Asylum, by Madeleine Roux

Asylum is about a boy, Dan Crawford, who's a little different. He's way smarter than the kids at his school, a mild social outcast, and is adopted. He also has some psychotic tendencies, for which he sees a therapist. Dan is ecstatic to have the opportunity to attend a summer program at New Hampshire College Prep, and can't wait to get away from the drones at his high school and interact with some like-minded people. Upon arrival, Dan learns that the normal dormitories are out of commission, and that he and all participants will be housed in a former psychiatric ward.


From Day One, Dan feels a strange connection to the building, and discovers that he has the same name as the former warden of the psych ward, a man who was known for strange and inhumane "experiments" on the wards. On top of that, Dan finds a series of strange photos and begins receiving inexplicable, untraceable emails and texts about former patients. Dan's new friends Abby and Jordan help him investigate, but their inquiry turns quickly dangerous, and kids at the program start getting hurt. Will the trio be able to find their link to the dorm and stop the madness?

This book seemed much like a copycat of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children to me. The plot was vastly different, but the format of the book (font, inclusion of photos, etc.) was just too strikingly similar. I think that it wanted to be a horror book, but it didn't actually materialize. I felt that parts of the plot were too sketchy or random, and it just didn't all connect for me. The way it ended did seem to indicate that there would be a sequel - I don't know if I'd read it or not.


Also Try: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs; Variant, by Robison Wells