Book Review: Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Title: Asylum

Author: Madeleine Roux

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.

I'm going to keep this simple and quick.  I didn't hate this book, but there wasn't anything that made me really like it either.  It was just ok.  I LOVED the concept.  I mean seriously a book set in an old shutdown asylum! What is there is there not to love!  And the parts of the book that dealt with the the asylum were probably the best.  The first time they explore into the old part of the asylum that has been locked up and left just as it was was great! I loved that and wanted more.  Unfortunately there was so much in between those scenes that lost the momentum for me.   Let me explain more - the characters:  I really couldn't form any connection to them.  I liked Dan, but he really just remained a character on the page.  He never really came to life for me.  Plus he was suppose to be really smart and a great thinker, and I never saw that.  I became frustrated with his choices much of the time.  I felt the same with Jordan and Abby.  They just remained one dimensional.  I wanted to care for them, but I just had no strong reason to.

The other thing that bothered me was the dialogue between the three main characters.  I can't put my finger on exactly what bothered me, but it seemed overly simple or stiff or something.  It just didn't sound natural. And this doesn't go into the fact that they had just met yet they were "insta-friends", so that made it harder to accept how they talked.  

Lastly - I actually had parts of the plot figured out before it happened.  That never works for me! Can't go into it of course because I don't want to give things away.  But that really disappointment me.

Final thought: Great idea - not the greatest execution.