Escape Theory (Keaton School, #1) (2024)

An ARC was provided by the publisher for an honest review. All the thoughts here are mine, and were not influenced in any way.

Ok, if you know me, I'm a person who likes to be honest and real with those who read my reviews (and if you are, I sincerely thank you from the pits of my heart), and this instance is no exception. I'll be truthful here - there are good things and bad things to be found in this book. I'm not saying those are concrete goods and bads, though, because what I will disclose are purely subjective; that is to say, you may like 'em, you may not, and whatever your position/stance is regarding them may break or make the novel for you.

Let's get to the bad first.

For starters, this book has too much drugs, alcohol, and sex. Remember Gossip Girl, this show of powertripping kids who live and drown in these three things? If those stuff disturbed and disgusted you, you may wanna reconsider trying this novel out, because the storyline pretty much centers on drugs (a drug cartel, to be specific), and intense party goer kids who have sex and hook-ups everywhere. And they all get away with it. There's an air of entitlement, of elitism, and of an arrogance that's just a wee bit annoying. Granted, I'm not someone from the upper class, so I have zilch idea whether such a situation really does happen. I'm a bit skeptical, but maybe it does realize itself here and there - a whole population of people (or at least the majority of it anyway) involved in a drug cartel, under the noses of the administration, without even arousing any form of suspicion. How convenient, huh? Echoing what I said, if this bothers you, reconsider. There's too much of it.

But for me, it was easy to overlook, thanks to the amazing narration and the curious, determined heroine. The narrator of this story is Devon, a girl who got into this prestigious school thanks to a scholarship. She used to be a shy individual, seemingly cautious and wary of making friends with the rest of the student populace, but this all changed when she met and got trapped with Hutch, one of the school's Legends for having Keaton alumni in his family, while trying to get milk and cookies. But that was before. At the present time, Hutch is dead, and she becomes a peer counselor to the deceased's friends. Deep inside her, however, she knows that Hutch didn't kill himself; her one memory with him, of him, of the person she got to know deeply, didn't indicate a guy who'd end his life just like that. And so she'll try to find out, however possible.

If you like a narration that will quickly suck you in and engross you in the story, this book is one of them. I had a lot of fun reading the heroine's thoughts and "assumptions" as she worked about her inner Nancy Drew. Even though she's mainly acting as someone merely observing and listening to other people, it still has this personal touch because the deceased was someone she knew, and that intimacy made it even more suspenseful. The build-up is slow, the tension and escalation of events steady, but the suspense will keep your toes curling. Did Hutch really kill himself? Was there more to the story? Was it a murder? If so, who?

There is also this uncanny air of sadness in the atmosphere, making the read more intimate than I thought possible. Throughout the story, we are given flashbacks of that one night Devon spent with Hutch trapped in the kitchen when they went out to get milk and cookies during their freshman year. As a reader, we already know that he's dead, and their antics make everything a lot more melancholic. Like Devon, we, readers, get to know more about him like how he's more than just the operations he does, how there's an innate kindness and carefreeness inside of him, contributing to a sympathy for the both the heroine and the could-have-been.

The author was able to write what I said above very well, and this, I think, made the book a spectacular one for me. The feelings from this factor alone is powerful and haunting: the feeling of looking back and regretting what you could've done, the feeling of knowing a person's worth only after they're gone, the feeling that there was a chance, an opportunity at something so formidable, and if only you took it when it stopped by your door. To me, it stirred up a lot of emotions, and it was because of this that I couldn't get away from the story. My only regret is that I wish I read it earlier.

All in all, get this if you want a powerful and at the same time, a suspenseful whodunit mystery read. While it may be true there is a disturbing amount of drugs, sex, and alcohol, it is easy to overlook them if you're mainly looking for a good narration, mystery, heroine, and values. In the end, there are lessons to learn from, and it is in my belief that these are the most important of all.

There is no escaping the implausibility of this YA book. I simply could not get past the ridiculous notion that an inexperienced, untrained and unsupervised sixteen-year-old would be the main provider of psychological services to fellow students at a private boarding school after another student commits suicide. Nor could I believe that the protagonist could Nancy-Drew her way to finding the truth about the student's death. It was Frasier meets Scooby Doo, complete with surfer dudes. Feh.

Devon is at Keaton School on a scholarship, so she has a hard time fitting in with the kids their. She manages to find a few friends and get by. For her junior year she decides to be a peer counselor (the only one), which is now a needed position since a student, Hutch, killed himself. Devon is a bit thrown by this, because she has to lend support to the people who cared about him, and she is secretly one of those people too. Based on what she hears while counseling, Devon begins to wonder if Hutch even did take his own life or if it was something more sinister than that. Hutch committing suicide doesn't fit with who she knew, and it doesn't seem to fit the Hutch others knew either. Devon decides it's up to her to figure out what is really going on.

So the first thing that seemed strange to me is the obituary in the beginning of this novel. It mentions that Hutch committed suicide. Usual in obituaries they tend to avoid mentioning cause of death in that case and it seems especially strange since Hutch's parents are high profile people.

The mystery part of the story was pretty good. It kept me guessing, because the evidence only narrowed down some subjects. There were so many factors and that made it a bit trickier to pinpoint what happened. Some things were kept a "mystery" for too long though, and it made Devon seem a bit incompetent.

Also Grant was such a weird guy. I just wasn't sure what was going on with him. What roll did he play? Did he actually like Devon at all? She mentioned them being friends for a while. It seems strange not knowing the relationships between Devon and most of the other characters. Like, really, one night with a kid two years ago and you think you are connected on some super deep level even thought you didn't (maybe) talk at all for the next two years. Like what the hell!? Why didn't Devon and Hutch just hang out? Why weren't they at least friends? What is going on there? Why does Devon have all these sort of friends and no backstory or anything? Why should we care about Hutch? Devon seemed like an okay character. Sort of a Bitch though. A little crazy maybe? Most people in this novel seemed a bit crazy though. Hutch started to be fleshed out as some sort of Charlie Bartlett type.

There was too much that just didn't make sense. There were totally obvious things that Devon couldn't put together and I don't understand how friendship works apparently and why if you really liked the company of someone you would just not speak to them.

I didn't hate reading this book, but I wished that it made a bit more sense. I just had a hard time making connections because nothing seemed to be connected. People came in and out of the story with little more than a name introduction. It was just strange. I will probably read her next book, and hope that the relationships are worked out and explained a bit better.

First Line:
"Jason Reed Hutchins 1996-2012
Jason Reed Hutchins, 16, of Marin County, died Wednesday, September 5th, 2012, of an apparent suicide at the Keaton school in Santa Cruz, California."

Favorite Line:
"He finished and looked to Devon with that crooked smile of his. She now understood that this is the face Hutch made when he was proud of himself."

Read more: http://www.areadingnook.com/#ixzz2Neq...

Escape Theory My first thought upon finishing Escape Theory? Whoa. This book is like a runaway train and a wonderful soap opera mixed together. Friendship, secrets, scandal, it's all here and Margaux Froley has written a book that is hard to put down once you start. Be warned my friends, this is a book you'll read straight through in one sitting.

Devon has always been an observer. The one who watches rather than participates. The one who listens rather than speaks. After the death of Hutch she decides to put it to good use by becoming a counselor. I really liked this aspect of the story. It allowed Devon to dive deeper into the people who surrounded Hutch while he was alive, and therefore allowed me to slowly unravel the mystery. Oh, and what a gorgeously written mystery it was. You won't see the ending coming at all.

I'm getting ahead of myself though. Really, what kept me reading more than anything was the relationship between Devon and Hutch. This isn't a story of a girl who is utterly distraught over the death of her boyfriend. Instead, the relationship between these two is more complicated and yet infinitely more interesting. Devon is strong, but you can still see the cracks in her facade. It makes her more human and, in my opinion, more likable. The stakes are high for Devon as she tries to figure out what really happened the night Hutch died. I felt myself really connecting with her, and it made me love this book so much more.

When I said this book is like a soap opera, I meant it. It can feel a little over the top at times, but the characters are bright and vivid, the scenery perfect for a mystery of this magnitude. This is a story that you'll eat up from start to finish and, more than likely, your mouth will be hanging open at the ending. I adored Margeaux Froley's Escape Theory and I honestly can't wait for more.

Jason Reed Hutchins just committed suicide. He was popular, rich, intelligent, handsome, and his friends can barely believe that he took his own life. Devon Mackintosh didn't run in the same circles as Hutch, but she knew him well due to one special, emotionally intimate night back when they were both freshmen.

Now, Devon is a Peer Counselor and the one assigned to support Hutch's closest friends in their time of grief. Their sessions reveal aspects of Hutch Devon never suspected, but they also make her suspicious about his untimely death. The more she discovers, the more she's convinced that someone murdered Hutch. But everyone is a suspect and many know about Devon's obsession.

I liked that the mystery within ESCAPE THEORY is self contained, but that there are hints of a larger mystery at work, one that has to do with the history of both Keaton school and Hutch's family. I love the development of the school. It has a drug problem, like most rich kid schools, and there are major privacy issues as the faculty try to get Devon to reveal what was shared during her supposedly confidential sessions.

ESCAPE THEORY definitely tugged on my heartstrings at times. It goes back and forth between the past and present. In the present, the mystery unfolds and in the past it's revealed just what happened between Hutch and Devon. It's painful to learn more about what an awkward-but-charming kid he was and know that he dies young. But it helps illuminate Devon's motivation and why she can't just dismiss her concerns. I did like that Devon wasn't solely motivated by justice for Hutch. She really does try to help her peers even though she hasn't had much training.

ESCAPE THEORY is an absorbing, character-driven mystery. I highly recommend it to fans of Lisa and Laura Roecker's Liar Society mysteries. I enjoyed Margaux Froley's debut and look forward to subsequent Keaton School mysteries.

ARC read from ALA Conference - so far so good!

Final vote is for 3.25 stars - mostly for being better than I expected.
Good pace and characters, though its hard to keep track of them all the time. I enjoyed the unfolding of the memory of Hutch interwoven with the present-day story. Good level of reading for mid-high school readers.

Soapbox moment: there was a lot of discussion about abusing pills, teen sex, and underage drinking that was presented as though these were common and expected among any group of teens today. While I understand their significance as part of the plot, I am never heartened by an author who assumes all her readers are in full agreement that this is the norm of our day and anything else would be stupid to consider. If we present this lifestyle as the norm to teen readers then we are just as guilty of promoting this lifestyle as those who provide the drugs and alcohol to teens. Devon, the main character, was told by her classmates that if she had a problem with their using then SHE was the one who was uncool and would be socially punished. Great message. Yes, living a clean life is not as common today, but that doesn't mean it is certain social suicide. Give people some credit, and a chance to choose for themselves. Okay, soapbox over.

I thought that escape theory was a great book. I picked it up because of its front cover. It looked interesting because the pink lettering against the dark background made it different from the rest of depressing books that that specific library had to offer. It looked like it was going to be another depressing book about teenage social outcast, but the blurb was slightly more promising.

To outline what the blurb said, there is a girl called Devon who goes to an expensive high class private school and because she's there on a scholarship and doesn't have much money she doesn't feel like she fits in. Also because she doesn't have much money she isn't considered ''popular''. But then she meets a rich boy named Hutch, who also disapproves of the social cycle within the school even though he is popular. During their freshman year they get locked in the schools kitchen one night and start talking and realise they have a lot in common even though there socially different. From their they kind of hook up but leave in the morning as friends for reasons later explained in the book. So the book continues in the present days with flashbacks to when they were in the kitchen so that the book doesn't reveal everything at once which WAS REALLY COOL. Anyways so the book starts with the announcement that Hutch has committed suicide. But Devon doesn't believe it was a suicide because hutch seemed happy, even though they hadn't talked since freshman year. Also, Devon starts peer counselling that year, and her first patients just happen to be the people closest to Hutch. So she intends to get to the bottom of this mystery.

This book was really awesome. It had mystery, scandal, crime an flashbacks. I loved this book and cannot wait for the next Keaton high book to come out. THis book comes under written in 2013 or 2012 category. i do not have a quote from the book. Something new I learnt from this book was that if you want to find out the bad guys hotel room you send them champagne and follow the guy who delivers it. Definitely a helpful life lesson.

*A copy was provided by Soho Teen for review purposes*

Escape Theory really reminded me of Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday, which you guys may or may not know is my favorite mystery book ever. The dialogue was very funny and entertaining and the best friend was absolutely nuts and had tons of personality. I really liked Froley’s idea, and I loved the setting and how she described it. The set-up was absolutely perfect, and the circ*mstances were written flawlessly. In some mystery books I feel like the solution comes too easily, but in this book it smoothed into the answer with ease and finesse, and it all made sense. The staging and story line was absolutely perfect, and the ending summed up the whole story line effortless and thrilling way. Really, I can’t believe that this book is Margaux Froley’s first.

This cast was a rather large one, but since each character had such a great and different personality, it was easy to keep track. I liked how each character played a part in the mystery and the solving of the mystery. I really liked Devon and how she was persistent in her beliefs and didn’t give up on Hutch. Her best friend, Presley, was an absolute riot, and I loved reading about how they interacted.

If this is Margaux Froley’s debut mystery book and it was this freaking good, I can’t even imagine how awesome her next books are going to be. Her grasp on writing, staging, and complex settings is just amazing…gah, this book was so awesome!

Escape Theory
By
Margaux Frawley

My "in a nutshell" summary...

Private school...drugs...privilege...death!

My thoughts after reading this book...

I loved this book...those are my first thoughts...Devon is a fascinating character. I always love the sometimes misunderstood good girls/ heroines. This book weaves an interesting web of mystery and suspense within the lives of these private school students. A popular student dies...everyone believes it s a drug related suicide but Devon is committed to finding out what really happened. Her commitment to this is admirable. She uncovers sex, lies and a possible pregnancy and doesn't rest until the mystery surrounding Hutch's death is discovered.

What I loved about this book...

I love the bad girls...so mean and privileged and righteous in their bullying. I love the good girls...I love when they have the courage of their beliefs.

What I did not love...

It's such an essential part of this book but the loss of Hutch was just really so sad.

Final thoughts...

This was one of those really good YA books that allows the reader to think about choices and how the choices ultimately affect what we become.

What I liked more about the book was the idea of missing somebody you have never had. Devon misses Hutch although they only shared a memorable night and some Nutter Butters locked in the school kitchen. She misses what their lives could have been like if they had kept close to each other and therefore she does everything she can to solve the mystery of his death.

http://theleisurediaries.blogspot.com...

Not quite as ho-hum as a 3 but definitely not a 3.5. The story was okay though there were a lot of implausibilities in it. Devon is a peer mentor counsellor to students who would rather talk with her than a school authority. The school has lost a popular student to an apparent suicide, and she is meeting with Hutch's closest friends. From there the story spirals into a little nutso-cuckoo situations. The amount of drugs and alcohol floating around the school is unbelievable. And the way it is addressed by the school is also implausible. I don't imagine getting caught with drugs and alcohol is going to just net you community service and a few counselling sessions in any school. The big "who did Hutch get pregnant" mystery had me screaming right away...."he's stealing the test-it doesn't mean it's for him!" Devon seems to be too close to Hutch even though they have had one meaningful interaction in all their years together. There is just far too much that is ludicrous and implausible to get past. Even the big reveal is flawed....who would meet with a murderer alone? You would think that help would be nearby. The story wasn't a complete waste of time, but it's nothing to write home about.

I'm exactly sure whether I liked this book or not. I'm still trying to figure that out. I liked the main character Devon, and a few of the others. Others characters I was pretty meh about.

The story opens with the obituary of Jason (Hutch) Hutchins, a student at the Keaton Boarding School in Santa Cruz, CA; a school for wealthy kids on track for Ivy League colleges and jobs running Fortune 500 companies. Supposedly Hutch committed suicide by ingesting a lethal dose of Oxycontin. The chapters alternate, skipping back and forth between present day junior year and one long night two years ago at the beginning of freshman year. On that night, freshman Devon Mackintosh and Hutch became locked in the school kitchen while making Nutter Butter pancakes together. It's a memorable night; they open up and share secrets and dreams and feel like they've known each other for years. They seem rather like soulmates. You know how there's maybe one or two people in your life who totally "get" you? Well, Hutch and Devon "get" each other. Cut to exactly two years later at the beginning of junior year and Hutch's suicide. I figured Devon and Hutch definitely got together after the magical night they spent together, but no, it seems they never did, and he ended up with a girl named Isla. And now he's dead. For the whole book I waited to find out what happened in those two years in between. Did they ever date? Hang out? Anything? But there's never a mention of anything between that night two years ago and present day. That's all we get, one night two years ago and now. It's like those two years were completely empty. Weird.

So now Devon is a peer counselor in a pilot program the school is testing. She is enlisted to do grief counseling with Hutch's girlfriend Isla and best friend Matt. Devon doesn't believe Hutch committed suicide. She saw him the day he died and he was in great spirits and asked to get together with her later. I'm thinking, "Why now, why not two years ago?". But whatever. Devon hopes to find out some answers about Hutch and what was going on with him during these counseling sessions. Everyone except for Devon and a few others believe what they've been told, that Hutch had a drug problem and overdosed or committed suicide. Devon's best friend Presley thinks she's being weird and obsessed and needs to get a life, like you know, hook up with a cute guy. Hey, thanks for the support best friend! I didn't like her at all and couldn't figure out why Devon would want to be friends with someone so shallow, whose standard greeting is "Yo Beyotch!

Devon keeps digging for clues, talking to everyone about Hutch, most of whom think like her friend and tell her to let it go and "move on". The teacher who is her mentor tells her she is in denial and needs to see him for counseling. The middle part of the story really dragged and seemed to go nowhere and I almost wanted to give up or take a peek at the ending, something I never do. I'm used to mysteries that move a lot quicker and this one was going nowhere fast. It finally picked up and had some action and a lot going on at the end. It also wrapped up a few things too quickly, left one thing hanging, and one other never explained. I guess that's why there's a sequel that comes out in October. Hopefully the plot will move along faster than this one did.

3.75

Escape Theory has two things that I cannot usually resist: a mystery and a boarding school. The novel itself is like a fruit salad. There are some sour moments and some sweet ones. Escape Theory has its issues and I will talk about them and get them out of the way before I talk about the good things.

The pacing is way too slow. Things happen very slowly and a lot of events and “clues” end up going nowhere. The administration (the token adults) are portrayed in a very menacing manner but it goes nowhere and I am left wondering if there was something I missed. Like many other YA novels out there, there is a strong othering, a creation of a binary between the adults and the teenagers. An “us versus them” mentality with the “them” being completely absorbed into the “system” which is what the rebellious characters are either fighting against and embracing wholly. The denouement of the story is a bit of a letdown and challenges the suspension of disbelief when it shouldn’t as this is a realistic novel and I expected more…realism. I’m talking about the conversation between Reed and Devon at the end. Realistically, a teenager, no matter how bright and intelligent, will never be given the kind of power it is hinted that Devon gets. The whole thing is very ambiguous so I don’t know if there is going to be a sequel or what but I was thrown out of the narrative by it. Reed is an interesting character but we don’t get to delve into the facets of his being because there are so many other characters that in the end, do not really matter.

The romance is also a bit…forced. Grant does not get the development necessary to evolve into a character whose actions would have substance and lasting effect. And his reform at the end? Totally not believable.

You may be wondering, did she even like the book? And I did, honest, I did. Because what Froley does magnificently is create a character who, without even being present, occupies so much space. And I’m talking about a fictional character, mind, whom the reader only sees in flashbacks or shared memories. Hutch is real and I felt his loss acutely. This surprised me because I usually do not feel grief for characters I have spent the entire book with let alone someone I have only met through other people. His absence gnaws at you and the realization that he will never exist in the pages of the book except as a memory is heartbreaking. That takes talent, you guys. It makes you want to know what happened to him. Why it happened to him. So while I wasn’t too enamored with the book in its entirety, I loved Hutch and I loved who Devon was when she was with him.

So would I recommend this to you? Well, the mystery is a bit flimsy, the pace lags and Devon is not very inspiring but Hutch? Read it for Hutch. He’s one of those characters who lingers with you. I’m still sad for him, damnit.

It's a light/easy read. Good for passing time when you need to, like on a plane or, in my case, at jury duty. I'd classify this book as a murder mystery that is only a mystery to the main character. By which I mean, the story/plot is very thin.

It's very predictable, so when Devon (the main character) has such a hard time figuring it out, you can't help but get mad at her for being so dumb. She's a bit hard to like and relate to. The book sets Devon up as this loner, "doesn't quite fit in", self-proclaimed out of the loop girl, yet as the story goes on, she seems to know and be friends with pretty much every student...with no explanation. The only backstory offered is the back and forth between past and present, with the Hutch character and the night in the kitchen. Why is this "out of place" girl sharing intimate moments with "the most popular guy at school" after one or two hours of peer counseling? Why is the quintessential popular girl handing over her drugs to Devon? In a school of 300 (I believe that is the number given), everyone seems to know her quite well. Having been an "outsider" myself, I don't buy this.

The characters are flat, and hard to believe in. They don't come across as very realistic teens of today, considering the book is set in 2012. I get that they are at boarding school, and are supposed to be at a higher level than "average" teens, but they are just...weird. They mostly speak like middle aged adults, no use of slang or anything...but then they act like reality TV stars. The only character that is a believable teen is Presley. The school itself is also seemingly unrealistic. The book has a passage about Devon learning all the rules and how strict everything is, yet we are supposed to believe there isn't one security guard or camera, campus patrol, etc to catch these students sneaking out at night, wandering all over campus, doing drugs and drinking, breaking into the nurse's office, and hooking up in classrooms in the middle of the night?

There are also a lot of errors in the text. Lots of improper grammar, doubled words, etc. Makes it a bit frustrating to read. If you're a grammar nazi or an avid proofreader, like myself, you may have issues with this one.

But, at the end of the day, I did mildly enjoy it. It says it is part of a series, and I think if I were to find the next one at a good price I would most likely pick it up, just to see what happens and if it gets any more in depth. However, if the next one were on the same level I wouldn't continue.

(Note, I received a copy from the publisher for review)

Okay. Wow. I really didn't think this book was going to affect me the way it did. I had a little trouble getting started with it, mostly because I was mad that my Nook broke and it is hard for me switching gears when I was in the middle of something else. But the story quickly sucked me in.

I found myself becoming very emotionally invested in the story, sucked in. I personally adore Nutter Butters, and let me tell you, I am going to have to find the recipe for Nutter Butter Pancakes!

Hutch reminded me of that boy. You know the one. The one you meet when you first start high school, the one you hope will notice you, but usually he doesn't. That is what Hutch made me think of. And I am definitely Devon. Well, without the boarding school. But the analytical, never take anything at face value because it is seething under the surface. That is totally me. Wanting to help people without knowing the right way to go and struggling with the decisions was definitely me.

This book goes straight to the soul of a teenager. The author truly captures what the turmoil of school is like in this novel, and I felt as though I was going through the struggles with the characters and felt like I was a part of it.

This, to me, was a unique YA novel. I had never read anything like it, that I can recall. There is mystery, intrigue, romance, and all without a single vampire! It is refreshing. There is no paranormal element to this book, and I think it was just the change of pace I needed right now. I write paranormal/fantasy YA. I needed to go out of my element a little to get my groove back, and this was the one. I read this book in less than 2 days. That should tell you something about how much I enjoyed it. 2 and a half days is about my average. This went faster. I loved it.

There were a couple of editing errors, and since I am the editing nazi (I cannot help it sometimes), it effected the flow for me a little bit, but not enough to totally distract. I have had books come across my desk where the editing was so bad I couldn't keep reading. Overall, this was a must read.

The ending..needed a little something more for me though. It does, however, leave this wide open for a sequel and I really hope that there will be another book. I want to know if Devon makes it to Stanford, if she decides to continue counseling. I want to know what happens to Reed's land and if the legacy is continued. Please, please, Ms. Froley! I need another book!

Summary:
Devon is a scholarship student at a boarding school named Keaton. Hutch, one of the school's most popular students, has died (presumably by an overdose). To help get through the grief, Devon has gone through a psych program to become a peer counselor. Even though she is not an official therapist, staff knows that people will speak more to their classmate than an adult. The problem is that Devon doesn't think Hutch committed suicide; she believes he was murdered. Devon obsessively begins to unravel the last part of Hutch's life, keeping notes from the faculty, blocking a video feed to her sessions, and attempting to figure out who murdered Hutch and why.

My thoughts:
Honestly, this is an interesting book if you suspect belief. First, there would never be a situation in which a student would take over a therapist role without some type of surveillance by a professional. It's just not going to happen. It's a risk management nightmare. Secondly, if a student died from an overdose, students would not be able to get and take drugs as freely as they do within the book. The staff would be extra vigilant for at least a few months because they wouldn't want the publicity or possible legal suits from other parents about drug use on campus. Finally, there is no particular reason that Devon should be so obsessed with Hutch. He was nice to hear once, several years ago, why is she so hung up on him? I really would have liked to know a bit about what was going on in Devon's head for her motivation. Was it Hutch or just the mystery presented? Without this motivation, Devon comes off like a whiny, stalker chick.
So, that's what I think is wrong with the book. The mystery is interesting. It is easy to follow and fairly predictable. I enjoyed some of the characters. Each character has positives and negatives, which makes them much more realistic. The setting is wonderful. It reminds me of home. It's probably the best aspect of the story.

Unmet expectations, I guess.

I was hoping for something along the lines of Jessica Warman — dark and messy and full of both internal and external conflict. I love a good boarding-school story, in large part because group dynamics get so much stronger and more complex when they aren’t limited to the school day.

Where I ran into trouble with this book was that I just didn’t buy it. I didn’t buy that a strange man could show up in a student’s room and nothing would be reported, no alarms raised. I didn’t buy that the school would send students in mourning — or in trouble with the law, for that matter — to another student for multiple ‘counselling’ sessions, or that, if they were going to do that, there was only one student in the 'program'. (Incidentally, I know RAs in many schools provide student support, but the RAs here were virtually nonexistent, and anyway, RA duties do not — that I’ve ever heard of — include this sort of ‘counselling’.) I didn’t buy that students wandered around openly with blankets every night, looking for a good place to hook up. (I do buy that they spent lots of time looking for places to hook up. It’s the flagrant nature of the blankets that doesn’t make sense.) I didn’t buy that the whole school seemed complicit in, or at least aware of, a massive prescription-drug ring.

I really, really didn’t buy that the students Devon ‘counselled’ were all in agreement that she was entirely under-qualified and probably a narc — and then talked openly anyway.

Reviews on GR are pretty solidly positive, so I guess I’m in the minority here, but I just couldn’t credit it.

~Warning spoilers ahead~

And it all started with

And Devons need for milk, because you can't eat Nutter Butter cookies with out it.

Devon and Hutch had a special connection, even if they really weren't friends, meaning they never had a friendship that was known. They had one night together back in freshman year, but all it took was night to form a bonding. They understood each other and when he commits suicide, a drug overdose, two years later she can't believe it.

Hutch was Keaton school's legacy student, the golden boy coming from a very well to do family. Devon, is there on scholarship. A scholarship to a school she never really asked to go to. In her junior year she gets involved with the schools newly added peer counseling program, hoping to pad her application to Stanford.

Her first sessions are counseling those closest to Hutch. She came to find a side of him that she never new about, and how big it was in the school. She also come to realize that the Hutch she knew would never kill himself and takes it on herself to uncover the truth.

Is there really more to Hutch's death, or is Devon just obsessing over a dead boy because she can't find closure?

There are some serious topics in this book, teen suicide, teen pregnancy, drug use. But we also have a neat little mystery to solve as well. Devon while in her role of shrink/Nancy Drew she uncovers more then she set out to find, she finds friendship where she never thought she would. And that the students of Keaton really aren't just mindless "organ donors".

I've tried, on multiple occasions to finish this book.

When I first got this book, I read ten pages (which felt more like fifty) and set it aside, promising myself I'd get back to it when I wasn't so distracted and could really devote myself to the story.

Sooo, five months later, I picked it up again. I'd forgotten what was going on, who the main characters were, the setting, etc., so I had to start over from the beginning, arrgh!!!

About twenty pages in the story was pretty familiar and it was boring as heck, again! So I put it down to read a book on yoga (turns out reading about yoga is pretty boring too, but it was more interesting that reading this book, so I perservered and stuck it out for almost an hour).

A month later, I tried again, I was a little hazy on the details of the story, but after a few chapters it started to come back, but the story was still pretty slow. I love a good mystery, but I didn't find the characters engaging enough to want spend the rest of the book with them, so I set it aside for good and finally admitted defeat. Strangely, I wasn't even tempted to read the last chapter to find out what happened.

This book just wasn't for me, here are some YA mysteries I did enjoy; Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, Sorcery and Cecilia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot, Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan and A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly.

I think if there had been more to look forward to, something besides the character's investigation and interactions with the few people she spoke with, something more to keep me interested in the story besides the mystery of Hutch, I would have kept reading.

I started this thinking that it might be a read-alike for Thirteen Reasons Why, which has its own problems but remains popular. Devon, our protagonist, is sort of an every-teen girl, vague enough for any reader to project herself onto. Hutch is dead on page one, and we think peer counselor Devon will sleuth out the truth of his suspicious demise. But 30 or 60 pages in, "Escape Theory" flounders into "Dynasty" meets "Nancy Drew" territory. If that sounds like a good thing, it isn't.

There are many faults: surfers and only one brief scene of surfing, lacrosse players who we only see play one game, annoying dependance on Nutter-Butter cookies for the symbolic lynchpin, impossibly complex drug deals and doors that lock (or are unlocked) conveniently. As other reviewers have mentioned, the characters are flat and unremarkable, which wouldn't be so unforgivable if there weren't so 'durn many of 'em. And they all come to tedious peer counseling sessions facilitated by Devon that she obsesses about when she's not violating every possible judgement call. By the time the climax sorts out whether or not Hutch died of suicide or murder, I couldn't force myself to care.

I also object that the title has virtually nothing to do with the contents of the book.

Some teens may enjoy the idea of a main character who, as a peer-counselor, gets to hear everyone's secrets. But the payoff just wasn't worth the hum-drum writing and ludicrous situation. Won't be recommending this one.

First off I don't read too many YA books, too Gossip Girl for me. I also don't read books were I am expected to solve something. That being said I read this book despite the HS drama and e underlying suicide/murder mystery -ish ness to the book. I was drawn to it. I really enjoyed it despite a little bit of a slow start.

Devon met Jason 'Hutch' Hutchinson freshman year at the boarding school. He was different, down to earth despite being extremely wealthy and popular. He was cute in a slightly awkward way, he was a freshman after all.They embark on a secret mission one night (finding milk for nutter butters). He evidently liked her but wasn't sure how to go about it. instead of something coming from that, they do end up with an odd sort of friendship.

They remained distant friends and their junior year he commits suicide. Her gut tells her he was killed. She is the peer counselor to a few students trying to help with the death of Hutch. The story is very gossip girl with deep underlying drug issues and greed.The story was pretty heart breaking. You got the sense of what a good guy Hutch was and becomes pretty clear it was murder. Greed is such a shame in this story so many people were robbed of a great guy who was robbed of life. I believe there would have been a great story between Hutch and Devon, but then there wouldn't have been this one.

This speaks volumes: When I went to add this book, after slowly working my way through it over the course of a week in which I didn't have much time to read, I had to go fetch it off my nightstand because I couldn't remember either the title OR the author. Not a good sign.

This is a murder mystery, masquerading as a boarding school book, masquerading as a coming of age story...or is it the reverse? Yes, it's a murder mystery, but it meanders its way through subplots about drugs and secret pregnancies and suspicious teachers and former founders of the school, and I suspect from the ending there is a sequel planned, which I won't be reading. All of the subplots WERE in service of the main goal, but the book was too choppy and random to sustain my interest.

It's not that it was dreadful. It wasn't even actively bad. My reaction was "meh." Maybe if I had read it in one sitting instead of in small bits, I would have liked it better, I don't know. But it was just disjointed enough that although I liked some of the characterizations quite a lot (especially Cleo), they weren't enough to carry the book for me. You know you will be disappointed when your favorite character is the guy who committed suicide in the first five pages!

Froley brings her readers on a riveting journey as she develops her characters along a psychological mystery in Escape Theory. The main character, Devon Mackintosh, discovers what it's like to be a peer counselor her junior year at Keaton, an Ivy-League boarding school in California. But while Devon believes that assuming this position will help her fit in, she eventually sees that she may be getting herself into something more challenging.

As her curiosity is heightened by a sudden suicide at the school, Devon is determined to get to the bottom of what becomes a murder mystery, and Jason Hutchins becomes the center of attention. At times, it seems as if her love and affection for him is the only thing that drives her to a solution. But when it is all said and done, new perspective about herself and the people around her come into view, and as a result, Devon's purpose as a student at Keaton is redefined.

I enjoyed this book mainly because of the symbols and easy to follow plot. Overall, my reaction was a positive one because I didn't find anything in particular confusing or difficult to understand.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery novel and those that are interested in youth fiction.

Sixteen-year-old peer counselor Devon has her hands full after the popular Hutch commits suicide. She meets with his friends, while keeping her own friendship with him secret. Soon she's convinced Hutch did not kill himself and she sets out to discover what really happened

You'll need to maintain a full level of credulity to buy into this unrealistic novel. First off--peer counselors are not trained or equipped to deal with suicidal students and a school would never task a teenager with being in charge of dealing with the fallout after a suicide. As readers we're supposed to believe that social loner Devon is the sole source of support for a grieving school and that she's also smarter than the police and all the adults in the book.

The writing was decent and at times Devon's voice shined with unique and interesting verbiage. Although the dialogue was at times stilted, she didn't shy away from the coarse language teens often use.

ESCAPE THEORY is a great premise for a book that failed miserably in it's execution. A little more research and character development could have gone a very long way with this YA novel.

I really liked this book. I felt that it was real and honest, and I really liked how Devon and Hutch was portrayed. Devon was doing very well as a peer counselor, I thought, even though she didn't completely follow the guidelines set by her teacher. She was emphatic and sensitive, sharp and smart.

We don't really get to see much of Hutch except what the other characters tell us about him, and of course, this whole story is based on the tragedy of his death. It breaks my heart a little. I wish I could've known Hutch. I wish Devon and Hutch could've had a chance.

Reading about their connection was wonderful, but I can't help wondering what happened after that. Why did they never get together after their special moment? This was never really answered in the book, and we're left to wonder about it.

The story itself is more about people than anything else. I thought most of the characters were really well thought-out, Froley does very well making them come to life for me. I'm excited to see what's next in this series and what Froley will come up with next!

This book reminded me a bit of the detective procedure in Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express because a good chunk of the information that Devon gets is through interviews. In this case they’re not police interviews but counselling, but some people lie, others tell the truth and others only half truths and it's up to Devon to figure out what's true and what's a lie.

It was in general a nice story, but it dragged a bit for too long at first, because there's nothing that suggests that Hutch's death was anything other than a suicide until much later. We know there's more to it if we read the summary, but there's no way that Devon would know it. She didn't even know Hutch that much. It's more the hope that the boy that was nice to her once years before was as good as she thought what keeps her investigating his death.

Other than this, the story did get interesting once some people's secrets were uncovered because not everything is as nice as it looks like and many people are hiding things.

This is one of those books with a good premise: what if you were the only person who didn't believe someone actually committed suicide? I enjoyed this book, but I felt like the premise was better than the execution.

One of the most interesting aspects of this book is the fact that Devon's belief that Hutch didn't kill himself started to seem like an obsession and that served to alienate her from everyone else. (Even her friends were like, "Uh, weirdo, you need to stop this.")

And as compelling as that was, it also underscored the fact that in many ways, her most meaningful relationship was with Hutch, a guy who she spent one night with. (I'm also not sure why they didn't spend more time together because that one night was AWESOME.)

Still, as much as I enjoyed that aspect, the murder mystery part didn't really click with me. Even so, I would absolutely read another of Margaux Froley's books.

The book starts with a newspaper obituary about a teen Jason Hutchinson who went to a preppy boarding school and committed suicide. (This will probably make it popular with my students right off the bat). But Devin, who's acting as a peer counselor her senior year and thus is talking to many of his friends who are grieving, starts to wonder if it wasn't actually suicide. It's a book I raced through and enjoyed while reading, but was slightly unsatisfied by some of the writing, some of the plot points, and the ending. The mystery of whether it was suicide or not and uncovering who it might be was intriguing and I liked that even though it was a rich boarding school, not ALL of the characters fit the stereotype (even if most did), but a senior acting as a counselor for pretty intense things? The way many of the adults act? Seemed pretty unrealistic.

I loved this book! This was sooo sooo close to 5 stars for me. This is closer to 4.5 because 1 big thing was missing for me.

In this book the popular student Hutch commits suicide. Everyone felt such a huge loss by this, Devon a student at Keaton who has be in love with Hutch since she met him is the student counselor. As she meets with students she begins to think this isn't a suicide. Throughout the book we get a glimpse back to her 1 time hanging out with Hutch and it is so cute. I love it. But what is missing for me is what happened after that night. Why did they not continue talking. Why when we get the glimpse forward does she talk about it as if all they ever had was that one night. Did he ignore her the next day? Just what happened?

All in all this mystery is so good! If it weren't for that 1 fact I would have given this 5 starts. All in all excellent page turner!

It's safe to say I was pleasantly surprised by this First Reads book. Overall, I liked the writing style and the premise. Escape Theory deals with very real issues regarding drugs and suicide and then added a layer of mystery. The author's method of alternating the beginning of freshman year when Devon and Hutch meet with present day junior year as everyone deals with Hutch's apparent suicide. For the most part, the characters were unique and had their own voice, but there were a few that didn't stand out like Grant. I understand who the character is and everything but he didn't seem useful just there. Also the more I read the more annoying Presley became. Regarding the pacing, the beginning was relatively slow but the more I read the more it held my interest.