The Redwood Asylum is such a good creepy book. I always love books that revolve around asylums. It's sometimes hard to bring the right atmosphere when it comes to an asylum setting. It's not always easy to make sure you have the setting down pat. On top of that horror books that revolve around asylums have been done. A LOT. So you kind of have to bring something a little new to the story in order to make readers want to read it. So, I have to say L. A. Detwiler does a great job creating a creepy setting and making you want to stay there. She makes you question the entire story of why the officials of this place would hire people who don't exactly have the experience and on top of that they don't have the people surrounding them that actually care about them.

My favorite part of The Redwood Asylum is the ending. And no it's not because it ended but because it gives you an ending that you don't exactly expect. The ending kind of leaves you with one of those what the heck just happened but in a good way!
I can't wait to read more books by L.A. Detwiler.

A paranormal horror that takes place in asylum? Sign me up!



The Redwood Asylum is a wild ride, I find the description was a perfect fit, it was addictive, eerie, spooky, hair-raising and thrilling! I enjoyed the pace of the book, it was fast paced and well written. I’m not the first person to have these thoughts (I thought I was right until I went to post on goodreads lol!) I got major American Horror Story vibes! L.A Detwiler is a great writer, she has a special ability writing suspense and throwing you off the scent.

I love watching horror movies and so I was thrilled when I got a chance to read a horror book!

Jessica gets a new job as a nurse in an asylum called Redwood Asylum for criminally insane. On the second day of her work, she comes across a man in 5B who has been locked for years and who latches on Jessica in an unsettling way. And soon, Jessica is haunted by some children and she is determined to find secrets at the asylum...

To my utter surprise, this story was actually good! The writing was great and it was actually as if I was watching a horror movies. We know that the main character Jessica is somewhat an unreliable, dysfunctional character with something to hide to work in a place like Redwood Asylum. I was so engrossed into the book that I didn't even realize until I came to the end that I have finished the book! It was really good! It was engaging, and at times, there were some horror in the book as expected. The ending was somewhat unexpected, as you are rooting to the main character, wondering what will happen to the main character soon.

I really enjoyed this book--an unputdownable horror book worth five stars!

Jessica Rosen starts a new job at the Redwood Asylum. Trying to start a new life after a incident involving a car accident.
Trying to settle into her new life and job Jessica encounters one of the inmates in room 5B of the asylum who quickly latches onto Jessica.
The inmate sings silly rhymes and draws picture in crayons that he thrusts upon Jessica, she becomes haunted by the ghosts of the inmate of 5B and feels that she needs to find out what happened to these ghosts and maybe she can help them find some peace.

This was good old fashioned paranormal horror and I loved it.
I enjoyed how the book written. It told Jessica’s story but also some chapters focused solely on the asylum and it’s residents giving the reader some background on how the asylum was started and run. Also on how some of the residents ended up at the asylum.
I read this book in one sitting as I could not put it down. I had to keep turning the pages to find out what happened and with a fantastic twist at the end this book did not fail to deliver.

Creepy and unsettling, this story was more of a psychological mystery that didn’t quite fit.
Hard to digest, as clearly there is something hidden in a puzzle like account. Could not finish it.

"This was a dark place. It had always been."

I liked this book a fair amount and was excited to pick it up.
Jessica, the protagonist, moved to a new job at Redwood Asylum. We don't know much about her, essentially until the very end. It's hard to understand why she left a perfectly good life to come to this place or why she decided to stick it out. This worked to be a double-edged sword for me; I both couldn't relate to her yet I wanted to keep unraveling more.
There were a few elements that were hard to believe or that I found myself eye-rolling from. One was the fact that the newbie is given the most challenging area to work and there aren't coworkers around to assist...again, as you read, you'll understand why. But still.....

I loved the pacing and felt the anticipation kept me excited to read more. I thought I had the mystery figured out for the most part as the author leaves a crumb trail but I was pleasantly surprised at the end.

A really interesting premise, which reminded me of American Horror Story.

If you like dark, haunting and creepy reads this is the book for you!

A really interesting premise, which reminded me of American Horror Story.

If you like dark, haunting and creepy reads this is the book for you!

Jessica gets a job at The Redwood Asylum as a means to run away from her ghosts. In doing so, she encounters many more ghosts than she expects. She is drawn to the story of patient 5B, and takes it upon herself to investigate his story. In doing so, she begins to question her own sanity. Will she get to the bottom of 5B’s story, or will the insanity overtake her?

3.5 stars

The Redwood Asylum by L.A. Detwiler is a paranormal horror story.

First, let me thank NetGalley, 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)
Jessica Rosen left Mercy Hospital without even giving notice.  At 26, she needs to disappear, start fresh.  And so she finds herself in a new job at The Redwood Asylum,  a large stone building set in the middle of a thick forest.  The nearby town of Oakwood holds the wealthy, and the Asylum holds the ones that don't fit in.  It always has.

Jessica finds herself getting used to Redwood.  The rules of other hospitals don't seem to apply, as the owners stay away, the paperwork is done shoddily if at all, and half the staff is not even qualified.  Laws, and moral ethics are more guidelines, than requirements.  Rules are broken, and no one complains.  For all that, they say if you can last a day or two, you won't want to leave.  Redwood somehow takes hold of you.

Amidst the confused residents, are the more disturbed, the criminally insane, the psychopaths, and the ghosts. Jessica  seems to be finding a lot of ghosts.

One of her patients on the 5th floor insists that they were waiting for Jessica to arrive.  His rantings and talk of nonsensical things has her baffled, but she is determined to understand this patient in room 5B.  No one else seems to care.

But as her boss continually tells her to leave things alone, Jessica will not.....and this could cost  her more than she had bargained for.

My Opinions:   
This was good...an old-fashioned haunted asylum story.  Unfortunately,  it was rather predictable.  The plot was nothing new, and nothing surprising, but it was still well-written.  The book even had a "Nurse Ratched", if not in name.

Intermingled with the main chapters of Jessica and her problems, are chapters providing the history of The Asylum, and those were as interesting as the story.  Apparently there will be a pre-quel to this book which will center on the early years of the asylum.  That sounds promising.

I wish I could have liked Jessica more.  She was very naive, and acted rashly.  Although I didn't guess the exact circumstances of her needing a fresh start, I was close.

The pace was relatively quick, and it was a fast read.  I was never bored, but neither was I "scared".  The atmosphere was creepy,  and some of the ghosts a little gross, but  It seemed to be missing the actual fear factor (for me anyway).

Overall, it was a good haunted asylum story.

Oh, Jessica, why oh why did you want to work in an isolated asylum housing the criminally insane?

Full disclosure: I’m fascinated by old asylums, but I absolutely would not have worked one full day in this place. The rules are questionable, the staff is strange, the patients are, well, crazy, and there are ghosts. So, nope, let me out.

The Redwood Asylum is quick, creepy entertainment for those of us who want the experience without actually spending time in a haunted asylum.

I don’t know about you guys, but when I see the word Asylum in a book, movie, or TV show, I am on board because I know it will be an enthralling story. So when LA announced that her new book would be available for advance reading on NetGalley, I jumped right in, and as always, she never disappoints. The story follows the mystery of the Redwood Asylum and Jessica, who wants to start her life and hide from her past. Everything was going great when Jessica first started working on Redwood until she came across a man in 5B, and all the paranormal entities started to be more aggressive. I have to read this one slow because I quickly get scared; LA did a fantastic job describing all the ghostly actions and bringing the characters to life. The mysteries and secrets behind Redwood’s walls are impressive and disheartening. The story is disturbing, frightening, and has lots of gore. A must-read!

I enjoyed this book. This is fast becoming one of my favorite genes. This is a new author for me and I cant wait to read more from her. I enjoyed being pulled into this haunting story from the first page. I had no problem relating to the characters who kept me turning pages to the end. This is a well rounded story about the dead talking and they are telling secrets. Are you willing to listen? The twists and turns are great and left me wanting to know what would happen next. I highly recommend this book.

This book was so creepy but so good. What starts out as a person on the run from a terrible tragedy turns into a persons worst nightmare. Terrible things have always happened in an asylum and Redwood Asylum is no different. Patients are used for experimental treatment, unruly patients disappear and staff learn quickly to keep quiet. If only Jessica had listened....

Not a fan of first person narratives at the best of times and I don't feel it worked for this book. Certainly wouldn't call it a horror. Disappointing.

I enjoyed this one! It is definitely creepy. The ghosts were extremely well-described, and I could easily visualize them (which did not bode well for my dreams/nightmares). I am a night-time reader, and this book was one I wanted to read during the day.

Jessica was very tenacious, and I appreciated that. She seemed like she genuinely cared about what was going on at Redwood even though she clearly had some of her own issues to work through.

It did irritate me a little bit that it took until the very end to find out about Jessica's past, and I felt like the ending was a bit abrupt. I didn't hate that it was TOTALLY resolved at the end, but it just felt like there could have been so much more added to make the book better.

Thanks to NetGalley & L.A. Detwiler for the ARC!

The Redwood Asylum for the mentally ill has a long and eerie history; some say that the ghosts of former patients are still strolling the corridors.
But for Jessica, it is the perfect place to hide from her past.
However, as Jessica gets involved in trying to uncover the secrets of one of the asylum's patients, her life starts unravelling.
Will she solve the patient's mystery before her own sanity suffers?


Horror stories are not my cup of tea, but I needed a change from my preferred genre, so I decided to give it a go.
It turned out to be an atmospheric and creepy read that kept me really intrigued as to what the past was that Jessica was running away from.
The story was steadily paced and was never boring.
The ending was not what I expected, which is a plus, but I didn't particularly like it. Overall though, it was an entertaining read.
If you're looking for a quick and creepy story, then this one will be perfect for you. However, if you're not into gory details, then you might want to give it a miss.

Redwood Asylum is home to the criminally insane, the darkly disturbed and eternally confused. The residents have been put there to be forgotten, and to rot away with the ghosts that creep in the shadows.
Jessica has taken a job at Redwood, hoping to escape her past. She has no idea that there is no escaping Redwood Asylum.

I love a good ghost story. This book starts off like a scary tale told around a camp fire. Slowly we are teased with the history of Redwood Asylum, the origin of the ghosts that haunt the halls. Then we meet Jessica, who is a fresh face to a grimy world, but has secrets she is trying to keep hidden. Between her secrets and the ghosts that haunt the Asylum, the story quickly becomes terrifying.
The characters in the story are great. Exactly what you would expect in a creepy old Asylum. In the back of my mind I pictured American Horror Story's Asylum season, but more ghosty. The combination of madness and supernatural brings vivid pictures to the imagination. LA Detwiler did a fantastic job bringing these characters to life.
This was a quick book to read with action starting immediately. The only thing I would change, or rather that I need, is more of Anna's story. Everyone know the head nurse is evil, but why? I need more!!

I was expecting a good scare after reading the blurb and seeing the book cover, but no creepy or spooky vibes which is a bit disappointing. Main character Jessica Rosen begins a new job at the Redwood. The Redwood Asylum is an ominous stone building that sits in a forest, it was built in 1834 by Francis Weathergate.

At the time, it was a state of the art, five story building dedicated to asylum medicine. Today the asylum is called The Redwood Psychiatric Center. The fifth floor housed the most difficult cases and split into two wings; wing A housed the criminal insane, wing B aren’t criminals but violent patients. Jessica meets the unstable patient in room 5B, telling her about the history and secrets of his past and Redwood’s haunted past.

Jessica can’t help but feel something is there and she’s frightened. The story is slow paced, a bit predictable, and I didn’t have a connection with Jessica or any of the characters. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for a gifted copy. This is my honest review.

Such an eerie and chilling story! The beginning started a bit slow, but after chapter 2 the story just kept on rolling! We follow a girl named Jessica who has recently moved and applied at Redwood Asylum for a fresh start. Little did she know that while she thought she was running away from her past demons, the demons followed her anyway and she found a few more along the way. I gave this book 4 stars because I read through it so fast, and the ending just made me want more.

I was pleasantly surprised by how this turned out. I will admit, I had very low expectations for an asylum horror story. I was expecting lots of harmful stereotypes about mental illness and basically a play-by-play of <i>American Horror Story's</i> "Asylum" season. Thankfully, this is not the case! Some stereotypes and harmful commentary, but it was mostly just in the intention of telling the story rather than commenting on psychology as a whole.

Regarding the plot, it was also more imaginative than just "ahhh crazy people." This story focuses on ghosts, the cruelty of humanity, and the slippery slope into what is deemed insanity. It was a quick read and I genuinely had quite a bit of fun with it.

Spoilers

2.5/5

Jessica is a registered nurse who desires change in her lifestyle, particularly with her career. What does she do? She leaves the credible hospital she was stationed at and seeks employment at The Redwood Asylum, a haunted asylum turned psychiatric sanitarium, which she clearly fails to research. The staff immediately places her in the 5th ward, a floor that houses the criminally insane, which seems like an odd post for a probation period. What happens next? A demented patient, Mr. Essic, nearly strangles her to death. I was begging, hell, I was praying that Jessica would get the fuck out of dodge, but she still somehow musters up some kind of strength. She’s trying to prove to her fellow coworkers that she’s tough, she can handle this.

Speaking of coworkers, they are underhandedly suspicious, right from the beginning. Here is some cautious dialogue from one of the head nurses:

“It isn’t easy working this job, so when you find someone who will stick around, we like to keep them here, you know? Wouldn’t want all of our crazy secrets getting out, would we?”

I think you can take a wild guess as to what happens to Jessica in the end, but honestly, she had it coming. There’s also a subplot-a much more interesting one at that-where she gets tangled up in a mystery involving evil sketches drawn by Essic and the lost children of the Asylum. The spirits are creepy and menacing, but once again, I was so transfixed on her safety and constantly rooting for her to press the panic button on day one. I’m sure the California Board of Nursing would easily have complied.


Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this free e-ARC for my honest feedback.