I previously sent this book as a will not give feedback; however, I have come to the unfortunate discovery that NG in a way punishes you when you DNF a book.

I never do star ratings on books for DNFs, but if this is how it must be I will give my DNFs a 2 star.
It’s been too long for me to succinctly remember the reasoning for this DNF, my apologies.

I love reading about mental health facilities, so I had to request one that’s haunted by its former patients

To really liked the characters and what they brought to the story.

I would say this is more creepy than scary, a fantastic read .that I would recommend

There's potential in this book but I found it bland and didn't keep my attention.
I couldn't connect to the characters and the horror side was a bit lacking.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Unfortunately the lack of interest in the book took away from me enjoying the book itself. I don’t enjoy books that move around, back and forth, leaving me unable to get into the book.

Asylum by Theresa Dale is a ghost story.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Paper Doll Publishing, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)

Bailey O'Connor is a 26-year old who is on an  Urban Exploration trip across the border to photograph and discover what happened in Briarhaven,  an abandoned institution for mentally and physically handicapped children.  Rumors abound that the place was used for torture and experimentation on the residents.  It was forced to close in 1978, after over 75 years of operation.  She and the rest of the team hope to uncover the truth about what really happened in this dark place.

Bailey, however, is prone to seeing psychic phenomena.  The ghost in the straight-jacket that she saw in the city, seems to be here.  Others within the group sense the unnatural energy of the place, but Bailey sees and hears more.  In particular, a girl named Mona seems to be showing her exactly what happened in this place, and those sights are driving Bailey a little crazy.

By the end of her adventure, her own sanity will be questioned.


My Opinions:   

The story is about childhood abuse, schizophrenia, mental illness, and an institution who didn't care about the children they were entrusted to keep.

The story is told by Bailey, and later by Mona, as well as newspaper articles detailing the events, both past and present.

I thought the story started quite slow, but the pace did pick up.  I had some problems with the writing style of the author at the beginning of the book, but it grew on me, and by the end, I quite enjoyed it.  

As far as ghost stories go, it was quite good, but I felt it lacked the scary part. It was probably more suspenseful than scary.  The premise was good.

I liked most of the characters, whether they were human or ghost.  I loved Bailey's friendship with Moshi.  That felt real.

Overall, it was a good read!

Bailey, an urban explorer and photographer, goes with a group of friends to Brairhaven, an abandoned asylum for disabled children, closed down 30 years earlier after horrible stories of abuse came to light. After Bailey suffers a concussion on the property, she begins having dreams that she is one of the residents, living the abuse that Mona experienced, and decides to stay behind to help those whose spirits remain. This was a surprising book in some ways. The narrative did not go as I expected. I'm not usually into horror stories, but this was a really good, unexpected choice. 4.5 stars, because I didn't love the ending.

3.5

This was a fun spooky read just in time for Halloween. Who isn’t fascinated with an abandoned mental health facility that’s haunted by its former patients?

The cast of characters was a odd and eclectic group of artists/photographers that kept the story interesting and moving along.

This was more creepy than scary and it wasn’t really surprising but that was ok! It was still entertaining and enjoyable. I would read more by this author and recommend this one.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Xpresso Book Tours for a copy in exchange for a review.

Thanks to Paper Doll Publishing for the ARC!

It's been a long time since a book scared me this much. Whoa.
An abandoned asylum is always so creepy. Just thinking of the fact that the explorers were going there without proper authorization, I could already imagine that a lot would go wrong. But they were so excited! It was the perfect place to photograph and unravel mysteries of the past, which included suspicious experiments and missing bodies.

As in most horror stories, a large group divides into small groups... And one person ends up going missing. Talking to the spirits, Bailey discovers many things, which probably would have been forever forgotten if no one cared.

It was a great read, especially at this time of year!

(I tried to post my review to Goodreads via NetGalley, but it says "Unable to find book with ISBN "9781989897034" on Goodreads". So I'll be manually posting my review on ASIN B08BZV55QM)

A solid entry into the genre, but it doesn't do enough to separate itself from the pack with originality.

This is really dark. People who like their books to leave them terrified will love this book. It’s got it all - spooky settings, creepy characters, murder and mystery. Well written, fast pace - don’t read it at night!

this had a suspenseful and horror atmosphere, I really enjoyed going on this journey. An asylum is always scary and it added to the book.

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

This book had so much potential to be a good scary ghost story but that is not what it ended up being. Some friends go into an asylum to check it out (like any normal person would) when Bailey is bombarded by ghosts who want her to get their stories out.

That should have been good and scary, right? Well some of the ghost stories are interesting but most I just didn’t care about. Nothing was scary. It wasn’t the “leave the light on while you read this” story, unfortunately.

I actually thought this was a first time author so I was willing to give it a bit of a slide since it was such a generic story, but I see this author has written other stories.

I think it still has a lot of potential but didn’t stand up to the potential it had.

Step into the shoes of urban explorer Bailey O'Connor, if you dare. Bailey explores an abandoned asylum, but she gets much more than she bargained for. Unexplained things keep happening, until Bailey goes missing and is left with nothing but empty surroundings...and others.

Bailey is taken over by a ghost that still lingers, showing her the horrible afflictions that have went on in the asylum.

Now, I don't believe in ghosts, except for the Holy Ghost. I do believe that demons linger and you have to decide for yourself just what is happening in this spooky ghost story.

If you're brave enough, pick up the pages and enter...the..Asylum.

The story is about a group of urban photographers who investigate old and derelict buildings. This particular building is unusual because it used to be an asylum for handicapped children, promising them the finest of treatment and care.

The photographers are excited to get into the compound, which has high security, so they need to avoid being spotted and removed from the building and grounds. The buildings are very old and crumbling, dark and dank, and filled with wild animals, a tramp or two and other groups of explorers.
Sounds interesting, right?

The story is told partly through old news articles which were published on the discovery that Briarhaven was a place where handicapped children were mistreated and experimented on; and by one of the photographers. who is the main character.

This book was a disappointment. I like a good ghost story, but this wasn't one. Ghosts of children who had lived there appeared in it but none of the characters were bought to life (excuse the pun!) in the story, whether living or dead.

The book starts slow, and I found it hard to get interested enough in it to want to continue. As I read many of my books on a Kindle, I found myself constantly checking to see how far I'd got left.. I felt I had to force myself to finish it.

Maybe I am not the audience for this book: it may be more suitable for teen readers who prefer simpler ghost stories.

With a mix of mystery and the paranormal, this tale explores the dark halls of a place where children suffered nightmares and refuse to let it go.

Bailey loves photography and is a member of a group of like-minded, who love to visit forgotten places and capture whatever emotion they can. When they get the chance to visit a deserted asylum, shut down years before due to evidence of mistreating the children patients, it's excitement pure. If a ghost wasn't trying to reach out to Bailey, that is, one that happens to be one of the children, who was never found. And this child is determined to use Bailey to get the truth of the asylum out before the asylum is destroyed forever.

Ghosts, asylums, secret medical experiments...sounds great and it is. First off, I'm a chicken when it comes to anything which leans in the horror direction. And this one did have me taking a second glance when I walked into the dark rooms of my house after reading the first few chapters. But after that, this novel lets off and swings in a different direction. It's still dark, there are ghosts, and the secrets lurking in the asylum's past rank horrific at best. So, I can't say this novel disappointed...it just wasn't quite what I expected.

I do enjoy this author's writing style and will be checking out some of her other books. It's fresh and light while still drawing in and painting a vivid world. The characters have bounce to them and don't carry the usual heaviness that these novels often give them. I appreciated that, although I can imagine it won't be everyone's thing. It simply adds a ray of sunshine and fun before the much heavier, darker aspects sink in. As to the ghosts, I was missing a bit of character depth and would have like more on that end.

The tale definitely keeps a good pace the entire way through and had me not wanting to put it down. Nothing is really shocking or surprising, but that doesn't ruin the atmosphere or reading enjoyment. I think it's because the author manages to keep the tale unexpected on the smaller end of things...as to what exactly happens to Bailey next. Because that was chucked full of interesting and unexpected moments. There were a couple times, where the logic stumbled...and about mid-way through, the change in Bailey's world happened a bit too suddenly. So much so that I had to go back and re-read a couple of paragraphs to understand why there was a sudden point of view switch. But I didn't dislike the tale because of it.

If you're looking for horror, this isn't it. This one runs along a creepy mystery with paranormal activity which runs along a dark and horrible past. Fans of ghosts, tragic histories, and darker moments will enjoy this one quite a bit. It does get under the skin as well as make one think and wonder what other atrocities go unnoticed. And whether those victims will get their revenge...just not in ways one might expect.

I wanted to like this book, just wasn’t for me. I love horror books and movies. Unfortunately this was a DNF for me at 35%.

I'm a big fan of horror, treks into abandoned asylums, and overall general creepiness so the fact that this just didn't work out for me sucks. It seems interesting and started out fairly well too however you never truly feel connected with any of the characters, the scares are minor, and the plot is mediocre boring even. This is a good book for maybe middle grade.

Thanks very much for this copy of my ARC.

When I saw this book was about ghost photography and an abandoned asylum, I screamed, because those are, as we say, my two true passions. But I had to leave the book unfinished pretty early on, because the prose was plain boring when not plain childish, and the protagonist was absurd.

I mean, a double doctorate that drops everything in her life because a guy cheated on her? Maybe I could overlook that, but I knew nothing more about her. That’s her whole personality. And I have this problem where I totally despise when an author dumbs every character to make their totally average, pretty common and simple-minded protagonist outstand, and it feels like this is going to be like that. I mean, a cook praising her because she said that strawberry would go great with chocolate, really?

Anyone, I don’t read romance and the only thing we know even at the point when the characters reach the Asylum is that she finds this guy cute but for some reason she doesn’t want to like him and no, sorry. It’s totally my fault for expecting something different, but a female main character that I only know thanks to her past and present/future relationships with a guy is not what I asked for this ARC.

I'm giving this 3 stars because I never give stars when i don't finish a book but this site requires that, and I don't want to give it just one because I didn't actually finished and it feels wrong.

Thank you net galley for an ARC of Asylum. What a great book to read at this time of year! One of the best ghost stories I've read.

Bailey O'Connor and her group of investigators are excited to learn that Briarhaven Asylum for Handicapped Children is not being guarded. This will enable their group to sneak in, take pictures and explore the premises.
Bailey had recently seen a ghost, a spirit of a girl in a straitjacket. Her interest is in maybe connecting with the spirit again.
As the group start investigating there are many sounds and disturbances that leave them flabbergasted as to what evil may be in the asylum. They have heard of tortures, inmates not being fed or cleaned. There have also been rumors or a hidden area where patients were enclosed and left to suffer astounding deprivations. No water, food or facilities.
The horrific evidence that is about to be discovered will leave you reeling.
This is an excellent read. Recommended!