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Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar // Night Markets, Star Courts and Desi goodness

GOODREADS // AMAZON // BOOK DEPOSITORY The daughter of a star and a mortal, Sheetal is used to keeping secrets. Pretending to be "normal." But when an accidental flare of her starfire puts her human father in the hospital, Sheetal needs a full star's help to heal him. A star like her mother, who returned to the sky long ago. Sheetal's quest to save her father will take her to a celestial court of shining wonders and dark shadows, where she must take the stage as her family's champion in a competition to decide the next ruling house of the heavens--and win, or risk never returning to Earth at all. This gorgeously imagined YA debut blends shades of Neil Gaiman's Stardust and a breathtaking landscape of Hindu mythology into a radiant contemporary fantasy.   ( A huge thank you to the  HOV Tours  and HarperTeen for the eARC and the opportunity to be a part of this blog tour.  ~When a book sees you~      Yes I am absolutely going to s

Halloween Read-A-Thon Book Review: Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Asylum by Madeleine Roux

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.

Okay so I'm seeing a lot of negative reviews for this novel on Goodreads. People are saying the book isn't creepy enough. It was creepy enough for me considering this is the first actual Horror story am reading. So let's get down to the review...

Dan is supposed to be 16 years old but at times he seemed younger than that. I didn't like him much considering he was always caught between doing-what-he-wants vs. doing-what-Abby-wants-to-impress-her. He is perfectly awesome at making bad decisions but that's good for us readers as bad decisions lead to plot twists and the like.

There isn't much character development when it comes to Abby and Jordan either but I suppose it's probably because the book is kind of small.

And also the Insta-love and insta-friendship among completely unrelated people. Dan likes Abby the moment he sees her and from then on all his decisions are influenced by his desire to impress Abby. Dan, Abby and Jordan become best pals overnight. It felt unreal. Am not saying people with different personalities can't be good friends but friendships take at least a couple of days to build and that isn't shown in the book.

Okay so maybe there were plot holes and a lot of things didn't make sense but I liked the plot. Simply because it was creepy. Like I said it's my first horror novel and so I don't really know the nuances of this genre. The plot moved quickly and I liked the ending. (I did guess who it was beforehand!) The story ends in a sort of cliffhanger and I'm excited to see what happens next.

The writing was a little juvenile but I liked that the story moved fast. There were no draggy scenes and I read the book in one sitting. Also I liked the photographs. Photoshopped or not, they do add to the creepy setting of the book.


- In one word- Creepiness


- Lack of character development
- Insta-relationships

WILL I BE READING THE SEQUEL?

I believe I will certainly be reading the sequel.


Overall, despite the flaws, I enjoyed reading the book. It's an easy and creepy read.




View all my reviews

Comments

  1. Oooh that cover alone gives me the creeps! I used to really love reading horror as a teen but lately I just haven't read any. Maybe I'll have to give a Halloween read-a-thon a try next year. :)

    The photos remind me of Miss Peregrines and the insta-relationships sound annoying, but I'm glad this was a quick, easy and enjoyable read for you!

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    Replies
    1. Oh you should! This read-a-thon has been so much fun and I discovered some great people through it :) Yes the insta relationships were a little distracting but the creepiness had me! :P

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  2. Very informative. Thank you!

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