The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie (book review)

GENRE: Middle Grade Mystery

LENGTH: 245 pages

PLOT

Sarah’s family’s home is going into foreclosure and she’ll be forced to move away from her friends. Then she and her friends, Hannah and West, learn of a long-abandoned funhouse/escape room that is rumored to hold a treasure. Convinced the treasure could save Sarah’s family home, the trio, who call themselves the Deltas, decide to try and conquer the funhouse and get the reward.

CHARACTERS

Sarah is someone who loves math and probabilities. She doesn’t consider herself brave, but I would argue she is very much so. She also demonstrates an incredibly amount of emotional intelligence for someone her age. She is willing to take risks and conquer her fears all in the name of helping her family.

Hannah is considered the brave friend though she can also be impatient which leads to her getting into some sticky situations. West, meanwhile, is known for having a perfect memory.

The three have a healthy, supportive friendship and strong teamwork. They are able to quickly resolve conflicts. Throughout the novel, they open up to each other even more and further strengthen their bonds.

The Deltas have a history of taking on and winning escape rooms. I liked this background as it made sense why they would decide to tackle this unknown funhouse. They also have previous skills acquired in those escape rooms that they take into the funhouse.

WRITING

The novel is told from Sarah’s perspective. The appeal of this novel is the funhouse and how you never know what challenges the trio will face next. However, it also touches on deeper topics. Hannah is a young girl who is dealing with things she shouldn’t have to. Not only is her family home in foreclose, but her mother is exhausted from working multiple jobs and her father is sick from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I appreciate when books written for a young audience address tougher issues because, unfortunately, for some kids parts of Sarah’s story or something similar are their reality. It’s important for everyone, but especially young readers, to be able to see themselves in the books they consume. Even if they can’t relate to Sarah, characters like her may help them to realize that their peers’ circumstances may be different from their own and it can encourage them to be more patient and sympathetic – better friends.

Through the funhouse, the Deltas not only become closer but also gain confidence in themselves. Obviously real life children should NOT take inspiration from the whole breaking and entering into a dangerous abandon building part of the novel’s plot. However, the novel does have good life lessons for kids about teamwork, empathy, and believing in yourself.

My one critique is the writing has a tendency to be repetitive. The book is quite short, so we don’t need to be reminded of things we learned about just a few pages before.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I hardly ever read middle grade anymore. When I saw this book, however, I thought the plot sounded so fun. I have always thought doing an escape room would be a real adventure. I don’t think I possess the proper cleverness to solve puzzles like those I’d encounter in them, though. My brain just doesn’t work that way. So, I figured, as a huge reader, what better way to experience an escape room than to read about one in a book!

FINAL RATING: 4⭐️