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    Asylum
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    Asylum
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    Asylum
    Ebook318 pages3 hours

    Asylum

    By Madeleine Roux

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    The asylum holds the key to a terrifying past…

    A thrilling creepy photo-novel, perfect for fans of the New York Times bestseller Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

    For sixteen-year-old outcast Dan Crawford, the summer program at New Hampshire College Prep is a lifeline. Finally, a chance to make some friends before college. Even if that means staying in a dorm that used to be a old asylum.

    Soon Dan’s hanging out with Abby and Jordan, and summer is looking up. But then he learns that the asylum was not just any sanatorium – it was a last resort for the criminally insane.

    As Dan, Abby and Jordan explore the hidden recesses of their creepy summer home, they discover it's no coincidence that the three of them ended up here. And that some secrets refuse to stay buried…

    Featuring unsettling found photos of real abandoned asylums and filled with chilling mystery and page-turning suspense, Madeleine Roux's teen horror debut ASYLUM treads the line between genius and insanity.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateJan 2, 2014
    ISBN9780007538232
    Author

    Madeleine Roux

    Madeleine Roux is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Asylum series, which has sold over a million copies worldwide. She is also the author of the House of Furies series and several titles for adults, including Salvaged and Reclaimed. She has made contributions to Star Wars, World of Warcraft, and Dungeons & Dragons. Madeleine lives in Seattle, Washington, with her partner and beloved pups.

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    Reviews for Asylum

    3.5/5

    35 ratings48 reviews

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    • 2/5

      This and other reviews can be found on Reading Between Classes

      Cover Impressions: This cover is awesome. The first one that I saw had similar shading but just featured a set of keys. It wasn't nearly as creepy. I believe this is the final cover and it is a great change. The shadows draw your eye into the frame and the blurring coupled with the lace adds the perfect spooky factor. Although, I do wish they had given the book a more stand-out name. Asylum is just far too common - a Goodreads search provides 837 results.....

      The Gist: Dan Crawford has finally escaped the opression of his foster home and high school. At New Hampshire College Prep, a summer program for teens, he is excited to spend his days with students that share his thirst for knowledge and geeky tendencies. He soon discovers that the dorm in which they are to spend the summer is actually Brookside, a former asylum that featured drastic experiments meant to cure the criminally insane. Feeling a strange connection to the building's history and suffering from nightmares that don't always come at night, Dan and his new friends begin to explore the bowels of the building and find that there are some secrets that should stay buried.

      Review:
      That cover is sure to pull in any horror fan. However, the book itself is not strong enough to hold them there for long.

      The characters in Asylum are far too one dimensional. It seems important to the plot that we understand the drastic changes in their personality that are brought on by living in the asylum, but we are given little to no time to actually get to know them before those changes begin. We are expected to believe that the three are the best of friends after having known each other for only a week. Couldn't the author have at least had them "meet" online, prior to attending the summer school program? What's more, there is an underlying plot featuring Jordan's obsession with an "unsolvable equation" that seems to completely drop out of the storyline without any resolution. Is this meant to be a series? Am I missing something?

      The setting for this novel is phenomenal. A student dorm built in what used to be an asylum and featuring a (sort of) locked basement with the trappings to spell out the horror that once occurred there. That has all kinds of potential! The author does do a good job of creating a tense and spine-tingling atmosphere whenever the kids are in the basement. This is aided by the addition of pictures which puts this book in that new sub-genre of multi-media fiction a la Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, though I do wish that the EARC had actually contained more of the pictures that will be featured in the final edition - since that is what interested me in the title in the first place.

      The plot of Asylum starts off strong by weakens as we get further into the mystery. There is some meandering into the past via dreams and visions which give us a glimpse into the mind of the madman who once ran the asylum, but we never learn any real details about what went on there other than a vague notion of horrific surgeries. One the murders start, we get to watch the cops bumble around and the kids go into Scooby Doo mode. The constant arguing and teenage drama that comes with the three main characters gets tedious rather quickly and, eventually, when the killer is finally revealed the dialogue becomes downright laughable. Rather than being scared, I found myself rolling my eyes and wishing the plot had gone in any direction other than the most obvious.

      Asylum may represent one step towards the road to a new genre as more and more authors attempt to bank on the commercial success of Ransom Riggs. However, until an author is able to seamlessly weave together pictures with a strong plot and compelling characters, I will be staying away.

      Teaching/Parental Notes:

      Age: 13 and up
      Gender: Both
      Sex: Kissing
      Violence: Murder of Teens
      Inappropriate Language: Asshole, Shit, Bitch, Pissed
      Substance Use/Abuse: Underage Drinking
    • 3/5
      I read the poor reviews of this book, but as I read it the more I liked it. My thinking was that reluctant readers would like it, especially since there were both strong female and male characters with definite personalities. I was excited for it all to be explained, but felt cheated when it didn't. I would have been good with ending the blow with the creepy note, if the other loose ends had been explained. I realize she left it open god a sequel, but I don't think I'll be going there.
    • 3/5
      I was hoping the book would be a bit better, but I did enjoy it. Some of it was a bit silly almost, but relatively atmospheric. I might read the next one - not sure yet.
    • 3/5
      This is a pretty good young adult story that could have easily been a middle grade story if it had less swearing. I liked the premise and narration though. I was hoping to like this book more than I did, don’t get me wrong it’s not a bad book it just wasn’t as engaging or scary as I was hoping it would be. It is also written much younger than the Young Adult genre it is in.All the “coincidences” were never really explained, it also says it is book #1 but I didn’t feel like there was much to continue once the book was over, so I am curious enough to check out the next book just to see how and why there is a second one.The narration by, Michael Goldstrom was well done he is a new to me narrator, and I thought his voices were well done he didn’t go overly young for the boys voices and not overly high pitch for the girls, which I have found happens sometimes in a middle grade/young adult book. I will be looking for others he has narrated.This wasn’t a bad book but it wasn’t a great book either and I think if some of the swearing were taken it would work very well as a Middle Grade book rather than a Young Adult book, if you have Young Adults who need an easier read I would recommend this one.3 stars
    • 3/5
      I am a pansy when it comes to scary stories. I will readily admit that. The book can be even not well written and I'll still be pansy. Add pictures into the mix and yeah, I'll be sleeping with my light on for at least 2-3 nights after finishing the book (and sometimes during if I just can't finish the book in one setting). Asylum was one of those books - I was so tired and haunted by the images in the book that it was a two night read for me...and the result was I spent a few nights restless in my sleep due to having to have my light on.Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife on Dec. 9, 2013.
    • 3/5
      Whenever I glanced at reviews of Asylum after reading it, I was really surprised at how much people disliked this one. I didn't think Asylum was a perfect book, but it was entertaining enough and I never really got that "why am I still reading this" feeling I usually get with books I want to give up on. It wasn't entirely what I wanted it to be, but it kept me busy with a minimal amount of eyerolling. The book had a lot of high expectations to live up to, being compared early and often to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and unfortunately it just doesn't always deliver.

      That said, I really enjoyed the setting of an old asylum, now repurposed into dorms for a college campus. The setting alone adds a touch of menace that helps drive the story, and I know I sure would be both fascinated and creeped out by staying in such a place. As creepy things start happening to our main character Dan, we learn more about the asylum and get hints of the horrific things that happened there, and Dan struggles to figure out what is real and what is imagined.

      Like I said, the book has a lot of potential but it never quite lives up to it. The characters are all sort of flat and one-note, although there are hints that they could have more depth. Dan had a somewhat mysterious early childhood before he was adopted, and has some anxiety issues. Abby's family seems supportive of her despite harboring some secrets of their own, as well as turmoil between her parents. Jordan's family strongly disapproves of the fact that he is gay. The story touches on these things but never really mines them to flesh out the characters. There are a ton of plot ideas introduced that never really get followed up on, or which get pretty neatly dismissed when they could have been so much more. For example, with what I guess is a mild spoiler, Jordan goes through some wild mood swings and gets obsessed with solving a particular math equation, but this never amounts to anything and doesn't get followed up on.

      It often seemed to straddle the line between being more middle grade-leaning, with how simple the writing and the characters were, like it wanted to be scary but not full tilt scary so it went the opposite direction into bland. Here's where the comparisons to Miss Peregrine's really hurt this book. While I've never finished reading Miss Peregrine's--I started reading it once, then let a friend borrow it and have just not gotten back around to it--I remember feeling deeply unsettled by just the first few chapters. Despite Asylum's attempts to be scary, it never quite made it there for me. The ending didn't work for me at all -- this is another book that seems to want to go in a paranormal direction but doesn't commit to it the whole way, so we get a rushed ending that never gets fully explained.

      That's a lot of complaints for a book I didn't actually hate. It had its problems, but like I said, it kept me engaged and I never really felt like putting it down and moving on to something else. Unlike other readers, I thought the photographs and interior artwork were intriguing and added to the sinister feel of the story, and I'd be interested to flip through a finished copy, as the ARC doesn't have all of the artwork in it. It's a good rainy day sort of read, something to keep you occupied but not something you're going to think about all that much whenever you're done.
    • 3/5
      I was so excited when I picked up this book. The cover is horrific and I was ready for a chilling read. Unfortunately, I wasn't creeped out in the slightest....ever. First, the characters were very under-developed. I didn't care for any of them and their insta-friendship just wasn't believable. I found the main character Dan to be annoying. He put himself down a lot and I found myself agreeing with him. I also had the plot, and the killer, figured out from the beginning. This book had such strong promise but did not live up to it's potential. The pictures looked digitally enhanced and took away from the story. The book would have been better without them. Overall, I was bored and ending up skimming to the end just to get it over with.
    • 4/5
      Curious for a mysterious and spooky read, I picked up this book wanting to be entranced. It took me down some strange halls that I would never forget.Pictures: First, I want to talk about the pictures that came along with the story. I loved them. I felt it gave the story a more 3-d. Like you can read the story but a visual is placed in front of you as well. Some pictures were interesting while others were well creepy. Still, I enjoyed turning the page and looking at long past history.Plot: One of my fave movies to watch during this season is House On Haunted Hill both the old and new version. I adore the whole premise of vengeful spirits luring back their heirs to a place that has gone mad. This story carries a similar plot. I loved every bit of piecing together the mysterious clues of the staff and the coincidence of clues left for others to follow.Love/Friendship: Since this is a thriller read, there isn’t much romance but it did carry a good flirtation feel that gives the book that right amount of peace. There are creepy moments then two characters get real and get to know each other, smiling. I loved that. The friendships formed have more than what the reader sees. I love reading the story and watching it unfold secret by secret before my eyes.This is a great story of mystery and mayhem. Lots of scary tales of the old building, told by the townspeople, give this story dimension. The pictures add a great affect to visualizing the world that is being built for the reader. Ultimately an intriguing read that you can not put down, Asylum is perfect for Halloween!
    • 3/5
      Daniel Crawford is attending the New Hampshire College Prep program during the summer. He hopes to make some friends, take some classes, and enjoy the summer. This proves to be impossible after he discovers his dorm used to be an insane asylum for the criminally insane about 50 years before that used tortuous and inhumane methods on the inmates. Daniel does make new friends in Abby and Jordan and they explore the rotting disarray of the asylum, parts of it left completely untouched for years. He starts receiving creepy messages in spidery old fashioned script and e-mails that disappear when he tries to open them. It all becomes real when someone is killed in the manner of a serial killer that lived there. Daniel feels his life spiraling out of control and his new friends pull away from him. Is he the killer despite having no memory doing it? Or is someone trying to drive him insane?Asylum interested me because I am fascinated with sanatoriums, particularly those in the past where torture was passed off and accepted as treatment and so much psychology was not understood yet. The descriptions of the creepy sanitarium rooms were phenomenally creepy. The creepiness factor was pushed with the dreams and visions with Daniel as both a patient and as the twisted warden. Then he starts receiving letters in the warden's writing and I have no idea what's going on. I'm questioning if it's ghosts, someone trying to mess with him, or if he's simply insane. This is before the murder even happens. The mystery is well crafted and I had no idea where it was going to end up. Pictures are interspersed throughout the book and they succeed in enhancing the mood of the story. My only complaint about them is that it's clear they are stock photos and don't always mesh well with the story. I also liked the short chapters. The story flows well on its own and the short chapters and many pictures make it seem like the tempo is much faster.I had a couple of small problems with the book. Although Daniel felt like a real teen, Abby and Jordan were both prone to crazy mood swings. One minutes they were the best of friends and the next minute (and for no reason) they despised their friends. Their friendship didn't go through a lot of development before doing this either, so it felt really od. I felt Jordan was unnecessary to the story and Abby's revelation later in the book. I wanted more of the mystery and the asylum and less of their petty teenage drama.Asylum is a deliciously creepy read. Near the end of the book, I was on the edge of my seat, constantly guessing what the resolution would be. I would love to get my hands on a finished copy so I can see all the pictures in their creepy glory.
    • 2/5
      After some bad bouts in "adult" horror novels, I was intrigued to jump into this YA suspense/thriller. Asylum is set in a mental-hospital-turned-college. It is summer and instead of being filled with college students, the asylum/college is being used as a summer program for gifted high school students. As promised by the synopsis and the creepy art scattered through the book, a suspenseful ghost story thriller ensues. The book was also touted as a "photo experience" with a number of "vintage" photographs and images from the asylum to increase the creepiness factor. The concept really drew me in and I was excited to read this.The first few chapters went pretty smoothly. The writing definitely felt like it was aimed for younger readers, potentially even middle graders, in spite of the heavier/scarier topics promised to come. I quickly decided it wasn't a book for terribly young readers when the teenage characters started swearing with moderate frequency. I acknowledge that teenagers do swear and many of them do so awkwardly as they experiment with it almost as a form of rebellion, but I'm not going to pass a book to a youngster if it's got swearing. Just my personal taste. Aside from their language, the characters seemed interesting at first. The main character is a boy named Dan. He's smart (a requirement for this school program) and a bit of a loner. He also has some undisclosed psychological problems for which he seems to have a therapist on speed dial. This doctor is referenced numerous times but never called. On arriving at the school Dan meets his roommate for the summer, a boy named Felix. Felix is also smart and definitely socially awkward. Dan immediately feels a bit put off by Felix and his semi-neurotic tendencies. Frankly I felt like Dan's dislike came on a little too sharply especially considering they were going to be rooming together and also because Felix's actions may have been a bit odd and off-putting but they certainly weren't offensive. Still, Dan decides to avoid Felix and instead searches out new friends. He meets an artsy girl named Abby and immediately falls in crush with her. He's quickly jealous of any other guys talking with her, even Jordan the gay math genius.From a quick high level description, the characters sound interesting and have some potential. Unfortunately they never seemed to grow on me. They started out a little bit flat but I expected them to flesh out or mature throughout the story. Instead I was left feeling like their actions were forced and their motivations weren't believable. Some of their actions felt unrealistic for the characters I believed (wanted?) them to be. I think a lot of the problem was that there was more "telling" than "showing" in terms of trying to develop the characters. I was told what their characteristics and motivations were but when the characters acted, the actions felt disconnected and a little flat. I felt like there was a lot of missed potential in terms of using character development to draw me into the story. Still, accepting this as a younger novel, I moved on and assumed the characters for what I was told.The book was definitely a plot driven story and the plot was intriguing. When Dan arrives in his dorm he finds a stack of old photos in his desk drawer. The photos are presumably from back in the day when the asylum was in full operation. Aside from being creepy depictions of strange old hallways and operating rooms, the pictures are extra creepy because the eyes are scratched out on all the photos of people. Dan asks Felix about this and Felix informs him that he found an old off-limit office downstairs with similar photos. With that, the mystery is underway.Dan, Abby and Jordan decide to explore the office where they find more creepy old photos, hospital records and bloody handprints. As the story goes on, they explore farther and farther into the off-limits wing and discover more hidden secrets. Dan starts conducting research on the Asylum and interviewing people in town. He starts receiving strangely threatening notes and weird visions.As the story went on, I felt some of the portions of the plot to be predictable and I quickly guessed the direction I was being taken. Then we start having murders and attempted murders and I began to doubt some of my predictions. The author worked to throw in a number of twists and turns filled with plot points that seemed predictable but questionable. Chapter after chapter I found more and more threads emerging with strange questions and weird side-plots. I still felt like I was predicting the main action but I was getting confused with all the extra material. Finally I arrived at the climactic ending where a few of the key plot points were wrapped up very cleanly…too cleanly. Honestly it felt a little dissatisfying. Even then, I hoped that the next few pages would wrap up some of the peripheral elements that were presented as important but alas those elements were left dangling.Because I never felt particularly attached to the characters and as a result I wasn't especially invested in their success or failure. I felt a little let down that they didn't develop into more. The plot had me intrigued and curious as to what was really going on. There were definitely some good surprises and creepy moments that could have been more suspenseful or exciting if framed in a different way or if I was more attached to the characters. By the end of the story I was looking for a nice explanatory denouement to help wrap things up and answer all my various questions. Sadly that was not to be. Many of the peripheral plot elements that I thought were most compelling were left unanswered and almost wholly ignored at the end of the book. It left me unfulfilled and wanting more. I guess that means that in spite of the shortcomings, I was invested in finding out what happened. I just didn't feel like the ending satisfied that desire. The main plot ended with a small deus ex machina moment to resolve the main plot but then didn't bother to answer the lingering questions.Overall I felt like this book had a lot of potential that just wasn't fully realized. It didn't work particularly well as a suspense novel for me because I didn't feel attached to or invested in the characters. It had some thrilling/horror elements but they were pretty low key overall since the goal seemed to be suspense more than shock. The mystery was compelling but was left so unresolved that it was unsatisfying. I honestly feel bad for rating this one low as I really felt like it had potential and I really wanted to like it but in the end, I wanted a lot more from this book and was left dissatisfied. Maybe others will like it more, but for me, it fell flat.**2 out of 5 stars
    • 3/5
      This one fell short for me. Although I am a sucker for any novel set in a mental asylum, especially an abandoned historical one, it was the characters who never got off the ground here. The plot was marginal, not horrible, but never sweeping me off my feet either and by the end I was finding it utterly predictable. The formatting of the novel was visually awesome, though, with creepy black and white photos sporadically placed throughout the book (reminiscent of Mrs. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children), but this just wasn't enough to make up for the lack of a good story. Might sit well with younger teens, but older, more savvy ones will roll their eyes.
    • 5/5
      This book was addicting. I just could not put it down once I started reading it.
    • 4/5
      Creeptastic!
    • 4/5
      Pretty quick read. It kept me reading until the end but also slightly predictable.
    • 4/5
      Dan Crawford is looking forward to a summer at a prestigious Prep School. When he meets Jordan and Abby --esp. Abby!-- it seems it will be a summer of learning, love, and adventure. He soon learns however that their dorm is a former psychiatric hospital. Pictures of patients, doctors, inhumane treatment are coupled with weird messages and sightings. Secrets abound and trouble ensues. Flat pacing and a predictable bad guy ruins a great concept --at least for this reader.
    • 3/5
      Title: AsylumAuthor: Madeleine RouxRelease Date: August 20, 2013Publisher: HarperCollinsSource: Edelweiss DRCGenre(s): YA Fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Horror, Thriller, SuspenseRating: ★★★☆☆Review Spoilers: LowI absolutely loved Madeleine Roux’s first book Allison Hewitt is Trapped. It was one of the first books I reviewed on Nerdophiles and remains one of the only audiobooks we’ve reviewed. What made that book special was the very real, very honest way in which Madeleine Roux wrote out Allison’s story from her own point of view and how she worked in the various types of media through which people communicated. I will admit, Sadie Walker is Stranded - the follow up to Allison Hewitt is Trapped – wasn’t quite as good as the first book in that series but the way she wrote that book completely different and still told a compelling story gave me hope for her YA debut, Asylum.And, to be fair, Asylum really is a good book. I just had really high expectations after how amazing Allison Hewitt is Trapped that I think I let myself down more than anything else. It’s a little bit like reading Looking for Alaska after reading The Fault in Our Stars. It’s still a good book but nothing John Green writes will ever quite match up to The Fault In Our Stars – for me, at least.The basic premise behind Asylum is your general haunted asylum story. Daniel Crawford is a teenager with an unknown past and a history of his own sort of therapy sessions. Adopted when he was younger, he’s always felt a bit on the outside of things and he sees the New Hampshire College Prep summer camp program as his way of really meeting new people and getting excited about something. There just happens to be this little hitch where the dormitories where they will all be staying are part of an old insane asylum and, oh yeah, the warden was kind of crazy and did a lot of inhumane things there.For most of the story, Dan and his new friends Abby and Jordan find themselves investigating a series of really creepy incidents going on around the place. It begins when Dan finds a creepy photo left over from the old days of the asylum in his desk drawer and then starts getting creepier when strange – and sometimes threatening – handwritten messages start appearing in his room. After he and his friends break into some of the blocked off sections of the old asylum building that have been left in ruins (because apparently that’s safe to do when you’re housing a ton of high schoolers with raging hormones and no sense of self security) they find more photos and a lot more crazy coincidences – including some long forgotten family history that might tie both Abby and Dan to those horrible last days of the asylum. And, then, things take an even darker turn.Solidly written with decent characters and a fairly compelling – if stereotypical – story, Asylum will appeal to the current generation of young adult horror fans. One nice little addition to the story is the sequence of photos and notes dispersed throughout the book. It’s a bit gimmicky in this book and not nearly as put together as some other horror thrillers that have similarly used pictures and things to add to the mystery and creepiness of the story. There are no added clues in the pictures at the very least and they merely serve to help illustrate the book. And while I liked Dan as a narrator I never really felt like I knew him that well. Most of the characters weren’t nearly as developed as I would have liked but that may have been a choice on the author’s part – at least in as it applied to Dan and Abby – because ultimately they were wrapped up in a lot of the mysteries of the Asylum. I really liked Jordan as a character, though, and I think he was probably the most normal and realistic of the two. His reactions were spot on and even with as little background as we got on him it was enough to help shape him into a fairly three dimensional character.Ultimately, the story and it’s conclusion are satisfying enough even if I found it a bit confusing in some parts and predictable in others. The end certainly was not my favorite part of the book. I really enjoyed the first seventy-five percent of the book but by the end I was ready for the end game to finally be revealed. When it was, though, I was pretty content with how everything wrapped up – though I still feel like a lot went unanswered. Not enough, however, for a sequel as think this is one of the few standalone books for young adult readers out there these days. I think some aspects of the book could have been a bit better fleshed out but for the most part I think it really does itself justice and anyone who reads it will walk away pretty happy.Final Thoughts:If you’re a fan of the horror genre and looking for a quick, compelling read then Asylum is a good choice. It’s a fairly solid YA debut and Madeleine Roux’s writing is – as always – very well put together. The characters are a little shallow and could have used a bit more development but the story gets you from point A to point B with a good amount of mystery and some pretty good thrills. But if you’re really looking to see Madeleine Roux excel definitely check out Allison Hewitt is Trapped at some point.
    • 4/5
      This book is one huge mind-@#$%.

      It was absolutely trippy. I never quite had the measure of anything. Just when I thought I had it down, something changed. Then it changed again. Plus, it's downright creepy. Seriously, don't read this book at night if you value nightmareless sleep. Fantastically written, stunning (if terrifying) setting, and the pictures made it all come together.

      Brilliant.
    • 3/5
      Guess what?! This was the book I read for book club! My very first book club book! YAY!

      Anyways...this book was creepy. Not scary...but freakishly creepy. I chose this book because I was promised chills and thrills and all sorts of horrifying things...but I also chose this book, expecting not to be affected. I've only ever read one horror story before, and it was not horrifying. At all. This one on the other hand...creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy.

      Well, there are several factors that contributed to the feeling, I suppose.
      1) I'm very easily scared (yes, I jumped when someone sneezed abnormally loud once)
      2) I was reading this at night (pretty much the only time I ever get to read in peace)
      3) I was reading this in a silent room (it was really, really quiet, okay?)
      4) I was the only one in the room (imagine all the weird looks I would have gotten if I had screamed...)

      So there I was reading this book when suddenly...*bzz bzz*
      I very nearly screamed and hurled the book across the room.

      What I DID do, however, was jump and scold myself for being afraid of a book. I mean...what's the worst that could happen, right? It's just paper...

      Now, the blurb on the back did warn me of haunting images from actual asylums, but I didn't think much of them. Until this long period of reading when I was beyond freaked and I turned the page , only to be greeted by this girl with this hair with these clothes...gaaaah! From then on, I would always scout ahead a few chapters to warn myself if there was something alarming coming...

      There was this point in the book, where I was so deeply entrenched in the book that I was actually afraid to turn the page or even treat the book with anything but utmost respect and care...I thought...I thought...a hand or SOMETHING would reach out of the book. I actually did. I kid you not.

      Thankfully, I did the sane thing and took a break (at some point in the book when I couldn't take any more creepy) before I finished the rest of the book. And by break, I mean, I walked around the house and shouted some gibberish, then decided to go back into the book. Of course...at another point...I told myself to go to bed and finish the rest of the book in the morning where it would be bright, and loud, and not a perfect environment to read a horror novel...

      The ending...although the main problems that were introduced in this book were addressed, and all those little nuances finally made sense...there were still a few things that I still don't get...still some things that have left me without a reasonable explanation...hmm...

      This book really had the creepiness down pat. It wasn't the sudden surprise thing I was always afraid of in the movies...this book had this great build up of suspense, and I was taken from mild amusement in the beginning, to reading behind a pillow...

      As for the next book, well...I'm pretty sure I will read it...I mean, it's unlike me to NOT finish a series I've started...but I think I've had enough creepiness to last the year...or what's left of it anyway...I think there's...a week left...a week and a day...?

      Aaanyways....I'm definitely taking a break from the creepy. I'm going to read something much less horrific and goose bumps-causing. Something that requires little to no brain power to comprehend...a fluffy, girly, read, if you will...
    • 4/5
      This story is definitely creepy and spooky. With the well written novel accompanied by the ghoulish photos it provides an excellent scary novel. Even though this novel was seriously creepy I didn't want to put it down. I am looking forward to getting my hands on the sequel.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book! I got lots of creepy vibes while reading it. There were a few predictable moments but the big twist I did not see coming.
    • 3/5
      The book was nice, I'll give you that. Sure, it has its 'OMG!' moments, but this book makes for almost a light read. I was surprised at myself that I took this quick to finish this book.

      The adventures of the protagonists didn't go as deep as I thought it would, and Brookline's history was not completely revealed either (intentionally or not, I'm not sure). There were a lot of loose ends still surrounding the mystery of the sanitarium that Madeleine has also not covered in this book.

      Also, the climax of the story wasn't really... well, climax-y. It ended a bit too easily and quick if you ask me. However at the end of the book, Madeleine proves that there will be more to come.

      Let's hope that all loose ties will finally come together in her sequel, Sanctum.
    • 3/5
      I borrowed this book from the library on a whim. I was looking for an audiobook to listen to while I worked. The story has a lot of promise, but I wasn't blown away by it. I can see where a young teen might be intrigued by or enjoy the story much more than I did. I liked it enough to read the second book in the series though! It's a quick read, so if you're interested, you won't waste your time.
    • 4/5
      I liked this book, but I didn't love it. I found it entertaining and the pictures were pretty good. It wasn't too long, but I did feel some parts were too long winded if that makes sense? It's an easy read though and some parts are for sure really creepy and I got goosebumps. I will be continuing this story to see what happens. 4.5 out of 5 stars. I would recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      creepy...terrifying past...secrets...eerie photographs...frightening journal pages....just as we think we understand a trauma, a wall's erected...we understand nothingvolatile reality...haunting foreshadowingsYA debut novel ----a haunted asylum and the teenagers who are drawn to it.★ ★ ★ ★
    • 4/5
      A copy was given to me, free, in exchange for my honest opinion. Creepy as hell! When I finished reading this I still wasn't sure what was going on. And it's not over - not yet. I guess you could say that I was expecting a ghost story; something that was scary and just right for Halloween. I am not sure if I would classify this as a ghost story or a story of possession. Does this tiny detail matter though? No, at least I don't think so. There were some awkward moments. The first one being Felix. But, he was an awkward character to begin with so. . . I guess I should have expected that. The other awkward thing was how quickly the friendship between Jordan, Abby and Daniel came together and then came apart. Yes, the program is only 5 weeks, but still! I guess it was how quickly it came apart that really bothered me. Other than that, I really enjoyed this one. Books that leave with more questions than answers always bother me. While this book was intriguing enough for me to want to get my hands on book 2 as quickly as possible, if I don't get the answers that I need I am not sure if I will continue past book 2. 4 stars ****
    • 4/5
      A teenager travels to a secluded college in New Hampshire to attend a five-week college preparation program. A shy orphan with a mild memory disorder, he is pleased to find himself making friends with two other students, a pretty artist and a gay mathematician. Their friendship is poisoned when the three are subtly led into exploring the closed wing of their dormitory. Their current abode used to be an asylum for the criminally insane. The patients weren't the worst people there, however, for its last warden was a madman who tortured and killed patients while trying to cure them. He was imprisoned, the asylum closed, the patients sent away -- save for one, a serial killer who was never accounted for.The three discover secrets in and under the dormitory / asylum. The gay retreats into himself. The girl becomes obsessed with the photograph of a very young lobotomized girl who may be her aunt. The hero realizes that he may be related to the mad warden. He begins to suffer very frequent memory lapses while being tormented by written notes left in his personal spaces and strange messages sent FROM his phone. Worst of all, a series of attacks in the dorm leads him to suspect that someone is channeling the missing serial killer. He fears that person might be him. He is wrong, It is his relative who is trying to possess him. The killer has possessed someone else, and he is out for revenge on his old tormentor.This book is a mix of genres. It is very effective as a psychological thriller and as a Gothic horror tale. The latter especially is helped by the illustrations, which are custom photographs based in part on former mental patients, their healers, and the terrible equipment use to 'treat' them. Where it falls down a little is as a mystery, which the reader can see halfway through the story and spends the rest of the yarn wondering while the kid can't figure it out.
    • 4/5
      All I know is that I am officially scared of hospitals. The characters were really interesting and I will pick up the next book Sanctum soon.
    • 3/5
      I had heard that this book would give you the creeps. I haven't read a scary story in a while and this one did bring that scary factor a few times. I mainly read at night so it did creep me out a few times. However, I am not too sure if I was distracted with other things or what not, but it took me a while to get into the story. I think the main character, Dan, just wasn't keeping me occupied enough. He just kept too much to himself, so at times it just felt pointless for him to have friends there for him. Eventually, it did pick up. Sadly it was the end, but it was good. And it did leave me wanting to pick up the next book to see where else it might go.
    • 5/5
      Dan is just a normal kid wanting to go to a normal college. But the college he ends up at just happens to be an old insane asylum. Murders begin to happen and nobody can figure out who is doing them. But in a random twist of events they find the true murderer, while also figuring out the mystery of a little girl.I loved this book and would totally recommend it. But i would pretty much only recommend it if your into horror type stuff. The writing overall was good. The book also includes pictures from real asylums that just adds to the intensity of the book.
    • 1/5
      No.

      Twelve hours later...

      Okay, what the hell was that? When I bought this book, I expected to be drawn in and scared. What I didn't expect was for it to be a really cheap knock-off of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

      The plot was generic and boring. The characters were like cardboard cut-outs. I didn't like one bit of this - except for maybe the pictures. That's it. The pictures.

      Honestly, I really wish I'd listened to the people who gave this book a negative review/rating. I would have saved myself some money.