Strange Exit (ARC review)

Following teenagers struggling to emerge from a simulation that has eased their time on a spaceship after the demise of Earth, I expected this book to give me Passenger meets Ready Player One type vibes. 

And it did…but not exactly as well as such other versions. 

First, let me say that the concept behind the simulation and the worlds the characters explore within it are interesting and the writing itself was strong. 

Unfortunately, the story overall felt too rushed. I inevitably ended up confused as the book too-quickly moved from one moment to another, and left me wanting more when it came to characterization, skipping over important details like the backstory of an already-established romance, and descriptions of our main character.

The explanations we do get are somewhat unoriginal (if they do make sense), following too-common YA tropes, my least favorite of which is an inextricable situation in which only teenagers were allowed to board the ship (Yes, this is a no-adult-allowed YA), which only has the slightest hint of logic behind it. 

There were several twists in the end which I can admit surprised me…but don’t look too closely, or you’ll see their many incongruities and plot holes in relation to the rest of the book. Even if they had been wholly logical, my meager investment in the characters made them a lot less impactful. Meanwhile, the other surprises scattered throughout the story seemed incredibly obvious.

For someone who has never seen or read this concept done before, it might be an enjoyable read, but at this point, the idea is so overdone and has been done so well in other ways and other mediums that you’d have to do something really special in order to be worth the read. And this book just doesn’t. 

I rated Strange Exit 2 out of 5 stars. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.