Review: Strange story
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 15, 2013
I received this book from Library Thing to read and review. This is a short story/novella, and, I understand, the start of a series. In this first installment, after a very bizarre accident, Gabrielle finds her father, her only living relative, has committed her to a psychiatric hospital (asylum). In addition to the patients, who are just exactly what we have all come to expect from psychiatric horror films, Gabrielle encounters some unprofessional staff, who try to take advantage of the patients' illnesses and inability to easily leave. I found all the descriptions in this story to be just like all the horror we have come to expect from asylums we see in films.  They do not resemble any real, current psychiatric hospitals. I wondered why the author was perpetuating this ugly myth of how psychiatric patients are treated and how terrible the places they go to for help are as I read this book, as I thought this sort of thing went out years ago, except in horror films. The main character, Gabrielle, is a strong person who plots to escape the hospital, though the escape is difficult and dangerous.  Finally, I am not sure whether a lot of what is in the book is supposed to be her nightmares/delusions or what is actually happening, and I did not get a good feel for either. The book is way too short to adequately address this. It also, as one reviewer said is too short to pull the reader into Gabrielle's story and/or experiences.