Trilogy Rating: 4 stars
Book 1: Asylum
4 stars
"Insanity is relative. It depends on who has whom locked in what cage."
The first time I read this book it was for a project at school where the student chose a book to read and wrote his expectations about the book. At that age my expectations were not being able to stop reading and just wanting to know more. 6 years later, these expectations were met again.
Asylum is a thrilling and creepy novel in which we follow sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford, who goes to the New Hampshire College Prep over the summer. 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.
I've always been very interested in the subject of madhouses and this book was just what I needed. Suffice it to say that I finished it in a few hours while being both scare to finish it and scare to stop reading.
On each page you discovered something new that either explained something to you or confused you even more. The truth is, I don't know what to think, the book left me with so much uncertainty that I couldn't stop reading. I was left with so many questions and some explanations that did not convince me but I think I will have to wait until the second book to judge.
Overall I was blown away by this book, I don’t tend to read a lot of suspense novels but I definitely should start to read more because this book had me hooked.
"In a crazy world, only crazy people are sane"
Book 2: Sanctum
5 stars
"What could be more sacred than possessing the power of our true thoughts"
Oh my. I think it's safe to say I lost a lot of sleep thanks to this book. Either because I was reading it or because what I read felt too real. After reading the first book I knew I had to start the second one right away because I needed to know what happened to Dan and his friends and I just wanted more of the world, the asylum and the mysteries surrounding it.
In this haunting, fast-paced sequel, three teens must unlock some long-buried secrets from the past before the past comes back to get them first. Dan, Abby, and Jordan remain traumatized by the summer they shared in the Brookline asylum. Much as they'd love to move on, someone is determined to keep the terror alive, sending the teens photos of an old-timey carnival, with no note and no name. Forsaking their plan never to go back, the teens return to New Hampshire College under the guise of a weekend for prospective students, and there they realize that the carnival from the photos is not only real, it's here on campus, apparently for the first time in many years.
I definitely like this book more than the first one. This book was circus themed which made it 100 times more creepy. I loved Dan's character development, he was more confident and wasn't afraid to speak his mind which made him much more enjoyable.
The book had so many plot twist I never saw coming, it felt with deep topics I never thought would be touched in a book like this. Few books have the power of frightening me as this one did it. I couldn't sleep at night just thinking about the book. Overall I loved this book. It was a fantastic easy read which kept me guessing all the time.
Book 3: Catacomb
3.75 stars
Apparently 2021 is the year when I will finish series, which is very exciting. I was thrilled to finish the Asylum series because this is the first paranormal, horror, thriller series I have ever read.
In this series we follow sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford as he attends the New Hampshire College Prep. 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. In this book we follow the three friends as they go on a road trip uncovering dangerous secrets along the way.
I enjoyed this last installment in the series, however, there was too much going on, we had several important plots that I believe weren’t fully explored. The author tried to do too much and ended up with a lot of undeveloped plots and ideas.
The setting was definitely the best thing about the book, you could picture yourself alongside the main characters as you went with them through the road trip, you could picture the catacombs, the city of New Orleans. It was outstanding writing.
This book has an open ending, for some, it works, for me, I hate open endings, I want to know everything and I hate when authors leave it to your imagination. And finally, the pictures in this book made no sense, they gave the book an air of creepiness but they didn’t add anything to the story like they did in previous installments.
However all of this said I still very much enjoyed this book, it was a great conclusion and I loved to follow the characters one last time in their crazy adventures. I am happy I read this book and if I have the chance I will most likely be reading the little novellas just to get more information in this world that Madeleine Roux created and I fell in love with.
Comments