Teen Reads Week: Dark Eden

by:  Patrick Carman
published by:  HarperCollins Childrens
publish date:  November 1, 2011

Fifteen-year-old Will Besting is sent by his doctor to Fort Eden, an institution meant to help patients suffering from crippling phobias. Once there, Will and six other teenagers take turns in mysterious fear chambers and confront their worst nightmares—with the help of the group facilitator, Rainsford, an enigmatic guide. When the patients emerge from the chamber, they feel emboldened by the previous night's experiences. But each person soon discovers strange, unexplained aches and pains. . . . What is really happening to the seven teens trapped in this dark Eden?

I was reading this book thinking it was sorta ok until the end.  For me, at that point, it took a serious nosedive.  It went from like a 3 star book to around a 1 and a half star book.   I'll just say there are certain elements in YA that are overdone and it's time to move on.

I will say that until the end, I did think that this was a fairly interesting book.  I was really interested in what each person's fear was.  How those fears came about and whether or not it was done purposefully was also an intriguing idea.

In the book description up there it mentions that each person suffers aches and pains after coming out of the chamber.  The reason for that is revealed at the end of the book.  I did like that little twist.  I thought that was a clever concept.

There's nothing I saw inappropriate for older or younger teens in this book.  It was on the dark side, a little creepy, but nothing horribly gory or violent.  There was the slightest hint of romance and I don't remember any language at all.  Overall, well suited to the age group.