Insanity (Asylum #1) by Lauren Hammond
Insanity (The Asylum Trilogy Book 1)
Synopsis:
Adelaide Carmichael and Damien Allen couldn’t be more opposite.
Adelaide’s mother abandoned her when she was ten years old, leaving her to be raised by her abusive and alcoholic father.
Damien on the other hand came from a wealthy family, was a local celebrity, and seemed to have a bright future ahead of him.
Despite their differences, Adelaide and Damien were young, wild, and fiercely in love.
And they had a plan.
They were going to run away.
Be together forever.
And their plan was set in motion, until tragedy struck and for some reason, Adelaide wound up in The Oakhill Institution for the insane.
Adelaide has no idea what she did to wind up at Oakhill, but she knows one thing for sure...
She wants out.
And after Damien follows her there to aid her in escaping, Adelaide slowly begins putting together the pieces of her memory that are missing.
And it doesn’t take Adelaide long to figure out that sometimes...
That one true love never dies.
Warning:Do not read if you have a weak heart.
Review:
I had such high hopes for Insanity, but it just was not very good. The writing, the story, everything just didn't really work. The first big issue I had with the story? It is supposed to be set in the 1950's. Why is this an issue? Well because it doesn't read like it is set then. Occasionally there is a phrase or sentence thrown in that would fit the time period, but other than that you would never know. It was a bit disappointing since it just doesn't work if you are not committed to setting the story then.
What else was off for me? Well the characters and character development for one. The story is told in present day chapters then flashbacks to what happened in the past. You don't really get to see Damien and Adelaide fall in love which made me not really care about most of the story. One chapter is in the present and Adelaide remembers Damien and how he is the love of her life, then we skip to the past and show how they met briefly, then present, then past and they are in love! He is like air to her, she needs him to live! They are so in love! It just didn't work. It was one minute they didn't know each other the next we are told they are so in love. Really that is the issue I think with the whole story. It moves quickly, things just happen, and there is not much development. Most everything is told not shown.
This book is supposed to be sort of a mystery. Like what is happening at the insane asylum, why is Adelaide there, what happened in the past to send her there, etc. It is pretty obvious what happened and I guessed most of what is going on early on. When it was all revealed I didn't guess one part, but was just like okay. It just didn't bring you into the story very well so you would care about the characters. The pacing of the story was not very good. Things just happened too quickly which didn't help. Thing would change from one page to the next without you really seeing why they changed. For example Adelaide didn't trust the doctor, said how he has evil eyes and she is skeptical of him,then the next she is saying how she knew she could trust him. How he is a kind man. There was no real transition there, nothing that really happened that would show why she went from not trusting him to trusting him. Sure there is a time gap between the two, but that doesn't work with the story if you don't see why she would change her mind. It just didn't make a lot of sense at times because of the pacing, the telling not showing, and just not being able to get to know the characters very well. Overall just not a good read.
Rating: ★1/2
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