What do you think?
Rate this book
Asylum #0
Escape from Asylum
In this terrifying prequel novel to the New York Times bestselling Asylum series, a teen is wrongfully committed to the Brookline psychiatric hospital and must find a way out—before he becomes the next victim of the evil warden’s experiments. With the page-turning suspense and unsettling found photographs from real asylums that led Publishers Weekly to call Asylum “a strong YA debut,” Escape from Asylum is perfect for fans of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.
The nightmare is just beginning.
Ricky Desmond has been through this all before. If he could just get through to his mother, he could convince her that he doesn’t belong at Brookline. From the man who thinks he can fly to the woman who killed her husband, the other patients are nothing like him; all he did was lose his temper just a little bit, just the once. But when Ricky is selected by the sinister Warden Crawford for a very special program—a program that the warden claims will not cure him but perfect him—Ricky realizes that he may not be able to wait for his mom a second longer. With the help of a sympathetic nurse and a fellow patient, Ricky needs to escape now.
Set long before Dan, Abby, and Jordan ever walked the hallways of the Brookline asylum—back when it was still a functioning psych ward and not a dorm—Escape from Asylum is a mind-bending and scary installment in the Asylum series that can stand on its own for new readers or provide missing puzzle pieces for series fans.
The nightmare is just beginning.
Ricky Desmond has been through this all before. If he could just get through to his mother, he could convince her that he doesn’t belong at Brookline. From the man who thinks he can fly to the woman who killed her husband, the other patients are nothing like him; all he did was lose his temper just a little bit, just the once. But when Ricky is selected by the sinister Warden Crawford for a very special program—a program that the warden claims will not cure him but perfect him—Ricky realizes that he may not be able to wait for his mom a second longer. With the help of a sympathetic nurse and a fellow patient, Ricky needs to escape now.
Set long before Dan, Abby, and Jordan ever walked the hallways of the Brookline asylum—back when it was still a functioning psych ward and not a dorm—Escape from Asylum is a mind-bending and scary installment in the Asylum series that can stand on its own for new readers or provide missing puzzle pieces for series fans.
352 pages, Paperback
First published June 14, 2016
453 people are currently reading
10169 people want to read
About the author
Madeleine Roux
51 books4,838 followersNew York Times Bestselling Author of the ASYLUM series, Allison Hewitt Is Trapped, Sadie Walker Is Stranded and the upcoming House of Furies series.
MADELEINE ROUX received her BA in Creative Writing and Acting from Beloit College in 2008. In the spring of 2009, Madeleine completed an Honors Term at Beloit College, proposing, writing and presenting a full-length historical fiction novel. Shortly after, she began the experimental fiction blog Allison Hewitt Is Trapped. Allison Hewitt Is Trapped quickly spread throughout the blogosphere, bringing a unique serial fiction experience to readers.
Born in Minnesota, she now lives and works in Seattle, Washington.
MADELEINE ROUX received her BA in Creative Writing and Acting from Beloit College in 2008. In the spring of 2009, Madeleine completed an Honors Term at Beloit College, proposing, writing and presenting a full-length historical fiction novel. Shortly after, she began the experimental fiction blog Allison Hewitt Is Trapped. Allison Hewitt Is Trapped quickly spread throughout the blogosphere, bringing a unique serial fiction experience to readers.
Born in Minnesota, she now lives and works in Seattle, Washington.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 699 reviews
September 17, 2020
3.5 stars. This was a great prequel to the series. Creepy and a bit nervewracking at times, the mystery slowly unfolded as to people's true intentions. It's heartbreaking in general how asylums used to be in very recent history. So many perfectly sane people were locked away because their families didn't want them or disagreed with some aspect of their lives, like being gay or transgender. I think we have come a long way for the most part, and I hope this important part of society only continues to improve and be more and more compassionate. The book's ending was even better than I expected, and I can't wait to start the next book.
Read
October 26, 2019I started this book a few years ago and havent been able to finish it. Maybe one day I'll be able to pick it up and start it over but as of right now it's a dnf.
May 28, 2017
So I don't tend to read prequels often. Prequels and novellas are those things that I don't feel like they add anything to the story for the most part. But I really love the Asylum trilogy and I think about it all the time so when I saw this at the library I instantly brought it home and started it immediately.
I'm really glad I read this. It doesn't give too much background for the Asylum trilogy, but it does still have an interesting story, and it was interesting to see where the characters in the trilogy had their beginning. Do I think that this is necessary to the trilogy? No. But I still recommend it.
I really loved the plot and characters in this one. I think Ricky is preferable to me than the main character in the trilogy. I liked him much better and felt he was a little more flawed but also stronger. I also loved the diversity in this. Having a gay main character and a trans character was a really nice addition to the story, especially since the story wasn't about that, but it also fit in really well with how the characters ended up where they went.
My one issue came from the end. I felt it was very anticlimactic what happened and there was a lot of build up for a bit of a rushed and pretty boring conclusion. But I did love the scene with a father and son that clearly kicks off the trilogy and where the trilogy went so I did appreciate that.
Overall, really good addition to the series and I definitely recommend not only this, but the trilogy itself. Side note: read this after the trilogy, not before. This book will be kind of boring if you don't understand the significance of it.
I'm really glad I read this. It doesn't give too much background for the Asylum trilogy, but it does still have an interesting story, and it was interesting to see where the characters in the trilogy had their beginning. Do I think that this is necessary to the trilogy? No. But I still recommend it.
I really loved the plot and characters in this one. I think Ricky is preferable to me than the main character in the trilogy. I liked him much better and felt he was a little more flawed but also stronger. I also loved the diversity in this. Having a gay main character and a trans character was a really nice addition to the story, especially since the story wasn't about that, but it also fit in really well with how the characters ended up where they went.
My one issue came from the end. I felt it was very anticlimactic what happened and there was a lot of build up for a bit of a rushed and pretty boring conclusion. But I did love the scene with a father and son that clearly kicks off the trilogy and where the trilogy went so I did appreciate that.
Overall, really good addition to the series and I definitely recommend not only this, but the trilogy itself. Side note: read this after the trilogy, not before. This book will be kind of boring if you don't understand the significance of it.
January 10, 2024
To be Patient Zero meant losing himself, not to death, but to something much worse.I was in a reading by slump so decided it was time for a comfort reread. I chose the Asylum series. Read into that what you will…
Before we go to summer school with Dan, Abby and Jordan, we need to visit Brookline when its rooms were cells, not dorm rooms.
This is Brookline the asylum. Trust me; you do not want to be here.
“This place … It’s not quite what it looks like. It’s not what it seems.”It’s 1968 and Ricky is being dropped off by his mother and Butch at his third ‘retreat’. Sure, there was the incident with Butch. Ricky’s not denying that, even if Butch had it coming. This is about more than that, though. This is about Martin.
Homophobia is rife and we’re still decades away from people calling out conversion therapy for the horror show that it is. I remember that we all dreaded and feared the Warden but, after all of these years, the specifics were hazy in my mind. However, I never forgot that he’s an extraordinarily disturbed man with a god complex who should be a patient, not staff.
“Whatever else he is, he’s also a butcher. A monster.”For Ricky, the only good thing about Brookline is Kay. She’s also there for ‘treatment’ and I spent the entire book wanting to protect her.
“You know you and I are just different. Different isn’t sick.”I’d never seen a book that included found photos when I first read this series. I was absolutely fascinated turning the pages to discover new creepy images. I looked forward to rediscovering the photos this time around and was not disappointed.
Brookline. Photo credit: James W. Rosenthal, Library of Congress
I’d forgotten that we meet Dennis in this book and I’ve only just realised that Roger was first introduced here as well. The deeper you allow yourself to wander around in the underbelly of Brookline, the more rewarded you’ll be. And more disturbed, too, by the depravity of those in power.
I wish there’d been details of everything that took place between Chapter 47 and the Epilogue. I need to know what Kay’s life looked like post Brookline.
“If we can survive in here, we can do anything.”Content warnings include .
Blog - https://schizanthusnerd.com
June 24, 2018
As the teaser said this book can be read both as a stand alone and as a prequel to the series that shines more light on what happened in the old asylum. I think that the beginning of this book had more horror than the original series and this book had more of a creepy asylum vibe I liked. Although I loved Dan, Abby and Jordan but Ricky was also a likable character.
February 27, 2022
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (73%)
So here's the thing.
I started reading this book a few years ago, and I got about halfway through before I got bored and quit reading. The first half of the book is pretty slow, and sometimes that's a dealbreaker for me depending on how good the story is.
However, I had no books to read over Thanksgiving Break so I decided to pick this one up again and see if I could finish it. I was very curious to see if the main character did, in fact, escape from the asylum. I gave this book 3 stars just because the first half was too monotonous, but I do have to say that the second half made up for it.
The second half of the book was creepy and unsettling, just like I was hoping for. When I picked it back up I finished it in two nights. So if you're interested in reading this book, stick it out because the ending is explosive and worth the wait in my opinion. I'm normally not into prequels, but this book is a great standalone in my opinion.
So here's the thing.
I started reading this book a few years ago, and I got about halfway through before I got bored and quit reading. The first half of the book is pretty slow, and sometimes that's a dealbreaker for me depending on how good the story is.
However, I had no books to read over Thanksgiving Break so I decided to pick this one up again and see if I could finish it. I was very curious to see if the main character did, in fact, escape from the asylum. I gave this book 3 stars just because the first half was too monotonous, but I do have to say that the second half made up for it.
The second half of the book was creepy and unsettling, just like I was hoping for. When I picked it back up I finished it in two nights. So if you're interested in reading this book, stick it out because the ending is explosive and worth the wait in my opinion. I'm normally not into prequels, but this book is a great standalone in my opinion.
December 25, 2021
برخلاف چیزی که ما کتابخون ها اشتباه میکنیم اینکه در مجموعه تیمارستان، اول از همه جلد اول "تیمارستان" رو میخونیم. و بعد سراغ این کتاب میاییم. حتی بعضی نمیاین و نمیدونن این کتاب وجود داره!
این کتاب جلد صفرم هست و باید اول از همه خونده بشه، جلد صفرم مثل یک مقدمه طولانی میمونه و که به شما خیلی سرنخ و داستان پنهان رو میگه. تا شما وقتی جلدهای بعدی رو خوندین گیج نشین، و جلدهای دیگه چیزهایی که در قسمت صفرم نمیدونید رو کامل میکنه.
جلد صفرگ در اصل داستان همون دکتر تیمارستان رو میگه از دید شخص یک پسری که در اون زمان توسط اون مورد آزمایش قرار میگیره. که بعد در جلدهای بعدی، خیلی از شخصیت های مرده همین کتاب (بعضی هم زنده) به داستان جلدهای ۱و۲و۳ وارد میشه. حتی جلد چهارم که جلد فرعی هست بازم یک داستان کامل از جلد صفرم بیان میشه!
پس لطفا اگه میخوایید مجموعه تیمارستان رو بخونید اول از همه این کتاب رو بخونید و بعدا جلد اول تیمارستان رو
این کتاب جلد صفرم هست و باید اول از همه خونده بشه، جلد صفرم مثل یک مقدمه طولانی میمونه و که به شما خیلی سرنخ و داستان پنهان رو میگه. تا شما وقتی جلدهای بعدی رو خوندین گیج نشین، و جلدهای دیگه چیزهایی که در قسمت صفرم نمیدونید رو کامل میکنه.
جلد صفرگ در اصل داستان همون دکتر تیمارستان رو میگه از دید شخص یک پسری که در اون زمان توسط اون مورد آزمایش قرار میگیره. که بعد در جلدهای بعدی، خیلی از شخصیت های مرده همین کتاب (بعضی هم زنده) به داستان جلدهای ۱و۲و۳ وارد میشه. حتی جلد چهارم که جلد فرعی هست بازم یک داستان کامل از جلد صفرم بیان میشه!
پس لطفا اگه میخوایید مجموعه تیمارستان رو بخونید اول از همه این کتاب رو بخونید و بعدا جلد اول تیمارستان رو
July 13, 2022
من بعد خوندن جلد اول، اینو خوندم و تو جلد اول هم کمی تا قسمتی به تیمارستان و اتفاقات وحشتناکی که توش افتاده بود، اشاره کرده بود اما به نظرم اگه قبلش اینو خونده بودم، جذابیتش برام بیشتر میشد.(امیدوارم هیچکس اشتباه منو تکرار نکنه.) تو این جلد به زمانی که تیمارستان هنوز بسته نشده بود، پرداخته و ما رو بیشتر با رئیس تيمارستان و بلا هایی که سر بیمارهاش آورده بود، آشنا کرده. ( لعنتی عوضی کثافت) آره دیگه همین.
June 23, 2016
If you're interested in reading the Asylum series, I recommend starting with this book since this is a prequel that takes place in the 60's. We follow Ricky Desmond as he's wrongfully sent to a lunatic asylum that's run by a ruthless warden. As he tries to escape, he sees strange things that question his sanity. If you want a nice creepy read, then check this out.
November 7, 2018
Escape del Asylum es la precuela oficial de Asylum, sin embargo, existe una precuela antes de esta precuela que se llama El Director. Se tiene que leer en definitiva el Director, antes de este libro porque trata cosas spoiler de ese y si no lo leen no entenderán.
Sin embargo, este libro no me convenció tanto. Pensé que me iba a resolver muchas dudas generadas con Asylum y no me las resolvió.
Pienso que aún quedó muchos cabos abiertos en donde se podía profundizar más la historia. Además, no me gustó que asumiera un hecho en el epílogo sin darnos mayores explicaciones...
Tampoco pude conectar de manera más efectiva a todos los personajes y su influencia en Asylum. No sé, a este libro, le faltó mucho.
No obstante, me gustó la historia de Ricky que se desarrolla en la trama del libro y su relación con los otros pacientes del Asilo y su relación con el director. Y cómo el director afectó a Ricky de maneras inimaginables.
1 like
Sin embargo, este libro no me convenció tanto. Pensé que me iba a resolver muchas dudas generadas con Asylum y no me las resolvió.
Pienso que aún quedó muchos cabos abiertos en donde se podía profundizar más la historia. Además, no me gustó que asumiera un hecho en el epílogo sin darnos mayores explicaciones...
Tampoco pude conectar de manera más efectiva a todos los personajes y su influencia en Asylum. No sé, a este libro, le faltó mucho.
No obstante, me gustó la historia de Ricky que se desarrolla en la trama del libro y su relación con los otros pacientes del Asilo y su relación con el director. Y cómo el director afectó a Ricky de maneras inimaginables.
1 like
July 15, 2022
Okay. This was way better than the Asylum. The characters had more depth and were more developed. I didn't feel anything about Daniel, Abby and Jordan. They felt kinda flat. But Ricky and Kay felt real and they were such a cool duo.
The story started slow but got much better in the second half. Could feel some kind of excitement I guess.
The ending... Well I feel like it went too fast and easy at the last 15-20 pages but idk maybe that's just me.
P.S :
Am I the only person in the world who's incapable of blushing?
Why does everyone in books blush all the time?
The story started slow but got much better in the second half. Could feel some kind of excitement I guess.
The ending... Well I feel like it went too fast and easy at the last 15-20 pages but idk maybe that's just me.
P.S :
Am I the only person in the world who's incapable of blushing?
Why does everyone in books blush all the time?
July 5, 2016
“I wasted a lot of time thinking I was so smart and so hip. Now I just want to be good, and to do that I have to believe other people are good, too.”
Escape from Asylum is a prequel to the Asylum series which story circulated around Ricky Desmond, a teenage guy with a temper management issue. He is living with his mother and stepfather and has visited several institutions for his issue. But on the day he became violent towards his stepfather, Ricky has no other choice but to live in Brookline, an asylum headed by Warden Crawford. The book, I admit, is way better and creepier and scarier than the other Asylum books bearing in mind that this is actually is a prequel.
I loved the way Madeleine Roux slowly unfolds the mysteries and the connections it has with the Asylum series. I loved how it made my heart beat faster with every scene and how it made me had a mini heart attact with a scary scene followed by a scarier picture. I actually love Escape in Asylum and the characters, too! But I got confused with Kit. She was addressed by Ricky as a girl but the pronoun used by the nurses in addressing Kit was 'he'. So I was not really sure about it. And I was still confused even after reading the last page of the book. But other than that, I loved it!
I do recommend this one and of course, the Asylum series!
Escape from Asylum is a prequel to the Asylum series which story circulated around Ricky Desmond, a teenage guy with a temper management issue. He is living with his mother and stepfather and has visited several institutions for his issue. But on the day he became violent towards his stepfather, Ricky has no other choice but to live in Brookline, an asylum headed by Warden Crawford. The book, I admit, is way better and creepier and scarier than the other Asylum books bearing in mind that this is actually is a prequel.
I loved the way Madeleine Roux slowly unfolds the mysteries and the connections it has with the Asylum series. I loved how it made my heart beat faster with every scene and how it made me had a mini heart attact with a scary scene followed by a scarier picture. I actually love Escape in Asylum and the characters, too! But I got confused with Kit. She was addressed by Ricky as a girl but the pronoun used by the nurses in addressing Kit was 'he'. So I was not really sure about it. And I was still confused even after reading the last page of the book. But other than that, I loved it!
I do recommend this one and of course, the Asylum series!
November 14, 2017
This rating system needs more than 5 stars. I really enjoyed this book. As always the longer review is up on my blog. And again I wasn't able to put this book down. I read it in just a couple of hours or so and I really enjoyed it. Madeleine Roux knows how to spin a creepy tale. The pictures that are spaced through out the book make the book in my opinion. I'm not quite sure what to say about this book, except if you enjoy horror anything than you will definitely enjoy this book
November 20, 2024
De escape no tuvo nada...
July 10, 2016
Gripping,
Riveting, frustrating!!!
Page-turner.
It will put you in misery. ^_^
“Sometimes to make a person happy you’ll do anything, even if it hurts like crazy on the inside.” ☠
-Kay
+Hell yeah!!! As you noticed, I finally gave 5 stars for this one.
+Why??? It doesn't mean that I LOVE THE ENDING. But the story, omg.. It makes me alive.
+What I mean, the Escape from Asylum is way way better than the 3 extra novellas that I've read.
+Asylum book 1 is awesome,
Sanctum is a little bit boring same as Catacomb. BUT this book! Woahh..
+Still give me the creeps.
+The writer finally made me shiver at 3 in the morning! & I was looking behind my back now and then! Seriously! I was imagining that I'm Ricky. Being in that creepy asylum in Brookline! Gah!!!
+Oh I love Kay and Nurse Ash. The characters here are quite interesting. Even the warden itself. Daniel Crawford.
+Despite of liking or loving this last book of Asylum series, there's still TONS OF QUESTIONS roaming in my head. Really. TONS.
+What happened?! With DAN'S story? Will her mother be okay? Where the is heck is he? What happened?! How Kay survive in the asylum without Ricky's help??? How was the Asylum after everything happened? Where is the warden? How did the story goes?!
+A lot more.. Sorry for giving you SPOILERS but I warned you right?! LOL.
+Madeleine Roux you are awesome! Really! You should update us soon! I'll be waiting for THE HOUSE OF FURIES! Oh please tell me what happened after BROOKLINE!
+I learned to love those characters! I need an answer!
+All in all, I admit, I love the series. Despite of holes, too many plot twist. The storyline was good enough to make you feel miserable and frustrated. The strategy??? For wanting more from this story is quite strong.
+I couldn't put up enough RIGHT words for all of my reviews now a days. Work schedule is the true reason.
+It was like all ramblings and rantings only. I just made reviews straight to the point. Sometimes words cannot express what we really feels, or should I say most of the time?
+Thank you Madeleine Roux, for being a medicine. Haha LOL! As you may know, I've been with a MASSIVE READING SLUMP. After reading TMI series of Miss Cassandra Clare. I just don't feel reading at all. I tried too many times. I've been with the reading slump for 1 month. Its quite painful. The experience. I don't know what to do. Then I just picked up this Asylum series again. And VOILA! I'VE been out of my misery! LOL! :D
+I cannot explain. But it happens. Right? I'll stop being so dramatic & all, just want to acknowledge it.
+What I also learned about the story is being strong enough. I mean trusting your SELF. Sometimes you cannot trust anybody. Even your friends will leave you. Better to trust strangers. SOMETIMES.
+DON'T FORGET YOUR PAST. What I mean is, remembering those good and bad memories will help you remember who you are.
+MOST OF ALL, LOYALTY. Why? It's for you to find out. How? READ THE SERIES. NOW.
+Thanks again for replying in my messages Miss Roux. :) I'll be waiting for the NEXT world you'll build.
+Highly recommended.
AGAIN, read it in RIGHT ORDER.
LOL! :D
P.S.
+Those PHOTOS. Urgggh! It will help you a lot! Gives me the chills! Wooooooh! It will stuck in your brain (mind) for a very long time. I still imagine the LOBOTOMY. Those tools. And the basement!!!! Urgghhhh... (-_-)
Riveting, frustrating!!!
Page-turner.
It will put you in misery. ^_^
“Sometimes to make a person happy you’ll do anything, even if it hurts like crazy on the inside.” ☠
-Kay
+Hell yeah!!! As you noticed, I finally gave 5 stars for this one.
+Why??? It doesn't mean that I LOVE THE ENDING. But the story, omg.. It makes me alive.
+What I mean, the Escape from Asylum is way way better than the 3 extra novellas that I've read.
+Asylum book 1 is awesome,
Sanctum is a little bit boring same as Catacomb. BUT this book! Woahh..
+Still give me the creeps.
+The writer finally made me shiver at 3 in the morning! & I was looking behind my back now and then! Seriously! I was imagining that I'm Ricky. Being in that creepy asylum in Brookline! Gah!!!
+Oh I love Kay and Nurse Ash. The characters here are quite interesting. Even the warden itself. Daniel Crawford.
+Despite of liking or loving this last book of Asylum series, there's still TONS OF QUESTIONS roaming in my head. Really. TONS.
+What happened?! With DAN'S story? Will her mother be okay? Where the is heck is he? What happened?! How Kay survive in the asylum without Ricky's help??? How was the Asylum after everything happened? Where is the warden? How did the story goes?!
+A lot more.. Sorry for giving you SPOILERS but I warned you right?! LOL.
+Madeleine Roux you are awesome! Really! You should update us soon! I'll be waiting for THE HOUSE OF FURIES! Oh please tell me what happened after BROOKLINE!
+I learned to love those characters! I need an answer!
+All in all, I admit, I love the series. Despite of holes, too many plot twist. The storyline was good enough to make you feel miserable and frustrated. The strategy??? For wanting more from this story is quite strong.
+I couldn't put up enough RIGHT words for all of my reviews now a days. Work schedule is the true reason.
+It was like all ramblings and rantings only. I just made reviews straight to the point. Sometimes words cannot express what we really feels, or should I say most of the time?
+Thank you Madeleine Roux, for being a medicine. Haha LOL! As you may know, I've been with a MASSIVE READING SLUMP. After reading TMI series of Miss Cassandra Clare. I just don't feel reading at all. I tried too many times. I've been with the reading slump for 1 month. Its quite painful. The experience. I don't know what to do. Then I just picked up this Asylum series again. And VOILA! I'VE been out of my misery! LOL! :D
+I cannot explain. But it happens. Right? I'll stop being so dramatic & all, just want to acknowledge it.
+What I also learned about the story is being strong enough. I mean trusting your SELF. Sometimes you cannot trust anybody. Even your friends will leave you. Better to trust strangers. SOMETIMES.
+DON'T FORGET YOUR PAST. What I mean is, remembering those good and bad memories will help you remember who you are.
+MOST OF ALL, LOYALTY. Why? It's for you to find out. How? READ THE SERIES. NOW.
+Thanks again for replying in my messages Miss Roux. :) I'll be waiting for the NEXT world you'll build.
+Highly recommended.
AGAIN, read it in RIGHT ORDER.
LOL! :D
P.S.
+Those PHOTOS. Urgggh! It will help you a lot! Gives me the chills! Wooooooh! It will stuck in your brain (mind) for a very long time. I still imagine the LOBOTOMY. Those tools. And the basement!!!! Urgghhhh... (-_-)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 3, 2019
I really loved this book so much it was thrilling and the photos really set the tone of the story so well. I really liked the characters especially Ricky and Kay I liked their relationship you could really tell this book was set in in the late 60s from a few things that are said in the story this is the first book I have read with this kind of setting with a transgender character I really liked the characters so much. The horror atmosphere was so well done you could feel Ricky's struggles and that of the other people around him so well. I loved the plot of this story it started out with Ricky thinking he should not be there before that feeling turned to horror because of all of the horrible things the warden has done and the people the warden has killed and after that Ricky started trying anything to escape the horror he found himself in. So overall I loved this prequel going to get back into reading the series soon.
October 18, 2018
I felt unimpressed. I wanted more of an asylum feel, if that makes sense? I wanted more on the procedures and more atmosphere to really make me feel like I was there. I also didn't feel like I was in the timeline. There was nothing really there to make me feel like I was in the 60's.
I also would have liked more info on Lucy and maybe some more background on the other characters. That would have drew me in way more. I kept wondering about Lucy and certain things that happened made me confused because I wondered HOW they happened (being vague for spoiler reasons.)
I'm just disappointed. I really wanted to like this book. I really enjoyed the series and this one kinda flopped for me. Didn't really creep me out and I didn't feel like I was there. But the pictures! Of course I loved the pictures. Always very cool.
I also would have liked more info on Lucy and maybe some more background on the other characters. That would have drew me in way more. I kept wondering about Lucy and certain things that happened made me confused because I wondered HOW they happened (being vague for spoiler reasons.)
I'm just disappointed. I really wanted to like this book. I really enjoyed the series and this one kinda flopped for me. Didn't really creep me out and I didn't feel like I was there. But the pictures! Of course I loved the pictures. Always very cool.
Read
September 1, 2020Dnf 55% - I dont care
August 30, 2025
This book was anything but creepy or scary!
On the surface, the pictures in the book looked quite captivating, but beneath the surface, the characters lacked depth and felt like plastic, they were pretty vague in my final verdict and I was left pretty much confused over the decisions made by them.
On the surface, the pictures in the book looked quite captivating, but beneath the surface, the characters lacked depth and felt like plastic, they were pretty vague in my final verdict and I was left pretty much confused over the decisions made by them.
July 21, 2017
Characters lacked depth, storyline was weak, was not scary or creepy in the least, and I found myself not caring what happened. Struggled to finish it.
December 26, 2018
DNF. Really tried but never caught my attention. Total bummer because I really liked the main series.
January 14, 2022
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
Whew. I am not really sure what I should say about this novel. It hit so many buttons for me. SO MANY BUTTONS WERE PRESSED.
Maybe I should start with how queer this novel really is? The main character is canonically into men and women. One of the reasons he is put into the psychiatric hospital is because he was caught in bed with another teen boy. So props for a main character that is potentially bisexual. Not once did he say he was gay or that he preferred one over the other. It was also shown more than it was talked about and it wasn’t just a convenient plot point either. It was nice to have diversity in a novel in a way that doesn’t feel problematic. One of my favorite characters was an openly black trans woman! She was in the facility because of being trans. Not once did Ricky dead name her or refer to her as male. He went out of his way to help her feel at home in her skin and that she was lovely as she was. There is even hints at the end of a relationship which I 100% ship.
Speaking of having a trans character, I was really worried about the plot because of the character. I don’t want to use either name used in the book for her, it might take some of the magic away from the scene where she comes out to Ricky. I was worried that her only plots would be her being in the asylum for being trans, but there was so much more to her character. The author wasn’t lax when it came to anything. Roux actually made a trans character that was more than her transness. I AM IN LOVE. A lot of the novel is full of pure transphobia. If you are triggered by dead naming someone and flagrant use of the wrong pronoun (and other physiological torture of a trans person in an attempt to “cure” them), then this book will be hard to get through. I do want to make it clear that the characters that are clearly the good guys, do not engage in any of that behavior and they actively stand up for the trans character. So while it really sucked at times, the reaction from Ricky was very much one of anger. He hated that they would actively try to hurt someone like that. So it could read very much as cis savior, but it comes across that the trans character is much more useful in the overall scheme of things than Ricky. Ricky is just more important to the sinister plot.
The book tackles the idea of psychiatric hospital as they used to be. They are drastically different today. Today it would be illegal to hose people off with a fire house for example. They would not be allowed to feed the patients the way they were feed in this book. This book is horror and fiction. Though there have been many instances of people being abused and used for medical experiments in psychiatric hospitals. This book is like watching AHS: Asylum and going “I know everything about mental health treatment now”. Some of the ideas are rooted in horrific truths, but they were also sensationalized for the sake of the story. I can go into the long history of psycho surgery and shock therapy. I have seen videos of people being treated with shock therapy. It is horrifying. It is and was barbaric. The first time I saw one of the videos, I almost puked. It was a lesson in one of my early psychology classes. It was watched in an ethics lesson. Current psychology is aware of the past and they are doing what they can to prevent it from being repeated. Ethics was covered in almost every psychology class I took. Each class referenced more horrible things that happened within that branch of psychology and why ethics matter so much. I am not lessening the horrors that were faced. I do what I can to learn about the true horrors, Roux mentions her inspiration in the acknowledgments (a quick google search reveals sexual assault, underpaid staff, dangerous conditions, and forced medication). It has become a trope that all psychiatric hospitals are full of madmen trying to torture people by doing medical experiments. They are almost always haunted by ghosts and the lights are iffy. Also lobotomies are almost always mentioned with ice picks. This does not stop me from enjoying the hell out of an asylum story and being fascinated with how horrifying the history of them really is. I enjoyed myself and I loved the references to lobotomies, despite wishing that Roux was able to have a story more complex than a basic lobotomy story. I am a total psych nerd and I have been in a psychiatric hospital as a patient before. So I speak of the reality both from an academic sense and from an emotional sense. I have also been a jail guard, which is really relevant when you realize how little funding psychiatric hospitals get now and how much the prison/jail system is relied on to treat mental health now.
So this is a pretty spooky book. My heart was racing at some points. I was invested in this story. Once my fear of how the trans character would be used by Roux were mollified, I was able to really focus on the story. I enjoyed it so much. I am sorry to say that the rest of the series seems to be about other characters. I could have happily read more about these characters. I have seen some reviews that claim this is just a rip off of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, I can totally understand where they are coming from. The idea of using “real” or “found” photos to tell a story for YA audiences was started with Miss Peregrine’s or at least mainstreamed with it. I was bored out of my mind reading it though, the movie also didn’t do anything for me. This one worked so much more for me. Found footage has been a thing in horror for decades now. So the idea of using photos to convey the creepy in a novel isn’t all that far removed from what has been done in the horror movie genre. So take what you will from that. The stories are drastically different and the photos felt more sinister and seemed to fit in the story better than they did in Miss Peregrine’s. So if you can get past the idea that they share the same formatting idea and you like horror, then this book can be a ton of fun.
Whew. I am not really sure what I should say about this novel. It hit so many buttons for me. SO MANY BUTTONS WERE PRESSED.
Maybe I should start with how queer this novel really is? The main character is canonically into men and women. One of the reasons he is put into the psychiatric hospital is because he was caught in bed with another teen boy. So props for a main character that is potentially bisexual. Not once did he say he was gay or that he preferred one over the other. It was also shown more than it was talked about and it wasn’t just a convenient plot point either. It was nice to have diversity in a novel in a way that doesn’t feel problematic. One of my favorite characters was an openly black trans woman! She was in the facility because of being trans. Not once did Ricky dead name her or refer to her as male. He went out of his way to help her feel at home in her skin and that she was lovely as she was. There is even hints at the end of a relationship which I 100% ship.
Speaking of having a trans character, I was really worried about the plot because of the character. I don’t want to use either name used in the book for her, it might take some of the magic away from the scene where she comes out to Ricky. I was worried that her only plots would be her being in the asylum for being trans, but there was so much more to her character. The author wasn’t lax when it came to anything. Roux actually made a trans character that was more than her transness. I AM IN LOVE. A lot of the novel is full of pure transphobia. If you are triggered by dead naming someone and flagrant use of the wrong pronoun (and other physiological torture of a trans person in an attempt to “cure” them), then this book will be hard to get through. I do want to make it clear that the characters that are clearly the good guys, do not engage in any of that behavior and they actively stand up for the trans character. So while it really sucked at times, the reaction from Ricky was very much one of anger. He hated that they would actively try to hurt someone like that. So it could read very much as cis savior, but it comes across that the trans character is much more useful in the overall scheme of things than Ricky. Ricky is just more important to the sinister plot.
The book tackles the idea of psychiatric hospital as they used to be. They are drastically different today. Today it would be illegal to hose people off with a fire house for example. They would not be allowed to feed the patients the way they were feed in this book. This book is horror and fiction. Though there have been many instances of people being abused and used for medical experiments in psychiatric hospitals. This book is like watching AHS: Asylum and going “I know everything about mental health treatment now”. Some of the ideas are rooted in horrific truths, but they were also sensationalized for the sake of the story. I can go into the long history of psycho surgery and shock therapy. I have seen videos of people being treated with shock therapy. It is horrifying. It is and was barbaric. The first time I saw one of the videos, I almost puked. It was a lesson in one of my early psychology classes. It was watched in an ethics lesson. Current psychology is aware of the past and they are doing what they can to prevent it from being repeated. Ethics was covered in almost every psychology class I took. Each class referenced more horrible things that happened within that branch of psychology and why ethics matter so much. I am not lessening the horrors that were faced. I do what I can to learn about the true horrors, Roux mentions her inspiration in the acknowledgments (a quick google search reveals sexual assault, underpaid staff, dangerous conditions, and forced medication). It has become a trope that all psychiatric hospitals are full of madmen trying to torture people by doing medical experiments. They are almost always haunted by ghosts and the lights are iffy. Also lobotomies are almost always mentioned with ice picks. This does not stop me from enjoying the hell out of an asylum story and being fascinated with how horrifying the history of them really is. I enjoyed myself and I loved the references to lobotomies, despite wishing that Roux was able to have a story more complex than a basic lobotomy story. I am a total psych nerd and I have been in a psychiatric hospital as a patient before. So I speak of the reality both from an academic sense and from an emotional sense. I have also been a jail guard, which is really relevant when you realize how little funding psychiatric hospitals get now and how much the prison/jail system is relied on to treat mental health now.
So this is a pretty spooky book. My heart was racing at some points. I was invested in this story. Once my fear of how the trans character would be used by Roux were mollified, I was able to really focus on the story. I enjoyed it so much. I am sorry to say that the rest of the series seems to be about other characters. I could have happily read more about these characters. I have seen some reviews that claim this is just a rip off of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, I can totally understand where they are coming from. The idea of using “real” or “found” photos to tell a story for YA audiences was started with Miss Peregrine’s or at least mainstreamed with it. I was bored out of my mind reading it though, the movie also didn’t do anything for me. This one worked so much more for me. Found footage has been a thing in horror for decades now. So the idea of using photos to convey the creepy in a novel isn’t all that far removed from what has been done in the horror movie genre. So take what you will from that. The stories are drastically different and the photos felt more sinister and seemed to fit in the story better than they did in Miss Peregrine’s. So if you can get past the idea that they share the same formatting idea and you like horror, then this book can be a ton of fun.
February 8, 2023
Изключително интересна история, в която има семейна мистерия, луд “учен” и доста напрежение ♥️
January 2, 2021
Plot - 3 ☄
Character - 3 ☄
Writing Style - 3 ☄
World Building - 3 ☄
Art - 3 ☄
Cover - 3 ☄
Overall - 3 ☄
I think I DFN it at 34% of the story...the plot was kinda slow for me...and I don't found it to be quite eerie.
Character - 3 ☄
Writing Style - 3 ☄
World Building - 3 ☄
Art - 3 ☄
Cover - 3 ☄
Overall - 3 ☄
I think I DFN it at 34% of the story...the plot was kinda slow for me...and I don't found it to be quite eerie.
June 5, 2017
Todo brilla en los pasillos superiores, todo luce tranquilo y los problemas parecen no existir allí adentro, pero ese lugar esconde sus mayores secretos detrás de las sombras, en los pisos desconocidos y en sus pacientes.
No puedo decir que me encantó, no fue el mejor libro de la saga (y creo que fue un poco innecesario), sin embargo, hay algo que siempre me mantuvo pegada a cada página que aparecía por delante, las descripciones e imágenes siempre logran traer un buen ambiente. El libro en sí tiene un ritmo un poco lento para mi gusto, la trama transcurre dentro de las paredes del manicomio y sus alrededores, y sus personajes, muchas veces, no conocen más que esas paredes, esperando una libertad que muchas veces solo queda en las palabras.
Dentro de esta precuela, seguimos la historia de Ricky, cuando lo internan, su tratamiento y lo que pasa después, pero en realidad no pasa mucho; sí vemos escenas fuertes y la realidad de los pacientes dentro de ese horrible lugar, pero no logró convencerme. Los nuevos personajes me gustaron, el desarrollo de personajes anteriores fue interesante y me gustó. Y el final, no sé, fue demasiado apresurado y poco creíble, no me gustó, no era un final para una novela así.
Esperaba más en realidad, un poco más de suspenso, de terror, de algo que te hiciera dudar de todo y nada a la vez. Sí, me gustó, pero le faltó algo más.
No puedo decir que me encantó, no fue el mejor libro de la saga (y creo que fue un poco innecesario), sin embargo, hay algo que siempre me mantuvo pegada a cada página que aparecía por delante, las descripciones e imágenes siempre logran traer un buen ambiente. El libro en sí tiene un ritmo un poco lento para mi gusto, la trama transcurre dentro de las paredes del manicomio y sus alrededores, y sus personajes, muchas veces, no conocen más que esas paredes, esperando una libertad que muchas veces solo queda en las palabras.
Dentro de esta precuela, seguimos la historia de Ricky, cuando lo internan, su tratamiento y lo que pasa después, pero en realidad no pasa mucho; sí vemos escenas fuertes y la realidad de los pacientes dentro de ese horrible lugar, pero no logró convencerme. Los nuevos personajes me gustaron, el desarrollo de personajes anteriores fue interesante y me gustó. Y el final, no sé, fue demasiado apresurado y poco creíble, no me gustó, no era un final para una novela así.
Esperaba más en realidad, un poco más de suspenso, de terror, de algo que te hiciera dudar de todo y nada a la vez. Sí, me gustó, pero le faltó algo más.
March 26, 2018
I don’t know why I keep hoping for something more from these books. This prequel is arguably better than the whole series with the exception of the first book simply because the scary moments WERE actually kind of creepy. The dream Ricky had about his mother like a doll and his stepfather all creaky and bent out of shape was the first time this author has given me the chills.
The breadth of characters was refreshing too, especially since it’s the late 1960s. It was considered deviant to be anything but heterosexual, and so Ricky and Kay found themselves at an asylum. Sad, that.
As far as standing on its own....I vaguely remember the plot of the first one (that Sculptor was still my favorite part, hands down) and I don’t think this does a good job of being a stand-alone for new readers. I had to keep reminding myself what the wardens goals were, and they’re never really explained. So anyone expecting to get a resolution doesn’t get one.
The breadth of characters was refreshing too, especially since it’s the late 1960s. It was considered deviant to be anything but heterosexual, and so Ricky and Kay found themselves at an asylum. Sad, that.
As far as standing on its own....I vaguely remember the plot of the first one (that Sculptor was still my favorite part, hands down) and I don’t think this does a good job of being a stand-alone for new readers. I had to keep reminding myself what the wardens goals were, and they’re never really explained. So anyone expecting to get a resolution doesn’t get one.
February 12, 2017
4/5 stars
This prequel to the Asylum series continues the story of Brookline Asylum by taking us back to the 1960's and answering some of the questions raised in the other books. While I didn't find the story as strong as the first Asylum book, Escape from Asylum still kept me riveted. Like the previous books in the series, the creepy ghosts, brainwashing and horrific treatment of patients made my skin crawl at times. It conveyed a sense of claustrophobia, of being trapped and helpless. I became wrapped up in the lives of the characters, truly worried about whether they would escape intact, mentally and physically. I was cheering for them to escape.
Summary: Recommended to anyone who likes ghost stories and creepy asylums.
This prequel to the Asylum series continues the story of Brookline Asylum by taking us back to the 1960's and answering some of the questions raised in the other books. While I didn't find the story as strong as the first Asylum book, Escape from Asylum still kept me riveted. Like the previous books in the series, the creepy ghosts, brainwashing and horrific treatment of patients made my skin crawl at times. It conveyed a sense of claustrophobia, of being trapped and helpless. I became wrapped up in the lives of the characters, truly worried about whether they would escape intact, mentally and physically. I was cheering for them to escape.
Summary: Recommended to anyone who likes ghost stories and creepy asylums.
June 9, 2018
4.5/5
I definitely thought the ending to this book would be a bit more dramatic than it actually was. Not that there wasn’t drama but it ended a bit more abruptly than I expected.
All in all I thought this was a solid prequel. It gave you a good history of the sick things that went on at Brookline before the school turned it into a dorm and caused all the events of the Asylum series to unfold. It really was twisted, some of the things they tried to do. It’s sad the way people were treated for being a little different.
I definitely thought the ending to this book would be a bit more dramatic than it actually was. Not that there wasn’t drama but it ended a bit more abruptly than I expected.
All in all I thought this was a solid prequel. It gave you a good history of the sick things that went on at Brookline before the school turned it into a dorm and caused all the events of the Asylum series to unfold. It really was twisted, some of the things they tried to do. It’s sad the way people were treated for being a little different.
July 21, 2016
I really liked this book, and I almost liked these characters better than I liked Dan/Abby/Jordan. I wish it wasn't so short, I feel like it could of used a book two instead of that sort of rushed ending. I wished we would of found out more of what happened to other characters in the end, like Patty and why he didn't see Kay for what, a year? And also I wished we would of found out more of what the White Mountains were/meant. Really enjoyed this book though.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 699 reviews