Review: Crazy was never so good!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 3, 2014
4.5*Book source ~ A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks!Teenagers Astrid Chalke and Max Fisher meet at Wakefield Residential and Educational Treatment Facility. Both orphaned and sent to the facility because of behavioral issues they feel they don’t belong. With residents who are severely disabled to those with more mild issues both Max and Astrid are assigned to the Newton wing. Eventually their paths cross and the two join their small circle of friends into one larger group. When Teddy claims he has special powers and that the staff are hiding something huge they at first dismiss his talk as paranoid. But as weird things happen and other things don’t add up, it’s time for Max and Astrid to trust their gut. They have to break out of Wakefield and take their friends with them. Before it’s too late.This story is told from several POVs, but mostly from Astrid and Max’s. It really helps to get an overall view of Wakefield. The characters are really well-developed and the writing is excellent. I felt as if I was there with them and experiencing everything they were experiencing. The mystery surrounding the so-called powers was making me twitchy. I wanted to know what the heck was going on, but of course the info was parceled out as if by Scrooge himself. I so wanted to flip to the end, but resisted. Barely.  Yeah, I have no patience for a mystery to unfold on its own. I must know! LOL There are two reasons why this did not get a 5 out of me. The ending, while not an abrupt drop off is still a cliffhanger and I hate cliffhangers. Also, Max’s dreams were really strange and I couldn’t make heads nor tails of them. I know dreams are like that. I’ve had plenty of them myself, but I know his dreams are meant to be clues and I wasn’t picking up what was being put down. Know what I mean? Overall though this is an excellent read that I relinquished only when it was absolutely necessary.