[Review] The Perfect Escape - Suzanne Park

Summary: Nate Jae-Woo Kim wants to be rich, just like everyone else at the elite private school where he's a scholarship student. When one of the wealthiest kids at school offers Nate a huge sum of money to commit grade fraud, he knows that taking the windfall would help support his prideful Korean family, help with college tuition, and jump start his new business. But is compromising his integrity worth it?

Then, fate steps in with another money-making opportunity. At his job at a zombie-themed escape room, Nate meets aspiring actress Kate. She's desperate for a fresh start after high school far away from her oppressive CEO father and persuades Nate to be her teammate in a survivalist competition. If they win the prize money, she can pursue her dreams and Nate can, too. Two teenagers, surviving the elements together for an entire weekend, while starting to fall in love…what could go wrong? (Pub Date: Apr 04, 2020)



Such a fun and different YA!

3.5.

Nate needs money for his family and so does Kate, but to escape the prison her dad built for her. They sign up together for a survival game with zombies and the chances are on their side. Until their secrets catch up to them.

Kate and Nate meet at their part time job and they don't realize how different they are until they're in the middle of the game. Which was super lucky because this gave them an opportunity to know their true selves and be a very cute couple.

This is also a good story for people with Asian parents. Nate is from a Korean family with everything that ensues from it, and the book goes into details of how life is for him. But this is not about Kpop, in case you're wondering. Or if it is, I didn't get the refs, since I'm not a fan.

I especially liked Kate's situation. It's absurd but only up to a point. Her dad built a fortress to make sure no harm comes to her to a point it gets really extreme. To her, having typically Asian parents would be the dream.

I think absurd could be the problem with the book, since it starts very normal and later it made me frown during a few passages. But the absurd part was also what made the experience so refreshing. I'm not sure how this could have been written so it felt right, just that it didn't. At the same time, I liked the flavor Suzanne Park brings to the story. I'm very excited to read what she writes next!


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Rating: 4 out of 5.