked the wide variety of characters that were in this and they were all written in a really interesting manner. This was fast-paced and action-packed and I was hooked from the start of this. The way this was set up in the first few chapters were interesting and i think it is a good way to hook readers in.

This book is about several different characters that are all introduced throughout the book and end up meeting at a haunted house. I did find it a little confusing at the start with the different characters but once they had all tied in it was much easier to follow. They all had very different lives and i loved how the focal point in the end was a haunted house experience. I liked the police tape side of it as we found out what had happened at the start and it went on from there. it was a bit creepy and a bit gorey in places but this was a great read for around Halloween time.

This book wasn't really what I was expecting and I found it quite confusing. The overall idea seems good but I feel there is a lot room for improvement.
Thanks for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This was quite an interesting read. From the beginning it's tense and kept me intrigued. Some gruesome parts, but it's more thriller than horror. Somehow it did fell a little bit flat in the end, but liked it overall.

Reprieve is a social horror story told over multiple perspectives. Whilst the story focuses on the escape room, racism and identity are just two of the huge topics covered within this story.

This was a complex story that I found quite a slow burner to start with and I initially struggled to get into it. The book is split into 3 parts and those parts are made up of multiple character perspectives, police reports and time spent in each cell.

This was one of my most anticipated reads and whilst it was good, I felt that I would have enjoyed it more if the story covered being in the cells trying to find the envelopes and less of the back story for each of the characters.

Some of the scenes are particularly gruesome and normally I am squeamish, but it was written well so that it was detailed rather than too off putting!

There was much I enjoyed about this book but the blurb and marketing were confusing. The book is presented as a thriller, but it's actually more of a character-led book. I was hoping for a major, thriller-like twist at the end. I can think of a good one, and if even I can come up with one, surely it wouldn't have been too hard to put one in?

Gripping, intense, mesmerising. A book that appeals on many levels.I enjoyed the back stories of the main contestants but couldnt quite empathise with the situation they found themselves in. A highly original theme

From the opening lines of “Reprive”, we know that something has gone terribly wrong for one team of four during their time in Quigley House – a notorious “full contact” escape room in which successful contestants can win $60k for navigating the six increasingly harrowing cells (something that only one team has done in the past).

The chapters skip back and forward in time between the aftermath of the experience and the lives of the contestants – Bryan, Jaidee, Vincent and Jane – that led to them taking part in the escape room. We also meet Kendra, Bryan’s cousin who also works at Quigley House; John, the owner and creator of Quigley House; and Leonard, a friend of John’s who has become increasingly detached and misogynistic following the breakdown of a previous relationship. Through the interactions of this group, we learn more about the motivation of each leading up to the fateful night, ultimately allowing us to understand exactly what happened and how.

The most successful part of the story for me was the “behind the scenes” glimpse into the cells of Quigley House; it was fascinating to read about how the rooms were put together, with cheap props, actors and a lot of fake blood, and transformed from something quite ropey to something terrifying mainly through the power of suggestion and the players’ own imaginations. The scenes of the team within the escape room experience were gory and frightening, and well written. While some of the characters were far less relatable and sympathetic than others, I enjoyed the pacing of the story and would certainly read more by this author.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

This is a great book, and is an interesting take on the recent trend in horror of "Escape rooms". I flew through it in a day and cannot recommend this enough

I was so excited to read this book after seeing the synopsis. It’s October, so a book about Quigley House, where a group of 4 contestants battle their way through 6 cells of horror and gore in an attempt to win a $60k prize sounded perfect.

Unfortunately, although the parts of the novel where that was happening are well-realised, they are only a fraction of the novel and not really the focus. This book was trying to do too many things, including horror, courtroom scenes, campus novel, racism, misogyny, LGBQT+, sex tourism, the list goes on.

In trying to cover so much, my emotional connection just got lost along the way. I also found the John-Leonard relationship/ending utterly implausible. A person who successfully manages a hotel for a long time is of a certain calibre and I don’t believe that they would be so easily led or so naive and impressionable. It might be more plausible if it has been a young business student looking up to a mentor.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Bloomsbury Publishing for an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

A compelling horror novel full of twists and action - great for fans of Squid Game on Netflix, with some great period details!

It is perfect timing to explore what is hidden behind the pages of The Reprieve novel. The beginning of the book starts very innocently, and I didn't even expect how strong emotions would build upon it. Firstly there are background stories about teenagers who will finally end up in the Quigley House, the haunted escape room. The price is relatively high, and the winning team needs to finish all six extreme challenges. I think this is a theme that people are looking at right now - challenges, big prizes... For me, it was a powerful novel, a rollercoaster that kept me on the edge of my sofa, turning page after page only to finish the next stage of the challenges. And move to another - like a never-ending story. When you get to this point, the book will not let you go so quickly, and it is a masterpiece brilliantly written by James Han Mattson.
There are manipulated other threats, which makes the situation more dramatic, dangerous. You will see the impact of biases that are an unbreakable part of human life. Can people really behave like animals? Aren't we suppose to have higher instincts? There will be jumps to the past and some flashbacks, which will help understand the leading group's motivation and usually situation in this game.
Overall I enjoyed the scary novel, and it is a typical horror story, constructed very carefully. The author matched all pieces of the jigsaw in detail. If you are a fan of terrifying tales, I highly recommend this book for you.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing, for an ARC of this book.

I chose to read a free eARC of Reprieve but that has in no way influenced my review.

Woah! This book. I tried so hard to resist Reprieve. I've fallen behind a little in my planned reading and my poor attention-hungry TBR is suffering. However, certain books, as soon as you see them, have an inexplicable hold over you. Which is exactly what happened with Reprieve. With its eye-catching cover and intriguing plot, I was hooked before I even cracked open the first page! Sadly for the rest of  my TBR, Reprieve was moved straight to the top of the pile.

John Forrester is a legend within horror circles. He is the owner of Quigley House. A full contact, ultra terrifying haunt/escape room which features six cells and a prize of $60,000 for making it to the end. The latest team to the take on the challenge have an edge though. They're determined to claim the prize and go down in history as only the second group to win. But Quigley House has other plans...

An unsettling, unforgettable read where horrors creep around every corner. Reprieve is a book which shines a powerful light on social inequalities across modern day America. Hugely topical and quite the eye-opener, the author has created a novel which delights in making its readers feel uncomfortable, and rightly so! I couldn't put this book down. A chilling exploration of manipulation and greed, I was drawn into the story from the outset and now feel quite bereft that it's over. Reprieve will stay with me for some time to come though, I can tell you!

The concept the plot is built around is just my cup of tea. A horror themed escape room in an old converted house. Complete the timed challenge in each room and collect the required number of red envelopes as you go. The only thing in your way: crazed, mutilated characters - the stuff your worst nightmares are made of, gallons of fake blood and actual, real-life pain as you're zapped by a shock wand or beaten up a bit (all within reason, of course!). If it all gets too much (and for most contestants, it does!) then call out the safe word, 'reprieve'. But you can wave goodbye to a share of the $60,000.

The story is told from several points of view including a court transcript. The characters in the book are all well written and elicited some sort of emotion within me. I liked to see the different sides of the story, how the author used those different POVs to build up to the finale of the book. And what a tense and unnerving denouement it was!

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. Reprieve is a compelling, shocking story which I strongly recommend to those who don't mind a drop of blood in their fiction. Whilst the escape room concept is a flipping marvellous one, it's really only the device the author uses to bring everything together. Reprieve is so, so much more than its blurb. Strong characters, an atmospheric, somewhat unnerving setting and a very important take-home message. Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of Reprieve. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

The 'action' sequences in this book are creepy, scary, and well thought out...shame there arent more of them! I struggled to read this throughout...I felt the characters were unexceptional and unlikeable...in through I felt very little...the back story as to how the main characters ended up together was long winded. The finale was utterly unimpressive, I was hoping for so much more. 2* for the action sequences. Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley.co.uk for the opportunity to read this ARC.