Laila is Richardsville High’s quirky girl. She’s just biding her time until graduation when she had an unusual encounter with Matty, the all-American boy next door, everybody just can’t get enough of. When Matty and Laila start to talk, he shares a secret with her. He’s a part of a clinical study for a medication called effugium and it can really transport him to other places and times. Will Laila trust Matty enough to try the effugium?
Genre: Young Adult/ YA Magical Realism
Age appropriate: 12-18 years
Number of Pages: 142 pages
Date of Publication: 14/01/2021
Author/Illustrator/Publisher:
The author of this book is Emma Eggleston and ‘Escape’ is her debut novel.
Rating: 3.5/5
Review:
‘Escape’ is a short story aim at younger readers where the main characters are two teenagers, Matty and Laila who both attend the same high school but who weren’t friends and while she was introvert and didn’t have any friends Matty was the opposite and was the most popular guy in the school. Unfortunately, Matty was keeping a secret, he was very sad and lonely.
This book touches on two very important topics which are depression and mental health in younger people. The male character Matty suffers both of them and although he was a popular boy he just felt empty and sad all the time. The development of both main characters through the story was really good and I liked how all the characters interacted with each other. The writing style was simple and sometimes it felt a bit slow especially at the beginning of the book.
I really liked the plot and how the author managed to portray depression very well with one of her characters, explaining how he felt exhausted pretending to be okay and refusing to be seen crying. I think this could be a valuable book for teenagers because of the messages that it contains about dealing with mental health.
I felt that the story was a bit short, it left room for more development in my opinion. The end felt a bit abrupt and I wanted to know more about what happened and it made me wonder if maybe the author will pick up the story and continue with it.
Overall this is a book with an important message which I enjoyed.
Availability: The book is available as an E-book and as a Paperback from Amazon.
Thank you so much Emma Eggleston for providing me with an ebook copy of your book.
Shelf Life 
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