Summary:
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--formerly a psychiatric hospital. 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 here . . . secrets that link Dan and his friends to the asylum's dark past. Because it turns out Brookline was no ordinary psych ward. And there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried.
My Thoughts:
I absolutely LOVED this book. I read it all in one sitting.
Dan is an interesting character to choose to focus on. Reading the book made me think that Abby was more of main character material then he was. He shares the name of the notoriously terrible warden that experimented on and sacrificed patients, which makes asking people who live in the area freak out. Hopefully in the sequel we get to find out if they are actually related. Also, he has a mild dissociative disorder, which is cool because it's usually the killer who has it, not one of their targets.
Jordan was also interesting, but he had less of a part in the search for answers, which didn't go well for his character development; he wasn't included in a lot of important scenes and revelations. He is a gay teen who escaped from being sent to a conversion camp. I hope we find out more about him in the sequel as well.
Abby's character was arguably the most interesting. She had an aunt who was sent to the asylum back when it was open. And it turns out that the aunt is still alive, living in the town. Her dad gets angry whenever she tries to ask him about her.
READ! THIS! BOOK! I know I'm like eight years late to this, but it was so good.
My Rating: 5 stars
