Review: Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Author: Madeleine Roux
Publisher: Harper Teen
Date of publication: August 2013

For sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford, New Hampshire College Prep is more than a summer program—it's a lifeline. An outcast at his high school, Dan is excited to finally make some friends in his last summer before college. But when he arrives at the program, Dan learns that his dorm for the summer used to be a sanatorium, more commonly known as an asylum. And not just any asylum—a last resort for the criminally insane.

As Dan and his new friends, Abby and Jordan, explore the hidden recesses of their creepy summer home, they soon discover it's no coincidence that the three of them ended up here. Because the asylum holds the key to a terrifying past. And there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried.

To be honest, I really didn't like this book.  I know this could have been so much better than it was. The first thing I thought after I finished it was, "What did I just read?"  I love watching those movies where the film crew goes into an old asylum or hospital and weird things start to happen.  That is the type of book that I thought I was getting.

What I got instead was a pretty lackluster book.  I never felt like I got an answer as to what was happening with the characters and why.  The characters were kind of forgettable.  It started out promising, but after the first chapter, it fell apart.  The conversations among the characters felt forced and out of place.  I could understand how their personalities kept changing.  The asylum was supposed to be making them go crazy.  But, there is never really a final solution as to why.  The mystery of the killer was confusing, and I still have no idea why he was doing it.  The personal connections between the kids and the asylum were just too predictable.  I don't think I would really recommend this one. Maybe with a rewrite it could be a better book.