ESCAPE FROM ASYLUM By Madeleine Roux

April 15, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

ESCAPE FROM ASYLUM By Madeleine RouxEscape from Asylum by Madeleine Roux
Series: Asylum #0
Published by HarperCollins on 6/14/16
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, Young Adult
Pages: 352
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase

The nightmare is just beginning.

Ricky Desmond has been through this all before. If he could just get through to his mother, he could convince her that he doesn’t belong at Brookline. From the man who thinks he can fly to the woman who killed her husband, the other patients are nothing like him; all he did was lose his temper just a little bit, just the once. But when Ricky is selected by the sinister Warden Crawford for a very special program—a program that the warden claims will not cure him but perfect him—Ricky realizes that he may not be able to wait for his mom a second longer. With the help of a sympathetic nurse and a fellow patient, Ricky needs to escape now.

Short and Sweet Review

Brookline isn’t the first place Ricky’s parents have sent him to try to fix him, but Ricky knows something isn’t right with Brookline. He’s seeing and hearing things, and now the Warden has taken a special interest in him, and even chose Ricky for a special program. Ricky realizes that he needs to get out of Brookline he just doesn’t know how he’s going to do it.

Escape from Asylum takes place before the trilogy and we actually get to see Warden Crawford at work. Ricky is placed into Brookline after being caught with a boy and attacking his stepfather. Ricky becomes friends with another patient Kay, and he’s not sure if he can trust nurse Ash, she makes it seem like she’s playing both sides. I liked this story, I’ve already read the other three books in the series and this book sheds a light on what the asylum was like when it was open. It was interesting seeing Ricky figure out things by snooping around, it was unfortunate that he even ended up at the asylum in the first place. Ricky and Kay were good characters, I wish we saw more of Kay though, but they were kept apart once the warden realized that they were friends. The second part of the book was great, we see more of the mystery unfolding and what the warden has planned.

Overall this was a good book, it can be read as a standalone or a prequel. I honestly love this series and the pictures that are included really add to the creepy vibe.

Filed Under: Reviews

THE BOOK OF LIVING SECRETS By Madeleine Roux

March 3, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE BOOK OF LIVING SECRETS By Madeleine RouxThe Book of Living Secrets by Madeleine Roux
Published by Quill Tree Books on 3/8/22
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Horror & Ghost Stories, Young Adult
Pages: 396
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

No matter how different best friends Adelle and Connie are, one thing they’ve always had in common is their love of a little-known gothic romance novel called Moira. So when the girls are tempted by a mysterious man to enter the world of the book, they hardly suspect it will work. But suddenly they are in the world of Moira, living among characters they’ve obsessed about for years.

Except…all is not how they remembered it. The world has been turned upside down: The lavish balls and star-crossed love affairs are now interlaced with unspeakable horrors. The girls realize that something dark is lurking behind their foray into fiction—and they will have to rewrite their own arcs if they hope to escape this nightmare with their lives.

Short and Sweet Review

Best friends Adelle and Connie both love a little known historic, gothic romance novel by the name Moira. When the two are told by a man that her can transport them into the book Adelle jumps at the chance but Connie is more suspicious, but soon the girls are in the book that they’ve been obsessing over for years. Unfortunately the book is nothing like they imagined. Now the girls have to find a way to survive in this nightmarish world and make it back to their own.

Adelle and Connie love this book Moira so when this guy who works in a shop they’ve been going to for a while says he can put them in the book they say yes not thinking it’ll work. In the book the girls are separated Adelle actually ends up meeting the main characters but they’re so much different than the ones she pictured in her head. Connie ends up with the side characters a group called the Penny-Farthings. Adelle and Connie quickly realize that the world they’re in isn’t one they want to be in. There’s also some creature in the wharf that takes sleep walking people and is using them for whatever reason.

The characters in the book were interesting, they obviously weren’t how Connie and Adelle imagined them but my favorites were Orla, Caid, and Missi. These were characters that the girls originally brushed off but ended up being the best characters. Moira and Severin on the other hand were awful. There were some weird things going on in this book and most of it could be attributed to the girls being in a world they shouldn’t have been in.

I liked Connie and Adelle, Adelle was basically living in a fantasy world for the first couple of chapters she was in the book because she didn’t know what was going on outside. Connie was helping the Penny-Farthings fight and get supplies. I did like how all of the characters got together to help try to stop the monster in the wharf from completing his goal, and trying to help the girls get back to their own time. I will say I’m still a little confused on what happened in the end.

The premise was good I think that some more information about the thing in the wharf and what the dream city is would have made this book even better. I liked the horror vibes and just seeing what would happen next. I loved seeing Connie and Adelle navigate their way through a world they thought they knew. It just makes you wonder what it would be like inside your favorite book.

Filed Under: Reviews

CATACOMB By Madeleine Roux

March 4, 2021 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

CATACOMB By Madeleine RouxCatacomb by Madeleine Roux
Series: Asylum #3
Published by HarperCollins on 9/1/15
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, Mystery & Detective, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 332
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Sometimes the past is better off buried.

Senior year is finally over. After all they've been through, Dan, Abby, and Jordan are excited to take one last road trip together, and they're just not going to think about what will happen when the summer ends. But on their way to visit Jordan's uncle in New Orleans, the three friends notice that they're being followed . . . and photographed. Then Dan starts receiving messages from someone he didn't expect to hear from again—someone who died last Halloween.

When the trio arrives in New Orleans and the strange occurrences only escalate, Dan is forced to accept that everything that has happened to him in the past year may not be a coincidence, but fate—a fate that ties Dan to a group called the Bone Artists, who have a sinister fascination with notorious killers of the past.

Now Dan's only hope is that he will make it out of his senior trip alive.

Short and Sweet Review

Senior year is over and Dan, Abby, and Jordan reconnect to go on a road trip before starting their first year in college. The group is on their way to New Orleans to visit Jordan’s uncle, but along the way they make a few stops and notice that someone is following them and taking pictures. Things only get worse in New Orleans when a group called the Bone Artists seem to have a connection to Brookline.

This is the last installment in this trilogy. I will admit that this wasn’t my favorite book. The first 25% where they kept stopping so that Abby could take pictures for her project was slow. Dan is getting messages from Micah that are sort of like a warning and one of those texts clues Dan in to the fact that the group is being followed. We also get more information about Dan’s birth parents which I liked. The group meets Oliver and Sabrina, Oliver was a friend of Micah’s and he’s also been getting text. Oliver thinks that Dan can help him repay his debt to the Bone Artists. Jordan and Abby don’t trust Oliver and Sabrina and they were really rude to them and spent most of the book being mad at Dan and blaming him for the things that were happening. Abby and Dan are still dating, but I don’t understand why because there doesn’t seem to be any chemistry between them. The ending was good but it also felt a little rushed.

Overall this was a good book but I think the first two books are the best. The plot is good and I liked the mystery surrounding Dan’s parents and how the Bone Artists had a connection to things that went on at Brookline.

Filed Under: Reviews

SANCTUM By Madeleine Roux

February 26, 2021 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

SANCTUM By Madeleine RouxSanctum by Madeleine Roux
Series: Asylum #2
Published by HarperCollins on 8/26/14
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, Mystery & Detective, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 353
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Dan, Abby, and Jordan remain traumatized by the summer they shared in the Brookline asylum. Much as they'd love to move on, many questions remain, and 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.

Sneaking away from sample classes and college parties, Dan and his friends lead a tour of their own—one through the abandoned houses and hidden places of a surrounding town. Camford is hiding a terrible past, and the truth behind Dan's connection to the asylum's evil warden is more terrifying than Dan ever imagined.

Short and Sweet Review

Dan, Abby, and Jordan are going back to Brookline. After the traumatizing summer they had there it seems like even when they left someone wants to keep the terror going. The trio has been receiving photos and even Felix gave them a set of coordinates to properties close to campus. So the three go to campus as prospective students and try to get answers.

Our characters are back at New Hampshire College and that’s when they realize that the pictures they’ve been sent featuring a carnival is actually happening on campus grounds. Dan and his friends know that the only way to get answers is to sneak away from their guides for the weekend and visit the coordinates that Felix gave them. This book still has the creepy vibes that the first book gave us. Dan still sees things through the eyes of Daniel Crawford and he’s also seeing the ghost of children.

The group learns a lot more about the past of Brookline and even learn that there’s a cult in the midst of everything. It was interesting to see how much the group uncovered. This book had me flipping through pages just to see what would happen next. I was always worried for the characters something about the campus and the people on it are not right.

I’ve enjoyed reading the first two books in this series and I’m excited to see what’ll happen in the third especially because we’re leaving Brookline behind. What I love most about this series is the creepy vibes and the pictures sprinkled in it!

Filed Under: Reviews

ASYLUM By Madeleine Roux

February 18, 2021 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

ASYLUM By Madeleine RouxAsylum by Madeleine Roux
Series: Asylum #1
Published by HarperCollins on 8/20/13
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, Mystery & Detective, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 321
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

For sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford, the New Hampshire College Prep program is the chance of a lifetime. Except that when Dan arrives, he finds that the usual summer housing has been closed, forcing students to stay in the crumbling Brookline Dorm. The dorm was formerly 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 start exploring Brookline's twisty halls and hidden basement, they uncover disturbing secrets about what really went on at Brookline . . . secrets that link Dan and his friends to the asylum's dark past. Because Brookline was no ordinary asylum, and there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried.

Short and Sweet Review

Dan is at the New Hampshire College Prep program for the summer. This is important to Dan, he’s an outcast at his school so this is his chance to make friends before college. The only thing that’s not exactly easing to think about is the fact that the dorm the students are staying in used to be an asylum. Dan does make some friends, Abby and Jordan. The trio end up exploring the asylum and learn some disturbing facts about their new home for the summer.

I found Asylum to be an enjoyable read. I will admit that some parts were predictable but that didn’t really bother me. I thought the setting was creepy and the pictures just added a lot to the book. Sometimes I found the pictures scarier then what was actually happening. Dan, Abby, and Jordan all have some unexplainable things happen to them that kind of makes them feel like they’re losing it especially Dan. We do learn that Dan may have a connection to the asylum which maybe why he feels like things are speaking to him and why he’s having strange dreams about being places in the asylum he’s never seen before. I didn’t really care for the romance I thought it was better when Dan and Abby were just friends. There was a cliffhanger at the end. I plan on finishing the rest of the series just to see how everything works out. Even thought the book may have been predictable it kept me engaged and I just wanted to see what would happen next!

Filed Under: Reviews