Asylum by Madeleine Roux – A Review

There was two reasons I picked this book. One the cover is wonderful and two it’s about ghosts, and your girl loves her some ghost stories. However what kept me reading was the wonderful writing, the plot on a whole, and the pictures that are mixed in to help make this book more interesting. It is like Miss Peregrine’s home for Peculiar Children, which is another book that I enjoyed.

I love the idea of found footage, so when these books come along with photos that help bring the story together but also set the tone of the book and make things more interesting. If I could have all of these I totally would get more because they are really amazing, I don’t know if Miss Peregrine’s was the first, if anyone knows the first ever please share but if it’s House of Leaves, I have that and have yet to finish it.

I wanted to also get myself into more horror type books because I had made several attempts to do my own horror novel and wanted to learn more about the genre. I was extremely happy that I picked this one, it’s opened the doors to more horror books for me as well. So let me get into this, mild spoilers if any at all really.

They built it out of stone — dark grey stone, pried loose from the unforgiving mountains. It was a house for those who could not take care of themselves, for those who heard voices, who had strange thoughts and did strange things. The house was meant to keep them in. Once they came, they never left.

Madeleine Roux – Asylum

This book plays on the use of the pictures to help tell the story. It follows Dan, a sixteen year old that doesn’t really feel like he fits in and doesn’t have any friends. He’s invited to a college summer program where the book is mainly set. He goes, but finds out that the dorm he’s staying at with the other high school students used to be a Sanatorium aka an Asylum. So creep factor is hella high just with that.

As the book progresses, he finds friends in other people that are staying there, even possible love with one of the girls there but strange things happen, he and his friends find pictures through out the book that also unlock clues to what is happening and what happened so long ago. Telling more about the Doctor that was in charge of the Asylum and what happened to the patients as well.

The friends he makes are Abby and Jordan, and they too experience weird things with Dan. They bond over the experience and it is always helpful to go through a creepy Asylum with friends right? I enjoy these two characters as well. They are good friends, they fit with Dan and it’s nice to see him find people he feels right with, but from the beginning I felt something for Dan. He’s a wonderfully written character.

If someone tells you you’re crazy enough times, eventually it becomes true. It’s that old psychiatrist’s joke: insanity’s all in your head.

Madeleine Roux – Asylum

I love this book! The characters aren’t annoying, which can sometimes happen when it’s teenagers but these guys were smart, funny and real to me. I was invested in what was happening and as it progressed I wanted to know what it all meant. I wanted the answers as much as Dan and his friends did. Every picture they find, that helps piece the puzzle of it all means something.

The history of the Asylum ties the characters there but it’s also an interesting back story and there is a little twist to it that I wasn’t expecting. This is a story that I couldn’t put down and finished very quickly, there wasn’t any point that felt too slow or boring so it was very easy to just keep going because I needed to know what happened next.

There were some unanswered questions after it all comes together but at the same time the ending made me feel like there was closer to this story so I was surprised that there are sequels. In fact I only just recently picked up Sanctum, the sequel, which was an equally good continuation of the story and I finished that in one night.

Madeleine Roux is good at what she does with everything. From the words she strings together perfectly to the pictures that she incorporates with those words. It all brings you along for the ride and makes you want to read more. Read this book if you want to be creeped out, enjoy a wonderful set of characters and be a part of this story as if you are a fourth member of this group looking for answers and discovering the secrets within the Asylum.

What did you think of this book? Did you like it or hate it? Have you read any more of her books in this series? I’d love to read your thoughts!