The Escape Manual for Introverts by Katie Vaz

The Escape Manual for Introverts by Katie Vaz – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Release date: August 6, 2019

“Borrow your dog’s cone of shame” had me asking my friend whose dog recently had surgery if he kept the cone now that doggo is better….

Recommended: yes!
For those who want a laugh, and maybe some actually usable ways to escape people when you’re just not feeling up to it anymore

Summary:
If you’ve ever needed to find a way to say “hell no” to making plans or interacting with strangers, but also need to not destroy your relationship with the person, look no further! Inside is a bounty of ideas categorized by how much you can afford to alienate the person you’re saying “no” to. You’ll be able to cycle through your excuses so you won’t get called out for the same one over and over! And really, even if you don’t need reasons, it’s just a funny read with lovely illustrations.

Thoughts:
I knew going into this that it would mostly be for laughs, rather than too many actually usable ideas for leaving a party early-ish, or avoiding a family dinner. However, the care and attention Katie gives to the overall work is delightful. Categorizing by relationship and extrapolating how absurd you can be from that is a clever way of framing these. The artwork is simple in color and design, and it’s exactly right. It’s pretty and nice to look at, but I also feel like the simplicity allows anyone to connect to the ideas (even the most extroverted needs a break now and then!).

There’s quite a range of ideas, from reasonable excuses (ahem perhaps ones I’ve used before myself) to completely hilarious one that have me DREAMING of a time I could make use of it somehow!

Thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for providing a free copy to review!