Traumaland, Josh Silver’s third book, is a psychological thriller that follows seventeen-year-old Eli, who is coming to terms with his near-fatal car accident. Everything he knows about what happened comes to him in fragments and has left him emotionally destitute, seemingly without any recollection in the months following the accident. Desperate to feel something (anything) again, Eli finds himself at an underground club called Traumaland. Here, he joins throngs of other emotionally numb people, all trying to find a ‘cure’ for their numbness. Traumaland is a story of losing your grip on reality, only to have it chucked back in your face by some questionable stranger.

I haven’t read YA in a long while, but this novel had me hooked from the beginning – yes, I’m talking about that horrifying epigraph – I kept turning the pages, thinking to myself, Oh my god, now what? Coupled with the fact that Silver is a certified mental health practitioner, it was entertaining to watch him turn therapy speak on its head. The story begins with a therapy session (of course). Never a good sign, is it? We experience Eli’s mangled memories as he tries to navigate this god awful ‘Incident’ that everyone seems to be reeling from and tiptoeing around. I love that we’re thrown in headfirst, and we’re not sure if we can trust this narrator or not. It begs to question–what is this boy doing here, and what’s wrong with him? Personally, I enjoyed being caught up in someone else’s therapy session. It kept the first chapter from feeling dreary.

Although a little slow burn at first, Traumaland’s suspense heats up as Eli hints at his doubts about his therapist, his family and his own memory. Just the thought of being mentally manipulated by the people closest to you was enough to send shivers down my spine. 

Eli can’t seem to remember the incident, and worse, he feels nothing. His environment completely contrasts the state of his mental psyche – Eli lives in a beautiful suburban house, his father is a politician who’s doing well at work and his family seems to be a unit, working through the terrible traumatic incident. This seemingly perfect, even ideal environment weighs on Eli to be a good, dutiful son and he eventually begins his secret, thrill-seeking ‘experiments’ on his way home from his therapy sessions. I must say, after this point, everything is full speed ahead.

Without giving away too much, Eli’s unwilling new acquaintance, Nisha sends him down a rabbit hole (literally), to an underground club that claims to help you ‘feel alive’. I found the scenes in the club exhilarating because it seems that every night in Traumaland is Halloween, and if you’re a horror fan, this particular turn in the story is where we enter darker territory.

What I enjoyed most about Eli’s interactions from here on out was how he seemed to attract other misfits and the mentally unsound – people who’ve been hurt by the system – I think these interactions made the scenes more chaotic, devastating and ultimately more human, which to me, is the scariest thing of all. 

Ultimately, Traumaland is a story of found family and the power that authority holds on the mentally ill. I think this novel will resonate most with fans of Fight Club and Margaret Atwood’s The Heart Goes Last, and will make a fantastic read this Halloween.

Read on Amazon

The post REVIEW: Traumaland by Josh Silver appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.