Could You Escape the Paris Catacombs?: An Interactive Survival Adventure

by Matt Doeden

Could you escape the Paris Catacombs? You became the hero of your own adventure the moment you stepped underground. Will you escape the skeletal maze, or be trapped with the ghosts of France forever?

Genres: Juvenile, Choose Your Own Adventure

112 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2019

About the author

Matt Doeden was born in southern Minnesota and lived parts of his childhood in Golden Valley, Minnesota, and Madison, Minnesota. He studied journalism at Mankato State University, where he worked at the college newspaper for three years. In his senior year, he served as the paper's Sports Editor, which put him in charge of the entire sports section, the sports writers, and the photographers. He covered mostly college sports, but also the Minnesota Vikings, who held training camp at MSU.

His work allowed him to meet and interview people like Dennis Green, Cris Carter, Robert Smith, and more. Matt went on to work as a sports writer for the Mankato paper, and then he got a job as an editor with a small children's publisher called Capstone Press, and in 2003 he decided to start his own business as a freelance writer and editor.

Since then, Matt has written and edited hundreds of books. Lots of them are on high-interest topics like cars, sports, and airplanes. He also writes and edits on geography, science, and even math.

Reviews

[Paige]

Disclaimer: I received this book in a book box I bought (@owlcrate). Thanks! All opinions are my own!

Book: Could You Escape the Paris Catacombs?

Author: Matt Doeden

Book Series: Interactive Survival Adventure Books

Rating: 5/5

Publication Date: August 1, 2019

Genre: Children’s Adventure Choose Your Own Adventure

Recommended Age: 10+ (scary moments, skulls)

Publisher: Capstone Press

Pages: 112

Amazon Link

Synopsis: Could you escape the Paris Catacombs? You became the hero of your own adventure the moment you stepped underground. Will you escape the skeletal maze, or be trapped with the ghosts of France forever?

Review: Awww this was a cute book! I loved the interactive style of writing and I definitely dipped into my old interactive goosebumps days and skipped ahead to get the best ending lol. I loved the writing style and this was definitely a fun read!

The only issue is that I felt like the characters weren’t fully developed, but it was ok because there were pictures and the story was so fun!

Verdict: It’s fun and would be a hit for any kid!

[Thalia Rodríguez Rivera]

I love this type of book, it was very entertaining.

[Adysnewbox]

I haven't read a "Choose Your Own Adventure"-style book in many many years, and I found this to be quite a treat. Not only did "Could You Escape the Paris Catacombs?" allow me to go on an adventure and make my own choices, it gave me a decent little history lesson as well. This book is intentionally divided up into three possible "mini-adventures," each taking place in a different time period or from a different POV. The first is set in the 1780s, and you are a young worker helping to fill/build the catacombs. The second two are set in the present day, and you begin either as a foreign tourist in Paris looking for an adventure, or as a French "cataphile" (an adventurous brotherhood that conduct unauthorized explorations of the catacombs in hopes of discovering new areas of the maze-like burial chamber). I tried multiple paths in each mini-adventure. Sometimes I got lost and/or died, as is common in these types of books (although the author is careful not to say the word "die" at all...maybe remembering that young children may be reading?). In other cases, I was able to work my way through the catacombs safely, or in other cases, even help out other explorers who'd gotten lost or hurt. Finally, at the end of the book, there are a few pages that provide more historical context to the catacombs...which is plenty creepy on its own, but also fascinating! This book gave me nice nostalgic vibes and I enjoyed it. I don't know if kids these days enjoy Choose Your Own Adventure books, but I'd recommend this one.

[Holly]

A decent addition to the 'choose your own adventure' genre. It is geared towards the younger side of a middle reader audience so more advanced readers in this group may not feel as engaged with the book. It also moves along in an almost linear (or forward) fashion. A typical entry in this group would have readers bouncing back and forth, all through the book, making it challenging for anyone to skip ahead and try to guess the best path to take. This book always has you flipping to a page just a little bit ahead and, in a small way, is less fun. However, the graphics are well placed to draw a reader further into the story, and the facts on the catacombs are interesting. I wouldn't be surprised if kids who read this find their curiousity piqued, and do a little independent research on the catacombs.

[Alex]

I cannot believe how much fun I am having with these books!

In this one, you choose between being a worker in the 1700s, a modern-day tourist, or a rescue group. I chose to do the modern-day tourist first, and managed to make it out just fine. Of course, on subsequent read-throughs making different choices I more often than not got hopelessly lost and died in the catacombs.

The first path I picked was the best one, because it had the most choices. The path as the worker was pretty good, too, but the rescue group mission was way too short. Still, this was a lot of fun to read.

[The_Books_Music_Life]

I gave this 4 out of 5 stars,

I found this really interesting, the different choices and consequences you faced in the chapters were fun to explore.

I really enjoyed the pictures and little facts about the Paris Catacombs.

[Toya Taylor]

I got this in the special edition box from OwlCrate Jr. (Tunnel of Bones box).

It was so interesting to read about how the catacombs came to be built. But to live in that time and be one of those workers....Nobody thought it was immoral to mess with the dead.

[mezzogal]

Fun, entertaining little adventure story. Nice to learn more about this fascinating place.

[Meowzilla Y]

First time reading these choose ur own path books. It’s kind of neat but not all that exciting. Are these more for kids?

[Dottie]

Great multiple adventures for kids. Fabulous pictures and fun facts too.