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A review by outsmartyourshelf
Escape from Asylum by Madeleine Roux
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Ricky Desmond has just been taken to Brookline Asylum due to his acting out which included breaking his stepfather's wrist. The asylum is strange but quiet enough but all Ricky wants to do is contact his mother so he can go home. He's been in such places before but has always managed to convince his mother to take him back but the excuses & evasions he gets from the nurses when he requests to make a call makes him think that this time he's more a prisoner than a patient. When the Warden selects him for a special treatment program, things take a more sinister turn.
This is a prequel to the first book in the series & is set in the 1960s when the asylum was still up & running. The plot itself starts off well although it becomes a little muddled towards the end, but the characters let it down. They don't feel like real people & therefore it's difficult to care. It should have been easy to get the reader invested with Ricky's bisexuality & Kay being transgender & how this contributed to their being placed in the asylum, but they're very thinly drawn. There's also the slight paranormal angle (such as the description of the Warden's head being turned almost all the way round at one point) which never really goes anywhere. A missed opportunity for me.
This is a prequel to the first book in the series & is set in the 1960s when the asylum was still up & running. The plot itself starts off well although it becomes a little muddled towards the end, but the characters let it down. They don't feel like real people & therefore it's difficult to care. It should have been easy to get the reader invested with Ricky's bisexuality & Kay being transgender & how this contributed to their being placed in the asylum, but they're very thinly drawn. There's also the slight paranormal angle (such as the description of the Warden's head being turned almost all the way round at one point) which never really goes anywhere. A missed opportunity for me.