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.
I haven't read many horror books to be honest. I'm the kind of person who watches horror movies with her eyes closed and can't sleep after watching one. So for a long time I've stayed away from horror except for the occasional Goosebumps when I was a kid.
Asylum by Madeleine Roux was the first horror novel I read. I picked it for a Halloween read-a-thon and guess what?
I really enjoyed it. Many people talked about how it felt childish but honestly speaking, I was creeped out, thoroughly entertained and looking forward to book 2 (
I'd call that a success). Although it could also have been due to the fact I hadn't read much horror before but I can't deny the fact that I enjoyed it.
With Sanctum I was quite excited and frankly looking forward to seeing creepy pictures inside!
My thoughts -
↠
Sanctum was definitely less creepy than Asylum. It had just as many creepy pictures as the first book but somehow the atmosphere didn't feel as dark. That said, I feel like the author has grown a lot with her style of writing in Sanctum.
↠ The ending leaves us with a lot of questions and a little something of a cliffhanger. But I actually liked how it ended and I'm looking forward to the third book.
↠ My biggest problem with the book was probably the fact that the photos inside are misleading. They're all these creepy carnival and circus photos but the story ends up not having much to do with it.
So it felt like the photos were there just for the creep factor.
↠ The characters felt a little erratic. Their relationships weren't addressed throughout. There's inconsistencies in their characterization and I couldn't connect with them at all.
↠ It was interesting but also really easy? As in the mysteries in the book are so intriguing but the characters solve them
SO easily and the answers are literally falling into their laps. There was TOO much coincidence and I stopped getting very excited about any questions that came up because I was sure the answers would be just around the corner.
↠ I wish we had gotten more creepy descriptions and scares. This read more like a thriller than a horror novel and not in a good way.
↠ Yes I still gave it 3 stars and you're probably wondering why. but sometimes, despite all the technical problems, the overall experience ens up being entertaining. That was the case with this book. So while it wasn't the best I can't deny the fact that it was entertaining.
***
Have you read this series? Do you rate books solely by their technical qualities or the entertainment or both? Tell me in the comments below!
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