I won an advanced copy of The Echo Room from the author on an instagram giveaway post. I’m always looking for a new thriller, so I was excited for this one! Unfortunately, I was let down…
Title: The Echo Room
Author: Parker Peevyhouse
Rating: 1.5/5
Likes
This started out pretty intriguing. Rett wakes up and he doesn’t know where he is. He doesn’t know why there’s blood on his jumpsuit. He doesn’t know who this girl – Bryn – with him is. Can they trust each other? Where are they? Definitely the start of a promising story!
It became similar to The Maze Runner very quickly – it’s hard not to compare it. (I’ve never actually read Maze Runner, only seem the movies, and spoiler, I was disappointed by that too.) This story also reminded me of the TV series LOST – people stranded and they don’t know where or when they are. So, yeah, I was excited! While this is marketed as a “thriller,” its very psychological and a bit sci-fi.
One thing I strongly dislike is unreliable narrators, but in this case, I didn’t feel like Rett was unreliable, so that wasn’t an issue for me.
The story had high and low points. It started out great, then it went downhill, but then a plot development near the middle had me interested again and I was hopeful for the end….sadly, the ending was disappointing to the point I regret even wasting my time reading this.
Dislikes
First off, the names Rett and Bryn bother me. Listening to the audiobook, it was actually difficult to understand these were even the names. They sound very similar. There are a few other characters who have equally odd names – I’m ok with fantasy names, but these names just bothered me and I couldn’t move past it.
The plot didn’t feel original. It felt exactly like Maze Runner. Wake up in an unknown place, have to solve some sort of puzzle, need to survive and not get eaten by a giant monster. It’s bland. I was willing to give it a chance, but the day would “reset” and they would have to start over so often, I was bored before it even hit 50%. It was the same old, same old. Each time they would get a little farther, something would change, but not enough that I was interested.
In the second half of the story, it begins to feel a lot like LOST and that had me anticipating that the second half would pick up and I would be pleasantly surprised, but such was not the case.
“The Echo Room” itself is explained halfway through the story, but it feels like a weak explanation and I was disappointed. It’s only briefly touched upon, and I had been hoping for more answers. Overall, I expected more from this story, but it felt very repetitive with each ‘day’ being reset and repeated with only slight variations for more than half the book.
Audiobook Thoughts
I decided to listen to this as an audiobook and the audio isn’t bad. It’s a male voice and I am picky with male voices – but I liked this one. I don’t think it added anything to it, but if audio is your thing, go for it. I had no issues with this audio and enjoyed listening to it.
Recommend?
Regrettably, I would not recommend waste your time with this book. The ending was one of the most disappointing I’ve read in a long time. Any question you may have while reading this – it’s NOT answered.
Have you read any good thriller books lately? Or anything similar to the TV show LOST? I’d love to get some recommendations!
~Missy
