I really loved this book and the story of each of the escape rooms. I loved how each of the rooms had a different historical theme and the book flew by. I couldn’t wait to read the next section and see what the next room would be. Unfortunately for me the ending felt preachy and more of a moral tale than a bit of escapist fiction. My heart actually sank that instead of a cool adventure story it ended up being a message. Sometimes kids just want to escape in a book. Having said that loads of the kids I teach would enjoy the whole thing, ending included.

Ami solves puzzles and is eager to start the Escape Room experience granted by her father. Her fellow competitors have different skill sets to her own, but they quickly realise they will have to work together to escape the all too real dangers that beset them from the outset, as they move from one themed room to another. As the players are eliminated one by one, the game seems to turn into a fight for survival…
Forthright, quick to learn and prepared to take risks, Ami finds herself by default the leader of the group and begins to question the motives of the games master, as the situations in which the players are embroiled become increasingly perilous.
This is an intriguing and exciting novel which raises questions about human nature and the importance of free will, while showing the value of friendship and tolerance. I would say it is better suited to pupils in the early years of secondary school, but there are some year 6 readers in our library who will enjoy it immensely.

This was a very twisty and thrilling read! I loved the writing and the plot was just amazing! The ending was quite surprising and I enjoyed it a lot! Overall this was a great mg read and I would definitely read more from this author!

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the free e-arc!

Fans of escape rooms rejoice: there are no punches pulled in Christopher Edge’s latest novel. A thrilling middle grade entry that will have you scratching your head from room to room, as you follow Ami and her friends desperately trying to work out how to unravel the puzzles in The Escape. A high octane blend of sleuthing and survival, this is a perfect read for ages 9+ and shared reading in Years 5 and 6.

Having already read several of Christopher Edge’s other books, I was keen to read his latest, Escape Room. This is an action packed story that will captivate readers and will provoke lots of thought and discussion. It would make a great book club pick.

Ami is given a treat visit to an escape room game, only this turns out to be somewhat different to the experience she’d been expecting. As she struggles to find The Answer and save planet Earth, Ami and her teammates face many an unexpected challenge in the various rooms. The world building in each of the rooms is terrific; each of the children have their individual characters and talents; and Ami is a great protagonist.

With lots of twists and turns; full of action, excitement and thrills; this is a super page turner that will certainly leave you thinking long after you’ve finished reading. .

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for a review.

In typical Christopher Edge fashion, this book was a rip-roaring adventure right from the first page. His writing is concise but never dull, full of character and suspense. I really enjoyed the ‘escape room’ premise of this book, and the characters were each very distinctive and memorable. It was easy to imagine every ‘room’ of this strange story, and I loved the scary wonder of the library and the shopping mall full of extinct beasts. The ecological theme was well woven into each of the rooms too, and I enjoyed how that angle became more apparent as ‘the question/answer’ towards the end. But unfortunately, it was the ending that stopped this being a 5-star book for me. I didn’t particularly like the idea that all the children apart from Ami weren’t real, and the AI aspect threw me but not in a good way. It didn't really make sense how Ami didn’t know about her ‘father’ or herself, regardless of the explanation. I think perhaps the escape room might have been more powerful as a real game educating real kids about the climate crisis, rather than how it panned out. I think a book needs to impact the characters to really impact the readers, so Ami having done all this before, and the other characters not even being real was a disappointment. But I’m sure my students will love it regardless! It’s still a fascinating and brilliantly crafted story that’s perfectly suited to reluctant readers for its pacy adventure.

If you are someone who enjoys problem solving and computer games, you will love this book. If you enjoy reading science fiction, you will love this book. If you enjoy adventure stories, you will love this book. If you are someone who enjoys stories with a strong female character, you will love this book. If you are a slightly older person (like me) who enjoys reading fantastic and well written children’s books, you will love this book. If you are someone who enjoys visiting escape rooms, you will love this book …. but you might also be a bit wary on your next escape room visit.
For her birthday, Ami’s father has organised a visit to the most amazing, hi-tech escape room --- ever! Here she is teamed up with a small group of children who also seem to share her love of problem solving challenges. Their ultimate goal is to save the world before their time runs out.
This, though, is no ordinary escape room and the challenges that this small, intrepid team are faced with prove to be both mentally demanding, physically challenging and perilous. The importance of teamwork in this escape room cannot be underestimated. The challenges that Ami and her team have to overcome become more and more dangerous with every ‘door’ that they open, every step, every twist and every turn they take: do not be mistaken, the peril is real.
If you have ever read any of Christopher Edge’s books, you will know that he really enjoys grappling with important issues. This makes his stories not only exciting but thought provoking and highly original. In Escape Room he succeeds in challenging his reader’s thinking with his questions on the nature of human existence. This story fizzes with adventure and danger resulting in the rapid turning of pages. A truly exciting read.

A really exciting science fiction thriller that has your heart racing and a shocking twist at the end.

Set in an escape room, Ami and four other children have to work together to solve puzzles and escape. The rooms become increasingly more dangerous as time goes on and Ami gradually realises that all is not as it seems. The action was non-stop and Ami was a very likeable character - you wanted her to succeed and to escape successfully. Each room had a different historical theme (which was a nice addition to the story) and the science elements were a well-plotted part of the story.

A book that will definitely appeal to lots of readers, especially those who like high drama or science.

I loved reading this brilliantly thought out book. It was a great, fast paced adventure and had a wonderful ending.

This book was a wild ride, it kept me hooked from the first few lines. I am always on the lookout for books to add to my classroom and this has made the cut. Ami and the gang literally have the world on their shoulders and their one job is to save it and themselves, and they do it with such style. A quick entertaining read and on the list for the next class book.

This story had a lot of promise, and the different rooms really added to the mystery, as well as being really interesting - the chess automaton was a particular favourite of mine as I remember there being one in Hugo Cabret. I loved the huge library, and the Mayan Mystery.

The ending though... I really hate when a middle grade mystery's answer is "climate change". I read books for escapism and none that I've read so far add this in in a way that feels organic - it always feel shoehorned in with the all the force of a blunt hammer smacking me in the skull with it's message.

Escape Room begins with a bang and ends by throwing a serious gauntlet to the reader.

As a reward for working hard, Ami Oswald’s father buys her a ticket for The Escape - the ultimate locked-room experience. She meets her team and the adventure begins. And how!

The first locked-room is thrilling: puzzles, red-herrings, and an urgently ticking-clock. By the third chapter I was swept away.

The game master gives the children a clear mission: save the world, find the Answer. But as they race from one hazard to the next, they learn that solving puzzles is not their only challenge: surviving is.

As the story evolves two things emerge: the ways in which different skill-sets shape a team’s performance, and the hostile environments threatening the children. The latter being a theme which grows throughout the novel and shapes the ending in a topical way. What starts as an exciting bedtime story has, by the end, become something much more serious.

The ending surprised me. I wondered initially if Escape Room was the first part of a duology, but on second thoughts I think Christopher Edge is inviting and expecting the reader to join Ami in the game’s conclusion. Our collaboration is the only escape.

Love the cover and the illustration at the start of each chapter.

Being a huge fan of Christopher Edge's other books especially #TheInfiniteLivesOfMaisieDay I was delighted that the publishers Nosy Crow and Netgalley gave me early access to this, his latest offering. In Escape Room, we join Ami and a small group of others as they play an ultimate game filled with puzzles and challenges. What follows is an explosive adrenaline filled adventure story that had me hooked from the opening line. I was completely immersed in the game along with Ami. Edge creates books that fizz and ignite questions and Escape Room certainly did that as well as imparting knowledge. The format of this text will enable fluent readers to enjoy the journey whilst also enabling those who are just becoming more independent to dive within its pages. Escape Room has many levels - not just the levels of the game that the characters are playing but the levels of understanding that readers will consider as they immerse themselves within Edge's world. The ending packed a powerful punch and was completely unexpected. This will be one of those books that will be spoken about in classrooms - I will certainly be recommending it and one that readers will return to to see if the clues to the ending were there because "all you need to succeed is hidden inside The Escape." A uniquely brilliant 5 star read.

An absolute roller coaster of a read. I read this in one sitting.
Ami’s father has gifted her an Escape Room experience. From the first minute she is solving puzzles, trying to just get in the building.
From there she meets the 4 others who will make up the group.
Each room they go in gets bigger, more complicated, more dangerous and more difficult to escape from.
The author pulls no punches, there are sacrifices along the way and an unforeseeable twist.
An absolute must read.

I have never read anything by Christopher Edge before and now I am wondering why? This book is thrilling from start to end with so many unexpected plot twists I defy any reader to predict what is coming next.

This middle grade adventure follows Ami and 4 other children through an escape room. There are lots of puzzles for the children to workout, each having special talents to help them. Their adventures and puzzles are deep and offer lots of opportunity for discussion and potential cross curriculum teaching in the classroom. Once thing that did puzzle me from the start is the randomness of the teams - Ami is matched to four strangers, yet she soon becomes attached to them in their different ways and some of their adventures do not end well!

This is an exciting read with many things to ponder on and plot twists of a more philosophical nature: even as I type this I am uncovering deeper meanings and messages at their different challenges.

This is a short read but it packs a punch: action at every turn and an ending you will find hard to believe.

Wow! Well I LOVE escape rooms and I love fast-paced, edgy middle-grade and this novel combines the two with bucket-loads of tension and intrigue from the get-go. I was pretty much hooked from the front cover, and this gripping read does NOT disappoint.

When Ami turns up at The Escape, she thinks she's there to play a game. But as she meets her teammates and the Host sets their challenge, they soon descend into a world of terror that feels NOTHING like gameplay. As they battle their way through a dust-filled library, a Mayan tomb and a deserted shopping mall that is prowling with extinct animals, Ami must hold her nerve. But what or who is behind The Escape and can she beat it?

This is writing and imagination at its best, but perhaps not for the faint-hearted reader. With high stakes and extreme peril, Christopher Edge moves his characters through a compelling range of dark and vivid challenges that will have readers on the edge of their seats. The novel may be on the short side, but it's jam-packed with dangerous adventure and mind-bending mind benders.

I loved the eclectic mix of rooms. The Mayan temple evoked real fear, the library was intriguing and eerily sinister and the shopping mall just terrifying. And yet, lying beneath the surface of every level is an important message that culminates in a powerful twist and punchy ending which hit me like a sledgehammer and yet left me with hope.

This is the first novel by Christopher Edge that I've read and it has definitely left me wanting more. Meticulously plotted and full of fantastic imagination, it also provides a dose of tough talking, which considering that the clock is ticking, may be what we all need.

A big thanks to Netgalley and Nosy Crow for allowing me to read a review copy. Escape Room is released tomorrow, 3rd February 2022.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
Age recommendation: 9+

Have you ever been to escape rooms? I love the concept and would like to do it again one day.

When Ami arrives at The Escape, she thinks it’s just a game – the ultimate escape room with puzzles and challenges to solve in order to find your way out before time runs out. But then it turns out that together with her teammates, Adjoa, Ibrahim, Oscar and Min, Ami has been chosen to save the world. Together they need to find the Answer. As the Host locks them inside the first room, they quickly realise this is no ordinary game... Can Ami and her friends find the Answer before it’s too late?

Christopher Edge has done it again! Escape Room is an absolutely thrilling adventure that grips from the very first page. I really liked the challenges that Ami and her friends were faced with and how different each room was. And then, at the end, comes a massive twist - one I definitely didn't expect! At the core of the text is also a very important message and a question about the future of our planet.

As with other books by Christopher Edge, I really liked the fact that the brilliant story is condensed to 200 pages.

For puzzle-loving Ami, the chance to challenge herself at The Escape - a thrilling escape room experience - is the perfect day out. It appears that Ami might be playing alone until four others arrive; all action and impulsive Oscar, quiet and observant Ibrahim, book-smart Min and natural-born adventurer Adjoa. With the team set to go, the ‘Host’ sets them a challenge…‘Find the Answer. Save the World.’ Sounds simple enough.

But this is no ordinary escape room and soon the children are on a dark and dangerous path where every room is out to get them. Will everyone make it to the end? Can they find the Answer before time runs out?

Now I love an Escape Room, have even escaped from some of them successfully, but I have never experienced anything of the like that Ami and her co-escapers face. Christopher Edge’s latest release, Escape Room, is expertly written, full-on and fast-paced and is much more than I anticipated. I absolutely loved it.

Edge is somewhat of a master in delivering quality over quantity, and, as always, there is a lot crammed into two-hundred-and-eight pages. With its short page count it is perfect for those children who find longer books overwhelming. Full of peril, excitement and with plenty of twists, turns and a very unexpected ending, Escape Room is a thought-provoking story that will appeal to gamers and young activists who are keen to help save the planet.

The thrilling, puzzle-solving adventure will have readers on the edge of their seats as Ami and her team discover various rooms in which the threats and dangers are all to real; an attic full of old computer tech, a dusty labyrinth library, a Mayan temple with a cursed tomb, an abandoned shopping mall home to extinct animals and the command module of a spaceship heading towards Mars.

But nothing is at it first appears in The Escape and each room, a representative symbol of the world today, holds much more than just the immediate puzzle that needs solving. The game ‘Host’ has a bigger puzzle that needs solving and through events from the past, present and future, Edge challenges both Ami and the reader to face-up to the world’s problems. Highlighting extinction, climate change, pollution, a throw-away-society and the possibility of human existence on another planet, Edge addresses important and timely issues, raises questions and provide lots of food for thought.

Where adults have perhaps failed, it is up to children with their ideas and creativity who hold the power to change the world. So, what have you done to save the world today? Or perhaps more importantly, what action are you going to take to save the world?

With huge thanks to Nosy Crow for the copy I received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Recommended for 9+.

I was talking to my class about how much I couldn’t wait to read this as part of our school reading challenge: Book Battleships as Christopher Edge is one of the authors on there. We are also participating in Fantastic Book Awards run by the Lancashire Library Service and the children have absolutely loved Space Oddity too, Escape Room was no exception! Lots of glorious twists and turns, really great characters and a plot that kept me guessing! Can’t wait to share with my class again and recommend to everyone. Thank you for letting me read an ARC.

It’s hard to write a review without giving too much away because the ending was a massive part of the book. I’m not sure if I liked the ending or not but i can’t stop thinking about it so I guess that’s a good thing!

As for the rest of the book, it was very fast paced, full of action and really quite scary in some places. I know some of my year 6 children would love the details of the character’s demises but I also know some would be quite frightened by it.

I really like the idea of setting the book in an escape room but this was an escape room crossed with a horror movie!

I have read other Christopher Edge’s books and this is very different from them. The scientific element is not as prevalent and the action is more intense.

I will recommend this book to certain children who I know do not get frightened easily and will be able to understand the quite complicated ending.