Blog Tour / Review: Escape Theory - Margaux Froley

Where I got it: Netgalley
Rating: 2.5 stars  
Cover Rating: 4 stars (Fitting.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: March 12, 2013
Publisher: Soho Teen
Page Count: 288 p.
Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

Devon is at Keaton School on a scholarship, so she has a hard time fitting in with the kids there. She manages to find a few friends and get by. For her junior year she decides to be a peer counselor (the only one), which is now a needed position since a student, Hutch, killed himself. Devon is a bit thrown by this, because she has to lend support to the people who cared about him, and she is secretly one of those people too. Based on what she hears while counseling, Devon begins to wonder if Hutch even did take his own life or if it was something more sinister than that. Hutch committing suicide doesn't fit with who she knew, and it doesn't seem to fit the Hutch others knew either. Devon decides it's up to her to figure out what is really going on.

So the first thing that seemed strange to me is the obituary in the beginning of this novel. It mentions that Hutch committed suicide. Usual in obituaries they tend to avoid mentioning cause of death in that case and it seems especially strange since Hutch's parents are high profile people.

The mystery part of the story was pretty good. It kept me guessing, because the evidence only narrowed down some subjects. There were so many factors and that made it a bit trickier to pinpoint what happened. Some things were kept a "mystery" for too long though, and it made Devon seem a bit incompetent.

Also Grant was such a weird guy. I just wasn't sure what was going on with him. What roll did he play? Did he actually like Devon at all? She mentioned them being friends for a while. It seems strange not knowing the relationships between Devon and most of the other characters. Like, really, one night with a kid two years ago and you think you are connected on some super deep level even thought you didn't (maybe) talk at all for the next two years. Like what the hell!? Why didn't Devon and Hutch just hang out? Why weren't they at least friends? What is going on there? Why does Devon have all these sort of friends and no backstory or anything? Why should we care about Hutch? Devon seemed like an okay character. Sort of a Bitch though. A little crazy maybe? Most people in this novel seemed a bit crazy though. Hutch started to be fleshed out as some sort of Charlie Bartlett type.

There was too much that just didn't make sense. There were totally obvious things that Devon couldn't put together and I don't understand how friendship works apparently and why if you really liked the company of someone you would just not speak to them.

I didn't hate reading this book, but I wished that it made a bit more sense. I just had a hard time making connections because nothing seemed to be connected. People came in and out of the story with little more than a name introduction. It was just strange. I will probably read her next book, and hope that the relationships are worked out and explained a bit better.

First Line:
"Jason Reed Hutchins 1996-2012
Jason Reed Hutchins, 16, of Marin County, died Wednesday, September 5th, 2012, of an apparent suicide at the Keaton school in Santa Cruz, California."

Favorite Line:
"He finished and looked to Devon with that crooked smile of his. She now understood that this is the face Hutch made when he was proud of himself."

Margaux Froley is a Southern California native and a boarding school grad. She spent the last few years working her way through the Hollywood ranks to become a television writer on CW's Privileged. She then moved to New York to become a development executive at MTV Networks. Escape Theory is her first novel.
Follow her:
http://www.margauxfroley.com/
@MargauxFroley