The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Will Alicia’s murder be avenged?

Season five of The Escape Game is beginning, even though season four ended with the murder of a contestant, Alicia Angelos. Alicia’s sister, Sierra, is a current contestant and her goal is to solve the mystery of her sister’s death. The contestants are a diverse group with varied backgrounds and skills. The more she learns about the others involved in the contest, Sierra realizes that they all have something to hide. Will she be able to get justice for her sister’s death?

Likes/dislikes: The character development is strong. A wonderful character driven mystery. I love the teamwork that pushes the story along and I enjoyed the puzzle concept.
Language: R for 149 swears and 9 f-words.
Mature content: PG for gentle, brief kiss.
Violence: PG-13 for off page abuse of a child, stabbing and gunshot wounds, and a bloody death.
Ethnicity: Sierra and Alicia have pale skin. The rest of the characters are a mix of ethnicities with olive, brown and black skin.

Gingerbread Bones by Lindsay Lovise

Posted on by lynndellwatson

A spooky Hansel and Gretel remix!

A group of eleven delinquent teens is sent to a remote area to learn survival skills and improve their behavior. A counselor, psychologist and two cameramen accompany them to keep them safe and film the transformation to make a documentary for an influencer. The influencer is Ashley, the toxic stepmother of Georgie and Hamish. Georgie and Hamish are in the group and know they have to rely on each other to get through the camp together because they are cut off from the rest of the world, unplugged. Soon the adults go missing and strange things start to happen. When they discover a dismembered, bloody hand of one of the supervising adults, they wonder if any of them will survive?

Likes/dislikes: The Hansel and Gretel retelling makes the tale even creepier. Great character development. The characters have different but interesting backgrounds. I appreciate the content warning before the story begins. Social media posts or emails start each chapter, giving readers information and insight to what’s happening elsewhere.

Language: R for 228 swears and 111 f-words.
Mature Content: PG-13 for a passionate kiss.
Violence: PG-13 Bloody injuries and off-page stabbing death.
Ethnicity: Ava is Korean American. Talia has frizzy hair and freckles. Madison has brown skin. Alicia is white. Georgie and Hamish are white. One of the cameramen is Latino.

Our Strange Duet by Erin A. Craig

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Retold Phantom of the Opera!

Christine’s love of music was inspired by her deceased musical father who promised that she would be visited by the angel of music. She believes the angel has come to her to build her singing voice and help her become a great and famous singer. She’s never seen her teacher and only hears his voice as he gives her instructions. Her dreams seem to be coming true when the lead vocalist loses her voice and Christine is thrust into the leading role. Strange, dangerous things start to happen in the opera and Christine begins to doubt whether or not her teacher is truly an angel.

Likes/dislikes: The Rosa Josephine is the signature rose of the Phantom. The Phantom tells the story of Josephine creating the rose to emulate her love for Napoleon, which is interesting.
I like how Raoul stands up to his mother when she belittles Christine. Beautiful confectionary-like descriptions of costumes. When Madame Giry tells the story of helping a young Erik run away from the carnival, my heart went out to him and I feel like she was very brave to help. I especially like this retelling of The Phantom of the Opera because of the thorough descriptions of Christine’s thought process helping her to make the choices she made.

Language:PG-13 for 12 swears, no f-words.

Mature Content: PG for imaginary beau and passionate kissing in a daydream of Christine’s.
Off page sex in a dream. Stagehand running his hands unabashedly over the clothing covered breasts of two chorus girls. Sweet kiss with Raoul. Passionate kissing with Raoul.

Violence: PG for off page deaths.

Ethnicity: Predominantly white. Italian lead singers.