It's quite possible that I will never be able to resist any book set in or around or about an insane asylum. Not only did Madeline Roux's teen debut, Asylum, make my must read list immediately, but then I was lucky enough to win a copy (thanks, Madeleine!).Dan Crawford is stoked to be attending the summer college prep program at New Hampshire College. Even when he discovers that the dorm he'll be living in was once an insane asylum. Brookline is only a building, after all. Dan is intrigued by the place, though. He quickly befriends two fellow students, Abby and Jordan, and together they head out to explore. While the top levels have been given over to student housing, much of the lower levels is still out of bounds. Ignoring the restrictions, the three soon find their way to an office containing a number of eerie and intriguing images - pictures of old patients from the building's asylum days. Even more tempting, filing cabinets filled with patient information. But there's something strange going on in Brookline. A student is killed and Dan starts having problems with his memory. And then Dan and Abby discover something even more weird - something that connects them both to Brookline.
Asylum is outright fun! The inclusion of the "vintage" images does bring to mind Ransom Riggs's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, though it is a bit difficult to tell how the imagery will stack up (the arc is missing a lot of the final images - I'll have to hit up the bookstore for a final copy tomorrow!). Story wise, the two are different enough that there's really no need to compare.
Roux's tale is a creepy enough to be called horror and tense enough to be called thriller (I'd put it in the middle, thriller fans who may not be wholeheartedly horror fans are sure to enjoy just as much as a true horror fanatic will). And while it is surely a teen release, this adult had just as much fun reading it at 32 as I'm sure I would have at 16.
The book's not flawless, I would have loved a bit more time spent on developing each of the characters, but I rather enjoyed the book as is. It was quick and even made my hair stand on end a few times (a win with this kind of book!).
Asylum is officially on sale tomorrow. Now I need to read Roux's two adult zombie releases!
Rating: 4/5
4 comments:
Nice to hear it made your hair stand on end. I've been really curious about this one. I will have to check it out now. :)
It's quite possible that I WILL NEVER be able to resist any book set in or around or about an insane asylum.
We are kindred spirits ;-)
Yeah, I started to read the ARC on Edelweiss, but noticed stuff missing, so I stopped reading early on. Going to wait for the final copy, when I can see everything.
P.S. Might want to take this out of the "2013 Debut Author Challenge" tag - Madeleine Roux has had two other books published.
I know. It's a YA challenge, though, and ASYLUM is her teen debut. Her previous two weren't teen.
I'm really looking forward to this one! I have a thing for novels set in asylums :)
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