Sanctum

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.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Looking for closure can open old wounds, especially when the wound never stopped bleeding. Madeleine Roux lets readers in on a little Brookline Asylum secret in her sequel, Sanctum. And the secret is? The madness never stopped. 

Dan is still having nightmares where he feels as if he is the old Warden of Brookline Asylum. He's definitely heading for the deep end. Bravely, or stupidly, he decides to return to the place of murder and mayhem for a college tour weekend. I like Dan; I can't really help it. He's a little weird, goofy, teetering on the edge of crazy, but it works for him. And for this novel. Readers will definitely be intrigued by the unsolved mystery that we all thought was solved. However, this book is more about the mystery than the actual character. Roux connected readers to Dan in the first book and since that has been established, the story can move to center stage.

Abby and Jordan are still present, and accounted for, in this sequel. Though, they have seemed to distance themselves from Dan to help leave what happened at Brookline in the past. But Dan isn't the only one being haunted. Readers get a deeper look into Abby's love for art and Jordan's mathematical madness in this sequel. The trust these three have in each other is a big part of why readers will feel themselves connecting with the characters. When characters rely on and trust each other, readers feel as if they are reliable and trustworthy. Especially when their crazy theories turn out to be right.

The plot of Sanctum begins with the three teens being lured back to Brookline. Obviously whoever was behind the grisly murders in the first book was not the ghost of The Sculptor or The Warden. There's much more to the story and it's quite intense. Dan, Abby, and Jordan meet back at NHC for a weekend tour to find out, once and for all, what or who is haunting them. This book isn't as gruesome as the first one, with less death and more threats. However, honestly, I was a bit disappointed with the ending as I had already guessed who was the true culprit. And when it comes to mysteries, I want to be wrong for all the perfect reasons.

Rating: 3/5 Cups

Photo Friday

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/229120699769469048/
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/4f/85/89/
4f8589e4070916d22c57429656c4235a.jpg

I had the same misconception.

Anyone else?

WWW Wednesday (168)

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

     

01. Currently Reading:

In between books. :) 

02. Recently Finished:

Sanctum by Madeleine Roux. Couldn't stop reading this sequel once I started it. Review coming soon on this Asylum follow-up about Dan, Abby, and Jordan revisiting the college to try to gain some closure.

03. Reading Next:

The Travelers by Meradith Houston. Time traveling blog tour coming up next week!! 

Flicker

Lee Capren’s life is perfectly ordinary, thank you very much—right up until she’s spirited away by faeries and forced to serve them as a portrait artist. She escapes with the help of Nasser, a human boy whose magic has always been more of a curse than a gift. But what felt like a night in Faerie spanned years in the human world, and Lee returns only to find that her old life is gone.

Now living above a shop that caters to the city’s beguiling magical crowd, Lee doesn’t think her life can get more complicated. Then again, she never expected clashes with Filo, her prickly new roommate and unwilling magic tutor, her growing feelings for Nasser—or the cunning faerie bent on dragging her back to the world she just escaped.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Indie author Kaye Thornbrugh transports readers to the world of the Sighted in her novel, Flicker. When Lee loses seven years of her life as an Otherworld Prince's pet, she doesn't have the option to return to what once was. With the help of others like herself, Lee has a chance to start over. 

Weatherly (Lee) Capren is a young girl who was trapped in the Faery realm for seven years. She stumbled upon it when she was fifteen and is rescued at twenty-three by Nasser Rew, a highly Sighted individual who played the knight in shining armor. Lee is a very down to earth girl, even though she experiences wild and amazing things. She questions it all, which I very much admire, and requires a bit of proof before belief is even an option. These small quirks are important aspects to me. It shows me that Lee is a character I can trust and believe in as a reader. Readers will connect with her sympathetically as Lee learns all that she lost. Her personality is easy to enjoy as well. She's persistent, dedicated, loyal, and honest. 

Readers get much more than just a main character, however. They get the whole gang. I enjoy novels where the supporting cast is just as important as the main character. In Flicker, Filo, Nasser, Jason, and Alice all have their own story/stories which Lee seems to just stumble into. This lets readers get to know the supporting cast in the same timeline/way that the main character does. Therefore, readers won't just feel connected to Lee but to the whole group. They're impressive, intelligent, rebellious, loving, and unique. 

The plot of Flicker begins with Lee. She stumbles into an Otherworld grove and is adopted by a member of the Faery Realm. Years pass without her knowledge, until Nasser goes looking for his little brother, Jason. He finds Lee instead and can't seem to leave her there. Nasser rescues her, at a price, and takes her to Flicker, a shop run by Filo, who gets a little angry that he gets stuck taking care of a normal. When the member of the Faery Realm learns that Lee is gone, a little upheaval follows. Now the Faerie who traded her must bring her back or receive punishment. Flicker is an incredibly intense search for safety, for all characters involved. Those who love fantasy and supernatural fiction will definitely enjoy the magic of Flicker. 

Rating: 5/5 Cups

Teaser Tuesday (176)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers



Sanctum (p.135)
   - Madeleine Roux

Dan wasn't sure which was worse--the idea that he was actually being haunted or possessed or whatever, or the idea that this was all in his head.

Photo Friday

http://media.bookbub.com/blog/2015/05/11/quotes-about-books/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/229120699769469047/

Always carry an escape route. 

WWW Wednesday (167)

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

          

01. Currently Reading:
Flicker by Kaye Thornbrugh. An artist who holds a little bit of magic, is found by a human boy working for faeries and saved. Looking forward to getting further into this one!

02. Recently Finished:
Standing by China Dennington. Gale has the enhanced DNA that allows her to time travel. And going to the future and saving the world has just found her to-do list. Interesting science fiction novel, easy read for a young audience.

03. Reading Next:
Sanctum by Madeleine Roux. Facing my fears and reading book two in the Asylum series. I just know I'm going to enjoy the second bout.

Standing (Waterblaze Trilogy #1)

In a future where two tyrants hold the world in an iron grip, humanity is about to meet its doom. An empathetic girl from the past is called to action by a group of technologically advanced mermaids. An apocalypse is coming.

Along with fellow time traveler, Force, she is sent to the future as the last hope for humanity. The stakes are high, the odds against her. Can she overcome her fears and step into her destiny? Can she lead a people to victory who lost hope long ago?

*May Contain Spoilers*

China Dennington debuts her writing with the first book in the Waterblaze Trilogy, Standing. When Gale suddenly learns of her enhanced DNA and time traveling capabilities, it's an unexpected chance to save the world. 

Gale is the main character of this first installment. She's a young girl who has always been drawn to the ocean while also terrified of it. Turns out, her DNA has the ability to adapt to underwater living and traveling through time. Surprisingly, Gale did not freak out or question any of this new information. Gale is also an empath, so she knew the people sharing this information with her were truthful. But still, I think the girl deserves some time to freak out a little bit. I know I would if the fate of the entire world rested on my shoulders. Even though this is fantasy/science fiction, it made her character a little harder to believe. Merpeople, time travel, futuristic rulers dooming earth - I'm totally on board. Love it. But, I want to believe in the main character and she seemed to lack some depth. 

The storyline begins with Gale attempting to save her little sister from drowning in the ocean. A cruel joke, the Merpeople tricked Gale into entering the ocean so that her DNA would be activated. Once activated, Gale is able to access her powers of surviving under water and traveling through time (something that all merpeople are capable of). In the future, the leader of the merpeople sent a message back in time to warn them of the world's destruction. Gale teams up with Force, another DNA enhanced human, in hopes of saving the world. The plot is well laid out and I enjoyed the action. But I wanted more details in the story. Dennington seems to 'tell' with her writing, rather than 'show.' I wanted to bear witness, feel the emotions, the action, the hope teetering on the edge of oblivion. Standing was a nice, quick, easy, and enjoyable read. Impressive for a young writer and good for a young audience. Though I wish the book would have been developed a little further with deeper character connections. 

Rating: 2/5 Cups

Teaser Tuesday (175)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers



Flicker (Kindle 1%)
   - Kaye Thornbrugh

Curious visions sometimes flickered before Lee's eyes, mostly when she wasn't looking straight at them. Gnarled faces in the bark of trees. Boys with stubby goat horns who snickered in the semidarkness of movie theatres. Teenage girls with glinting cat eyes who sat on the curb smoking weird silver cigarettes.

Asylum

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.

*May Contain Spoilers*

The history of New Hampshire College will invite readers into the haunted halls to study for a summer college prep course in Madeleine Roux's novel, Asylum. When Dan discovers that his summer dorm was once the background for highly immoral experimental procedures for the criminally insane, he starts to wonder what could still be hiding in the shadows and the off-limits office. 

Daniel Crawford cannot wait to go to college. He's intrigued by history and psychology, always studying and sitting alone at the lunch table. When the prep course at NHC begins, he's filled with excitement allowing us learning nerds to connect with Dan right off the bat. Nothing like the empty pages of a new notebook, am I right? While Daniel enjoys education, he is also interested in toeing the line of rules and regulations. But a little adventure isn't always a good thing. No matter, Dan is actually a pretty brave kid (especially when trying to impress a girl) but he's also kind of creepy at times. Like when he blacks out and someone ends up hurt... or when he tries on a reportedly insane psychiatrist's spectacles. The good and the bad really balance out in Daniel as he tries to be less awkward and more open, which lets readers connect with him even more. 

The plot of Asylum is basic while simultaneously frightening. At first, with the photographs and such, I thought it would be comparable to Ransom Riggs' Peculiar Children novels. However, that is not the case. Daniel discovers that his dorm, Brookline, once housed the criminally insane. While there, the inmates were subjected to inhumane experiments to cure them. Daniel and two friends decide to dig in to the secrets of the Asylum around the same time that people start dying. One patient sticks out the most: The Sculptor, who would kill and then pose his victims as if they were still alive. With Daniel blacking out and losing blocks of time, he begins to think he's going insane but he hopes to catch the murderer instead of being him. 

Though Asylum is a young adult novel, I would advise caution with this book. It isn't as brutal and gruesome as it could be, but it is quite creepy. I was creeped out enough not to read it before bed. Even with the warning, Asylum was an interesting, entertaining, murder mystery that I struggled to put down. I even took it on errands with me just in case I found myself with a few precious moments of down time. I'm definitely looking forward to book two. 

Rating: 3.5/5 Cups

Corsican Justice

Hardy is visiting Corsica for the first time to explore the possibility of arranging a hiking tour for segments of Corsica's infamous hiking trail, the GR20. He also seeks some closure for the fact that his father was killed in a highway accident on the island several years earlier. When Hardy learns his father was actually murdered, his world is shaken; he seeks the truth amid arms smuggling, Russian mobsters, and judicial corruption. Corsican Justice encompasses justice on several levels, with an understanding of the Corsican vendetta as the core of the island's justice system that goes back centuries.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Mortal danger, mobsters, and machine guns can really put a damper on a vacation. Though, Hardy Durkin tries to keep a smile on his face in Corsican Justice by Bluette Matthey. Researching a hiking trail for his senior-focused trail blazing business, Hardy travels to Corsica in hopes of finding a new trail and closure with his dad's death, but his hopes may be too high. 

Hardy is an American who, if I understood it correctly, was born and raised in Germany because of his father's military career. He's a former military member himself and now runs his own business. As a character, Hardy is brave, spontaneous, loyal, and instinctual. Readers who enjoy the outdoors will be able to connect with Hardy on that point. Other readers will be able to understand his need for closure with his dad's death, which turns out to be a murder and not an accident like the police reported. Mystery lovers will enjoy that opening plot twist and let that lead their interest. 

The plot is intense, to say the least. Hardy gets way more than he bargained for when first stepping foot in Corsica. He's immediately the almost-victim of a murder, cursed, and mortally threatened within the first half of the book. After Hardy discovers that his father was in fact murdered, he follows the lead, which pulls him into a mob fight between Corsicans and Russians. There are lots of murders, lots of things blowing up, and lots of detail. Some is a bit extreme. Readers with queasy stomachs may want to skim those sections. 

The writing style is factual and a bit dry at times. In some chapters, I thought I was reading a travel book, while others thickly recounted Corsican history. And, not being a history buff, I feel like I zoned out during those parts. The plot line is interesting however, and I put up with the history and the travel info to finish Hardy's story. He's a relatable, likeable character who stumbles into a complete sh*t storm, for lack of a better term. I would most definitely recommend this novel for anyone who likes mystery, mob-musings, or adventure. 

Rating: 3/5 Cups

Photo Friday

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/229120699769469045/
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+BloomingTwig/posts/ctsgVmy7W7p?pid=6165162763583443938&oid=113928374195998255206

Isn't that the truth?

WWW Wednesday (167)

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

          

01. Currently Reading:
Corsican Justice by Bluette Matthey. After arriving in Corsica to check out the hiking trails, Hardy stumbles upon the truth that his father was murdered there five years earlier.

02. Recently Finished:
I Truly Lament by Mathias Freese. Short story collection focusing on the Holocaust. Powerful subject matter and writing style.

03. Reading Next:
Asylum by Madeleine Roux. Dan wasn't expecting his college dorm room to have a history as an asylum for the criminally insane.

Teaser Tuesday (174)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers



Corsican Justice (p.68)
   - Bluette Matthey

Hardy knew immediately that his room had been searched. His possessions weren't strewn about the room, but there were signs that his things had been rummaged about.

I Truly Lament

Mathias Freese shares a collection of stories in his book, I Truly Lament. The stories revolve around the Holocaust and share points of view with guards, golems, survivors, and victims. This collection is not for the faint of heart. The stories aren't all blunt, they aren't all gruesome. But then again, they are all blunt and gruesome; it was the Holocaust.

Twenty-seven stories make up this heart and mind wrenching collection. Though they each have their own critical factor and voice, Snow Globe I made my mouth drop open in disbelief and horror. A man dreams of his time in the concentration camps and it's snowing. To me, snow is a magical thing. It casts everything in beauty and innocence, giving it a chance to reappear as something better. Snow is used for making angels and ice cream, twirling about trying to catch a single flake on your tongue. But in this story, Freese uses snow as a torture device. As the man listens to the rules, snow accumulates around him and the other camp members. Soon he's drowning in it. Every reader will find a story that horrifies them, opens their eyes, or reminds them. This story was exactly that for me. Freese took something beautiful and turned it into a tortured nightmare. It was the Holocaust.

There was a bit of confusion in this collection for me. Since it is a fiction collection, I wasn't too sure on whether Max Weber was real or a stand-in for all people who think that the Holocaust was a hoax or exaggerated. With a bit of research, I believe I found the referenced man. Here's a little bit about his beliefs and work on Wikipedia.  Though, there is also Mark Weber, in which the name Max could have been substituted for the fictional representation. He's a leader of a Holocaust Denial Group as stated in this Wikipedia article. Either way, I'm sure survivors of the Holocaust who do know about these men are just as hurt as Freese makes them out to be.

Overall, the collection is nicely put together. I thought the order of each story made sense as a whole. It begins with a golem and the acceptance that help is far off. Each story adds to that belief with the struggle for food, for the will to live, and the loss of a loved one. Then the collection ends with a golem who struggles with his own existence and need. I've been to the Holocaust museum in St. Louis and I've studied it in school. But I've never gotten the chance to talk to anyone about it. And though, I still haven't, I Truly Lament has let me peek into the mind set of victims and survivors. A very worthy collection.

Rating: 3.5/5 Cups

Photo Friday

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/229120699769430363/
http://joshboonemovies.tumblr.com/?og=1

Exactly.

WWW Wednesday (166)

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

          

01. Currently Reading:
I Truly Lament by Mathias Freese. Collection of short stories working through different aspects of the Holocaust.

02. Recently Finished:
Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers. Final book in the assassin nun trilogy. I'm going to miss their adventurous nature but if I can continue to read LaFevers, I'll survive.

03. Reading Next:
Corsican Justice by Bluette Matthey. Travel mystery! A man goes on a trip to find closure after his father's death when it's revealed that his father was actually murdered.