Season 4 of “The Escape Game”, a reality game show where teams of teen contestants work to complete escape rooms to win the grand prize, ended with the mysterious murder of one of the contestants, Alicia Angelos. The murder was never solved, but many believe that Alicia’s sister and fellow contestant, Sierra Angelos, is the killer. Now, a new group of contestants are ready to compete in season 5 of “The Escape Game” including Carter, the highest-ranking solve specialist on the domain “Kick It Carter”; Beck, a trans teen who builds his own escape rooms; Adi, a bookworm who is gifted at solving codes; and Sierra, the “villain” of season 4 who is desperate to find her sister’s killer. While working to stay in the competition by completing the escape rooms, the team discovers clues that will hopefully help them to solve Alicia’s murder.
The Escape Game is a YA mystery thriller with themes and topics like parental abandonment, greed, fame, child predators, teamwork, appearance versus reality, gender identity, truth and lies, and show business. The Escape Game would be perfect for fans of Margot Mertz Takes It Down by Carrie McCrossen and Ian McWethy, The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson, and Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson.
Having completed a few escape rooms over the years, I loved the escape room-themed game show setting and all of the puzzles! It was also cool that not only were the main characters working to solve the escape room puzzles to move onto the next round, but they were also investigating the death of Sierra’s sister so this made the book seem really fast-paced and action-packed. I also appreciated that the book was broken up into sections for each of the rounds of the game show as this helped the book to flow really nicely.
The book alternated between the perspectives of the four teammates—Carter, Beck, Adi, and Sierra—and the changing perspectives were a little hard to follow, especially at the beginning of the book. Perhaps if the book was told from the perspective of only one or maybe two of the main characters (like Carter and/or Sierra), I would have enjoyed the book more. There were also a few short interviews from the previous season with Alicia Angelos interspersed throughout the book that didn’t seem to be all that relevant.
That said, I think that the budding friendship and camaraderie between Carter, Beck, Adi, and Sierra (a.k.a. Team Helsing) was the best part of the novel. I’ve read quite a few YA mystery thrillers recently and in comparison, I felt like The Escape Game wasn’t as unpredictable or shocking as other books I’ve read. The book does end in a bit of a cliffhanger, but sets the main characters up nicely for another adventure, so I’m excited to see what’s up next for Team Helsing!
If you’re looking for an action-packed teen mystery thriller full of puzzles and a fun cast of characters, then I highly recommend checking out The Escape Game!
The Escape Game is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of April 7th 2026.
Will you be picking up The Escape Game? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis
An unforgettable young adult murder mystery set in an escape-room themed game show filled with sabotage, betrayal, and puzzles to die for.
It’s all fun and games until someone ends up dead.
Six months ago, season four of The Escape Game ended in horror when contestant Alicia Angelos was found murdered on set.
Now season five is underway, and new contestants are ready to put their skills to the test solving the show’s trickiest escape rooms. There’s Adi, the cryptographer; Carter, the math whiz; Beck, the wannabe game master; and . . . Sierra Angelos, the girl who got away with her sister’s murder. Or so everyone believes.
But Sierra’s not just here to win. She’s here for justice.
When the contestants begin uncovering clues that hint at the identity of Alicia’s true killer, it becomes clear that the stakes aren’t high just in this competition—they’re deadly. If these teens want to win—and survive—the game, they must solve the biggest mystery of all: who killed Alicia Angelos?
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer and rising star Tamara Moss comes a twisty thrill-ride that will take readers on an exhilarating hunt to uncover secrets, conspiracy, and cold-blooded murder.
