{I've been Reading} The Argument

The Argument by Victoria Jenkins

After sneaking out to a party and getting caught, fifteen-year-old Olivia vows that she'll never speak to her mother again. As the silent treatment drags on, it becomes obvious that Olivia is hiding things from her mother. Hannah is hiding things from her daughter. The author is also hiding a lot of things from the reader. Sometimes it's through misdirection and sometimes it's by leaving out a huge important detail of what was happening in a scene. When things finally did become clear, I felt cheated. This book honestly left me wondering what the "rules" of writing a psychological thriller are and how far the author is allowed to stray from them in order to create that shocking twist.



The Escape Room by Megan Goldin

Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam all had unbreakable  plans for the weekend, but their employer summons them for a mandatory team building  exercise. Locked in the express elevator, the four investment bankers try to solve the clues of this unexpected escape room so that they can get on with their lives, but as the hours tick by, their situation steadily worsens.

The book opens with a prologue that didn't grab me at all (and a lot of time spent on a character you'll never see again), but a few chapters in I started to figure out how the two stories might be connected and enjoy the read. I'd expected the escape room to be a bigger part of the plot. Instead the book is really about what these four did in the past and alternates between the elevator and previous events involving other characters. The writing kept me entertained and it was different from any of the other thrillers I've read lately. 


Disclosure -- The publishes sent me advance review copies. This post contains affiliate links.