Review: Sanctum by Madeleine Roux (Asylum #2)

Sanctum by Madeleine Roux (Asylum #2)

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Horror, Paranormal. Fantasy

Score: ❤❤❤❤

Page Count: 343

Book #2 in the Asylum series

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: August 26, 2015

In this haunting, fast-paced sequel to the New York Times bestselling photo-illustrated novel Asylum, three teens must unlock some long-buried secrets from the past before the past comes back to get them first. Featuring found photographs, many from real vintage carnivals, Sanctum is a mind-bending reading experience that blurs the lines between past and present, genius and insanity, perfect for fans of the smash hit Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

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.

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 the surrounding town. Camford is hiding a terrible past, and the influence of the asylum runs deeper than Dan ever imagined.

Review: 

PROS:

1. Before we get started and to avoid spoilers, this book is the sequel to the first book in this series, Asylum, which was an awesome read for me personally so I suggest you give it a go. Anyway, I was beyond excited to read this one once I FINALLY got myself a copy after holding off for so long and I seriously need to get my hands on the third book which came out back in September. So many books!! Anyway, here's the review:

2. First off, I want to say that I fell in love with the characters all over again. I love that I got to see a little more character development this time around as the three friends, Dan, Jordan, and Abby have to solve yet more mysteries in order to get to the bottom of what went down in the first book. Dan is a very clever character who seems to be targeted by whatever or whoever seems to be trying to communicate with him about the asylum and just what happened there and why he's the one that they blame. Abby is also a smart character and I like how she's a bit more daring when it comes to taking risks in order to find another clue. Jordan is my favorite. Just thought I'd put that out there. I love Jordan because even though he's a loyal friend, he'll probably have to think for a moment when it comes to either hightailing out of some creepy old house or saving you. He made me laugh with his sarcastic comments that didn't really help anyone out in the situation. 

3. I love all things horror so I was very intrigued by all the creepy pictures. I like that some of them were sad or mysterious while others were a bit creepier or just flat-out terrifying. There were pictures of apparitions, abnormal beings and even a few pictures of creepy old houses and hallways. I think I actually might like the pictures more in this book than in the first but don't quote me on that!

4. I really loved where the story line headed and how everything wrapped up in this book. At first, it felt like there was so much going on and so many unanswered questions that I got a little lost and had a little bit of a hard time keeping up with things but once you get in the groove, it's pretty much non-stop twists and turns. This book had so many weird things that happened to the characters, secrets, shocking revelations and even things I never saw coming that by the end of the book, I was still reeling. This book was such an exciting and creepy read that the cliffhanger ending left me wanting more. Give me the third book NOW! 

5. Overall, I would love to see these books become movies. At least the first one for sure. If you're a fan of mysterious photos, on-the-edge-of-your-seat storylines, eerie locations or stories of unexplained events, check this series out ASAP. I really enjoyed this book and I'm so excited to see what the next book holds!

I didn't give this book a five-star rating because it was a little slower than the first book and it did take about a hundred or so pages for me to become enthralled in the story. Other than that, I give this one a thumbs up.

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Review: Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Horror, Paranormal, Mystery

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Page Count: 313

Book #1 of the Asylum series

Publisher: HarperTeen

Published: August 20, 2013

 

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.
Featuring found photos of unsettling history and real abandoned asylums and filled with chilling mystery and page-turning suspense, Madeleine Roux's teen debut, Asylum, is a horror story that treads the line between genius and insanity.

 

Review:

PROS:

1. First off, this book is perfect for fans of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. This book had some really cool elements in it and I honestly picked this book up a few months ago because I was still on a Peregrine kick. I finally decided it was time to read this creepy story and I have to say, I wasn't disappointed. Here's the review!

 

2. I really loved the characters in this book. I thought that Dan was a nice protagonist because he was socially awkward and had interests in very complicated school subjects that he signed up for just for fun. He was smart, different in a sense that he was also a foster kid and had foster parents that supported him and he also had some mental health issues that he had to struggle with. I thought he was a very complex character and I really loved reading from his perspective. I also adored his friends, Abby and Jordan. Abby is an artsy character, majoring in art, and I thought she was a very upbeat person with a courageous personality. Jordan was just too loveable and I thought he was very confidant in his own skin and didn't care what people thought about him. He was funny, sarcastic and freaked out in hilarious ways. I thought it was also interesting that he was an LGBT character which is something that I thought added more variety amongst the characters in this book.

 

3. The pictures in this book were also very creepy and sometimes even a bit disturbing, which I enjoyed. I love creepy things such as books, movies, pictures, etc. This book had pictures strewn throughout the book and made a really cool collection of creepy and haunting photos that were found from real asylums which was a cool factor. Like Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, this book had a collection of creepy pictures that had a story written around them. I thought the story and pictures flowed really well together and I thought the pictures were just too entertaining to look at. From a picture of a dark and eerie hallway to a haunting and disturbing yet heartbreaking picture of a little girl who was a recovering patient of a lobotomy, each image had a story behind it.

 

4. Overall, I really loved this book and I think it's the perfect read for when you're craving something dark and creepy or if you want to save a certain book for Halloween season reading. I loved the twists and turns and the plot twists and even the somewhat graphic scenes of the things that some of the patients did before coming to this once-upon-a-time psychiatric ward. I loved how you didn't know who to trust, what was happening to Dan when he experienced some very realistic feeling nightmares and if in fact, Dan was the insane or ingenious one. It was a thrilling ride and definitely one you have to read for yourself to understand.

 

The reason why I didn't give this book a five-star rating was because I felt like the book could've had a little more of a creep factor. I thought some of the story building could've been made a little more suspenseful when it came to building up a plot twist or climax in the story. Don't get me wrong, this book was exciting and suspenseful already, but I would've loved to see just a little more suspenseful build up.

 

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I hope you guys enjoyed this book review! If you have any other book requests you would like me to review, just leave a comment or send me an email! Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!

 

Catacomb by Madeliene Roux (Asylum #3)

Out September 1, 2015