Monday, February 21, 2022

Review: The Perfect Escape by Leah Konen

by Leah Konen
Release Date: January 4, 2022
2022 G.P. Putnam's Sons
Kindle Edition; 372 Pages
ISBN: 978-0593085448
ASIN: B091PK7HBM
Audiobook: B093MG4298
Genre: Fiction / Mystery
Source: Review copy from publisher

3 / 5 Stars

Summary
New friends Sam, Margaret and Diana are thrilled to be getting out of the city for a girls’ weekend—they’ve bonded over their messy divorces, and every mile on the odometer feels like another step towards putting their exes in the past. But when car trouble halfway into their trip strands them in the most unlikely of mountain towns, they come face-to-face with the hurts and betrayals they were so desperate to leave behind.

When Diana doesn't return home after a night out, Sam and Margaret's search for her reveals just how little they know about their friend. As eerie coincidences and secrets begin to pile up, and an ex-boyfriend arrives in the tiny town, the women realize that their detour may not have been a mistake...and that someone wants to guarantee that they never make it out.
 
My Thoughts
The Perfect Escape had a fairly interesting premise, started off fairly strong, but I thought it went downhill from the middle of the book; I did enjoy the situation in which the girls found themselves, but I struggled with the writing as it seemed to be more in the nature of telling you what was happening rather than letting you figure it out on its own.  
 
Sam, Margaret, and Diana are newish friends who bond over their difficulties with their respective spouses and decide to have a girls' weekend. Unfortunately, something goes wrong right from the beginning and they are stranded overnight in a town that is of interest to one of the other girls.  Personally, I hate coincidences like these and thought this was one of the weakest parts of the book.  For me, it affected the level of suspense and made it way too predictable.  

This was a fast-paced read, although it did slow down considerably in the middle.  Unfortunately, told through the perspectives of only Sam and Margaret took away from the overall suspense as it made Diana look quite suspicious.  Personally, I think having Diana's perspective would have strengthened the overall story.  I wasn't a huge fan of these women as their communication was terrible and they certainly didn't make mature choices.  Maybe they are all passive in nature, but I know I would not have let things go the way they did and I would have asked a lot more questions.  

Verdict
The Perfect Escape was an easy fast-paced read, but it did have some issues with pacing and I thought keeping it to the two perspectives lost some of the overall suspense. The story didn't feel quite like a thriller, but more of a domestic fiction with all of the trials and tribulations of marriage, infidelity, miscarriage, and so on.  There was a nice little twist at the end over which I spent some time reflecting, but it wasn't enough to boost this book. Although this one was a miss for me, if you are looking for an easy beach read, this might be for you.

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