Book Review: Asylum

Since October is the month of frights and monsters, I figured I’d start the month off with a review of a book that had recently caught my eye: Asylum by Madeleine Roux. I have always been a fan of horror stories, and the combination of title and cover was enough to pique my curiosity.

Asylum is about a boy named Daniel Crawford who is enrolled in the New Hampshire College Prep program. Once he reaches the place, however, he discovers that the usual summer housing program is closed, so students will need to stay at the Brookline dorms. As usual, there is a catch: Brookline dorms used to be a psychiatric hospital that housed the criminally insane. Dan still does what he can to make the most of his stay, even making friends with a girl named Abby and a boy named Jordan. However, Brookline hides many dark secrets, and Dan soon finds that he might be connected to its grim past. And then, strange things start happening: it starts with emails that only he can see, and then he starts having dreams that seem to be about the dormitory when it was still an asylum...

The first thing I want to praise is the atmosphere of the book. Brookline is basically a lite version of the Shalebridge Cradle from the video game Thief: Deadly Shadows, with the Shalebridge Cradle being an orphanage and an asylum at the same time, which is a big plus for me as a fan of the Thief games. While Brookline is not as scary as the Shalebridge Cradle, Roux still does a fantastic job describing the dorms as a place haunted by its past as an asylum. There is always a sense of unease, a sense that something is not right about a student dorm that used to be a site of unethical medical treatment of the homicidally insane.

Imagine sleeping in a dorm that used to be used for things like this. Sweet dreams!

The mystery of the Brookline dorms is also presented to readers in a more psychological fashion than a horror fashion. Most of the odd things that happen are seen only by Daniel and not by any of his friends. This not only makes us question Daniel’s sanity, but it also serves to isolate him from the rest of his friends, increasing the crushing feeling of being alone with no support. It’s the sort of psychological horror that works very well in an asylum setting, and Daniel himself is often found wondering if he really is going nuts.

The book does have a few hiccups, though. Some of the character interactions come across as less than stellar, making some of the characters a little less likeable. For instance, Jordan becomes quite belligerent towards Daniel and Abby when the two of them want to delve deeper into the former asylum’s past, a behavior that only gets worse as the book goes on. While the book does justify it by saying that Jordan thinks Daniel and Abby are making fun of him and that, as a gay boy who had to face discrimination, he is a bit sensitive toward mockery, the way he reacts in the book does not make him sympathetic and only serves to have someone not believe Daniel when bad things happen. I understand what the author intended with Jordan’s behavior, but I can’t help but think there might’ve been a better way to handle this.

Another gripe I had with the book was the relationship between Daniel and Abby. The two become a couple pretty early on, and their relationship happens a little too quickly. I do not object to these two being a couple, but I feel like the author should’ve taken more time to develop their relationship, building up what they like about each other before the two start going steady. With no buildup, the relationship feels like it was put in just for the sake of having the main character be hitched with someone. I always felt that romantic relationships needed to be built up and that readers should be given a good idea why two characters are a good fit for each other. Daniel and Abby needed to spend more time getting to know each other before hooking up, and their relationship should not be explained by Daniel’s teenage hormones making his heart beat faster every time he’s near Abby.

Despite my complaints about the book, Asylum is still a very nifty read. While I do not think it is a particularly horrifying book, I do think it’s an intriguing mystery story that kept me gripped as I turned the pages. If I get the chance, I plan to check out the other books written by Madeleine Roux. The mystery of Brookline dorms hasn’t been completely solved yet, and I look forward to seeing what new things come from Ms. Roux’s mind.