Getting Away with Murder

Gr 9 Up–A rogue AI-powered computer system hijacks a new high-tech escape room complex, trapping a group of teens in its clutches and forcing them to play a deadly game. Twins Saffron and Georgia couldn’t be more different, with Saffron finding joy in being the rebel, posting prank videos online—such as reading her sister’s diary on a livestream—even if they hurt others. Georgia, meanwhile, is a go-getter good girl proud of her achievements. Saffron, while interning at the escape room, ponders to the AI Lightman that each member of her online Sole Survivor video game team fits a typical teenage stereotype—rebel, know-it-all, jock, princess, star, geek, artist, weirdo, and criminal. She wonders who would survive a real-life game and unknowingly prompts Lightman to create such a game. When her team, summoned by Lightman, arrives, they’re forced to play games full of violence and gore, while also confronting interpersonal issues—Squid Game meets Breakfast Club. The book is told from the twins’ perspectives, primarily Georgia’s as Saffron spends much of the book trapped in the control room, and while the story flows during the action, the ending falls somewhat flat. The setting is not explicitly stated, but there are Briticisms (“I can’t see a bloody thing”) in the text. Most characters cue white, except for Aidan, who has brown skin and is, unfortunately, cast as “criminal.”