Thank you for the arc, unfortunately I did not finish it, I just wasn't the right audience for this book.

This book was such a nice read. It is set in a small town with rich history and there's so much mystery going on that it reminded my of Vampire Diaries and Mystic Falls. I really liked that aspect, especially connected with the suspenceful tone of the whole story. I like me some suspence.

To be honest, I was way more interested in the case of dead bodies being found in the river that the romance between the main characters. It felt a little bit cliché and overdone because they loved each other almost instantnly and everybody was against their relationship and it just felt like I've seen that trope a lot in books. Other than that I didn't have any problems with the characters.

Overall I really liked the story, it was dark and scary and I was definitely enjoying the atmosphere.

I am sorry, I downloaded this book 4 years ago and still haven't been able to come around to read it. I am no longer interested in YA novels, and much less in sagas. Sorry about the inconvenience.

I really enjoyed this book and hope there will be a sequel. It did take me a while to get into it but as soon as I did I was hooked. The plot was fun and mysterious and the characters were really lovely (well most of them) and it was just fun to read.

A small town, a terrible tragedy, a mysterious stranger, drowned girls and a woman in white.

It is all in the mix in the first of The Asylum Saga. While overall I thought this was an enjoyable read, though it felt very Young Adult, there were some things that bothered me. Girls are being found dead, and it happens multiple times and even though they were considered suicides individually, people don't start to connect the dots. And then <spoiler> they find out it has happened also some decades before and no-one of the main characters is even aware of this. Or thinks it a very weird coincidences </spoiler> .

The bad-guy I saw coming from miles away and also the unnecessarily ass-holey ex-boyfriend could have been left out without any problems. The ending I quite liked except for the fact that it is a mega cliffhanger and I will have to read the second book to find some kind of closure.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Amelia Dupree hasn’t seen the Woman in White since the night her brother died.
The ghost seems to have disappeared from the woods surrounding Asylum, Pennsylvania—that is, until Charlie Blue moves into the creepy old MacAllister House next door. Amelia can’t help liking him, even though she spent her childhood thinking his grandmother was a witch. And she definitely can’t ignore the connection between his arrival and the Woman in White’s return.
Then Amelia learns that the Woman in White is a prisoner, trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead. Devastated by the idea that her brother could be suffering a similar fate, Amelia decides to do whatever it takes to help the Woman in White find peace--and Charlie agrees to help her.
But when Amelia’s classmates start to drown in the Susquehanna River, one right after another, rumors swirl as people begin to connect the timing of Charlie’s arrival with the unexplained deaths. As Charlie and Amelia uncover the dark history of Asylum, they realize they may have unleashed an unspeakable evil. One they have to stop before everything they love is destroyed.

Let's start this review with a few positive things:

* A stunningly beautiful cover
* Charlie was a great MC/love interest. It's certainly not his fault that the possible romance takes so long to develop...
* The "ghost story" aspect of this book was very good. I quite enjoyed the mystery and direction it took. It did keep me turning the pages to find out what happens...
* The town of Asylum was just the perfect setting.

However, there are a few things that didn't work for me:

* As a reader, I like a good descriptive passage to help me see what the author sees. What I don't like is everything being described to within an inch of its life. So many adjectives, so little reason. Sometimes, especially through the first half of the book, this really stopped this story from moving along at a decent pace. Bogged down in just too many details.
* I really wish the author had spent more time telling the mystery, rather than the push and pull of Amelia and Charlie. How many times (frustratingly) did Amelia push Charlie away? How many times did she wish he would kiss her, to only then wonder whether she should be in a relationship with him? It was distracting from the story - which could have been far more intriguing if it had stuck to the main plot - you know, the mystery of the Woman in White? (Which was a bit annoying too, taking the name from the classic Wilkie Collins novel...)

Overall, this could have been a far better novel with a little more editorial direction and focus on the mystery and just letting the relationship between Amelia and Charlie develop organically.


Paul
ARH