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A review by poppysreads
The Asylum by Karen Coles
It’s 1906, and Maud Lovell has been at Angelton Lunatic Asylum for five years. She has no memory of how she got there, has been told she is violent and is not even allowed to go outside. The book begins with a new doctor arriving, Dr Dimmond, who tries a more modern approach to his practice, involving hypnosis. Slowly, memories begin to resurface and Maud finds them painful to recall.
This really didn’t read like a debut novel to me. It was engaging, haunting, and unique in its style and storyline. It was intriguing to unveil the character of Maud as I read, and to uncover her past alongside her. As she had no memories and didn’t know who she was, it was enjoyable to learn this information as she does, through flashbacks. I haven’t come across this technique very often in books, but for a debut novel I thought Karen Coles executed this brilliantly.
I thought that the structure of the story was very original and interesting, and this made it all the more gripping. It almost sets the scene and then you have to read on to discover the backdrop, and the circumstances that led to Maud’s current predicament. This made it difficult to put the book down because I wanted to find out how Maud had ended up in this situation!
Overall I would really recommend this book if you enjoy thrilling, haunting tales with interesting characters and ‘things are not what they seem’ type storylines.
Thank you to NetGalley, Welbeck Publishing and Karen Coles for this ARC in exchange for an honest review, it’s been a pleasure reading it.
This really didn’t read like a debut novel to me. It was engaging, haunting, and unique in its style and storyline. It was intriguing to unveil the character of Maud as I read, and to uncover her past alongside her. As she had no memories and didn’t know who she was, it was enjoyable to learn this information as she does, through flashbacks. I haven’t come across this technique very often in books, but for a debut novel I thought Karen Coles executed this brilliantly.
I thought that the structure of the story was very original and interesting, and this made it all the more gripping. It almost sets the scene and then you have to read on to discover the backdrop, and the circumstances that led to Maud’s current predicament. This made it difficult to put the book down because I wanted to find out how Maud had ended up in this situation!
Overall I would really recommend this book if you enjoy thrilling, haunting tales with interesting characters and ‘things are not what they seem’ type storylines.
Thank you to NetGalley, Welbeck Publishing and Karen Coles for this ARC in exchange for an honest review, it’s been a pleasure reading it.