Absolutely loved this book but did feel like the beginning was a bit slow and at a few moments I lost interest in reading it. Overall though it was a great read.

The dead do talk ... if you’re brave enough to hear their sinister secrets.

The Redwood Asylum was exactly what I needed to pull me from a book hangover. Twisty, creepy paranormal freakish ghosts had me invested right from the start!
Jessica, starts a new job at the asylum with hopes of escaping her past. She soon realizes that Redwood has secrets and spirits with sinister secrets. Also, unstable patient in 5B is immediately drawn to her with warnings that Sprits seeking redemption have found the one they think can help them – Jessica.
I absolutely loved this wild pager turning ride! Really and enjoyed the ghosts and their meanings, the clutches and secrets of the asylum and the ending … Sequel? YES PLEASE!
Thank you to Netgalley & author for sharing an e-copy with me in exchange for my review.

This book was just an okay read for me. When I came across it on Netgalley I was really hoping I had found a disturbing, creepy book that left me feeling uncomfortable and uneasy and I just didn’t get that with The Redwood Asylum. I felt like with Asylums you already have this very creepy atmosphere but I didn’t feel like the setting at Redwood was creepy at all.

The ghosts were there, but they weren’t eerie. They were comfortable with the main character and that just didn’t make me uncomfortable like I was hoping for. I don’t know, I guess I just would always prefer them to be disturbing. Think, American Horror Story: Asylum. I was hoping for that with this book.

It wasn’t anything special but it was a good read. I would recommend it to people just dipping their feet into the horror / paranormal genre. With these types of stories / books I really would rather have a fast-paced type of plot. The Redwood Asylum was more of a slow burn that built a lot of anticipation but just didn’t finish strong for me. It wasn’t really riveting or exciting but did the job it should have done.

4.5 stars

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! It was such a unique storyline and kept my attention from the first page to the last. I liked how the history of the asylum and the previous owners played a role in how the story panned out, as well as the residents (both past and present). The story wasn’t as much of a horror as I had hoped it would be, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I would love to read more from this author!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3840722153

I really struggled to get into my last book, but this one I couldn't put down. There was lots of mystery and suspense and the type of story which I haven't read before. The different characters were excellently written, and I just wanted to to see what happened in the end. The only part I didn't like was the last chapter, just didn't think it was needed. An amazingly different book.

This book was everything I could possibly imagine wanting from a paranormal horror story and so much more. The story line was insane and the integration of all the dementedly delightful characters brought forth from the hauntings at the Asylum made this book stick with me long after I finished the final page and slowly placed my kindle in the freezer. Well I didn’t really do that but really it was that unsettling. Top star horror rating and a must for fellow horror lovers.

WOW I absolutely loved this book.

The story follows Jessica, a new nurse at a “psychiatric facility” that truly is an asylum in disguise. The facility is haunted by past patients who were tortured there, and victims of patients. One patient takes a liking to Jessica, and she is tasked to uncover the truth behind his stay at Redwood...until things end up turning for the worst.

I couldn’t get enough of this story. From chapter one I was hooked. I was so curious about the truth between patient 5B and his victims. The twist at the end was surprising to me and left me shocked. I am excited to see a prequel in 2021! Highly recommend to readers who enjoy paranormal thrillers!

Thank you @netgalley and @xpressotours for this review copy.

Oh, 5B what did you do!? Matter of fact what are you hiding Jessica? These are some of the questions you'll be asking yourself. I love the haunting aspect of a insane asylum. So many paranormal things are happening in this book. Can you figure out the crayon riddles?

What evil lurks behind the walls of the Redwood Asylum?  Young Jessica, trying to run from her own troubled past, takes a job at the imposing building and soon discovers a whole new world of nightmares.        This is one of those slow-burn, creepy psychological thrillers with plenty of the paranormal mixed in to keep you on your toes.  Detwiler does a great job creating an atmosphere of mystery and malice, as well as some characters that I think deserve to have  their own stories told.   I do want to say this:  my biggest complaint/pet peeve was the repetition of wiping away tears, all those damn tears!  Seriously Jessica, grow a pair and quit crying every other page!!    Other than my personal pet peeve, I enjoyed this story and I would love to see more tales from the asylum in the future!

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for providing an ecopy for review.

There are a whole lot of parts in this book that make you say, 'NOPE, NOPE, NOPE.' After all the dead do talk...if you're brave enough or stupid enough to hear their sinister secrets.
Jessica Rosen starts a new job at
Redwood in the hopes of forgetting an insidious past. However the past always comes to get you.
She quickly realizes that she is completely out of her depth, and even though she should run- she doesn't. (This is where you start yelling at the book!) Like when the unstable man in 5B latching onto her and makes her take his creepy drawings. That's not all that goes home with her though!
When his rantings and warnings start to make sense, Jessica will either be taken on a ride of secrets, murder, and dangerous beings or end up like the very patients she came to help.

Bland. Straightforward haunted asylum story that you’ve heard a thousand times before. No twists, no real spooks, just a very direct retelling of the usual. If I had paid for this, I would be very irritated.

Well this wasn't what I expected but I loved it. I loved the ghosts and what they meant. I love the way the story was told and we got answers and I loved the ending. It was nice that she didn't win and the cycle continued. The ghosts were cool and so was the few little bits at the end of the book like the ghosts account. The way the story was told was easy and fast paced. I didn't want to put it down and couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

I was pleasantly surprised with this one. So often paranormal horrors come off as cheesy and forced, but I was glad to say that this one hooked me early and held on. It is deliciously creepy and the twists and turns keep coming.

I didn't feel much for the main character as a lot of her story is hidden from the reader until the big reveal, but the story was so fast paced that it didn't detract at all from the story.

This author is definitely one I would read again.

I had such high hopes for this book. I adore stories that take place in asylums, and while I didn't hate this story, it got a little repetitive in the middle. Main character talks to 5B, then she gets scared by something at home, then she needs to talk to 5B, she sees a ghost at home, etc etc. The ending felt underwhelming and predictable, but I would still recommend it for those needing a quick read that ends as you'd suspect.

Thank you for the advanced copy. As always it is appreciated.

First off I would like to thank NetGalley and the author for giving me the chance to review this story. The Redwood Asylum is right up my alley. I love a good paranormal, with just the right amount of creep factor. The main character was kind of meh, but I did enjoy the cast of others, from the patients to spirits. I couldn’t wait to find out the secrets, which kept me up into the late hours turning pages. I am looking forward to learning more about the past of Redwood and perhaps the other characters, so I will definitely keep my eyes open for another book. If you like a good ghost story with a bunch of memorable characters, then pick this one up. You will not be disappointed.

Who doesn’t love a good horror story involving ghosts?

The way the story is narrated reminds me of Stephen King’s Rose Red, which happens to be a favorite of mine. Yes, there have been countless books about haunted asylums, and there will certainly be more. The ramblings of a mad man, locked away at Redwood, make nurse Jessica sympathetic. She wants to help him find peace, not realizing she’s placing herself in danger.

Jessica’s role in the story wasn’t just that of a nurse who wanted to help others. She had a dark secret in her past, one that would play a prominent role in her future. She also seemed to fancy herself a detective, and with determination, dug into the patient’s past trying to find the truth. Sadly, some things are better left buried.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. I’d definitely be interested in more stories featuring Redwood, and I want to know more about the other staff.

Thank you to NetGalley and Expresso Book Tours for the opportunity to review The Redwood Asylum.

This is my first paranormal book, but I have always been a horror movie fan especially films involving "asylums"! I was excited to check this one out.

Jessica Rosen is looking for a fresh start when she first comes to work at Redwood. What she finds there is not at all what she expected. Redwood is a very creepy place with an extremely dark past!

I really enjoyed this book. I am a fan of the alternating past and present timelines. As you may guess, there are plenty of secrets revealed from the past. I would consider this book to have a slow start, but if you enjoy the paranormal/horror genre then you will love this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’d like to thank Netgalley for the advanced reading copy of the Redwood Asylum. This was my first read by L.A. Detwiler. I was hooked by the description. It’s the type of creepy, chilling read that makes you look over the shoulder after you read it. A young woman is running from her own dark past, and happens to end up working in an asylum with an even darker past that hasn’t seemed to end. A resident desperately reaches out to her, seeing her as a beacon of hope. It doesn’t take long to become invested in the book. Dark secrets always come to light if you look for them.

This story follows our main character Jessica who is looking for a fresh start. She seems to be running from her past and Redwood Asylum is the perfect place for that. They are excited by her qualifications and hire her immediately, but Redwood has a dark past...and present. They seem to be up to some shady things and have been for a long time.
One of the patients at Redwood, 5B, seems to glom onto her quickly and with desperation.
The asylum is also haunted, like, really haunted.
5B thinks Jessica is his only hope and begs her to help him, but what she doesn’t know is that she is about to get in way over her head. Not only is she going to have to help 5B, she also starts uncovering the many secrets of Redwood.

Stories about asylums are pretty easy to make scary. I feel like everyone already assumes that asylums are haunted and have had/have a dark past.
I think that’s why this story started out so well for me. I knew it was going to have a creepy setting, which is always key in my opinion.
I liked that not only did you have the secrets of 5B and Redwood, you also had Jessica’s secret. I was very intrigued to know what exactly she was running from.
However, I felt like this story wasn’t anything new or different. It had the same elements I see over and over again in horror stories about asylums.
It wasn’t a terrible plot, but it didn’t give me anything new or fresh either.
I also really didn’t like Jessica, she was a very frustrating and irritating protagonist in my opinion. The way she went about things was so unrealistic to me and I felt like she didn’t allow me to make an emotional connection.
The ending was predictable, it again, didn’t differ from your average asylum storyline. The ending was frustrating and I honestly wish it had gone a different direction. The ending does leave room for a sequel or prequel, so I guess that’s something if you really did enjoy the story.

An asylum, in a creepy old building, hidden away in a suitably dark surrounding and with secrets in its past. Some chilling and deeply disturbed residents who are secretly being experimented on by staff who are not all that they seem. Then there are ghosts and mysteries in the past. The final element in the puzzle is a vulnerable and helpless lead character to discover exactly what is going on, to her peril with her own hidden back story. This has all the classic elements of a spine chilling horror story, perhaps a little too cliche for my taste but a good tale of darkness nethertheless.