Asylum - Madeleine Roux

Title: Asylum

Author: Madeleine Roux

Pages: 313

Publisher: HarperTeen

From goodreads: 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 picked Asylum because it looks so creepy, obviously.  Perfect for a Halloween read.  That being said, I didn’t wind up loving it as much as I had hoped to.  The concept is interesting, but I think there are just too many unbelievable and unexplained things.  I know this is a series, but I think more details had to be revealed in the first one in order to keep me interested in continuing.  Because (spoilers ahead) if it’s a past lives thing or a descendants of these people having revenge episodes I think it needs to be more clearly put that that is what’s going on.  Also, there is no freaking way in hell a summer prep course would be housed in an abandoned mental institution that sections of it still retain things from its past as an institution.  I’m talking pictures still hung on the wall – totally creepy – files still in the desk kind of thing.  No way, I don’t care if they can’t tear it down because it’s a historical site there is no way they would allow that stuff to still be there or let children live there for 6 weeks.  I also felt that, while people did die, it never really felt like it mattered at all?  Like, we didn’t know them very well and they had very little impact on the story except to make it seem like the killer was one specific person.  While I think this was a decent read, I don’t think I will be continuing with the series.