Review: it's a mad world
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 3, 2014
****I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.****WAKEFIELD is told from the alternating points of view of Astrid and Max, two new patients who end up crossing paths and becoming friends. I was pleasantly surprised to find out there was a wide variety of characters who were more involved in the story than I thought they would be.Astrid and Max didn't seem like they belonged in Wakefield, especially Max - I couldn't figure out if there really was a misunderstanding or if he was in denial of some issues. Later, the pieces began to fall into place.I liked both Astrid and Max. I hated it when Max was tormented by his roommate. I wanted him to stand up for himself so many times! Astrid is perceptive, and I admired that she stood up for Laura against a staff member. That took courage because that staff member could have retaliated against her.Teddy was always a mystery even before he begins talking about his powers. When he told Max he can see his words as different colors, I wanted Max to believe him because I could already sense there was more to the story than what was on the surface. And because I knew I was reading a paranormal story, lol.There seemed something "off" about Dr. Lycen to me even before patients began complaining about him. I could just imagine him hypnotizing a patient to get what he wants. Two staff members, one male and one female, were just evil to some of the patients. I was impressed Astrid stood up to the female staff member when she noticed unnecessarily rough treatment of Laura.My only complaint is that it took a while to get to the paranormal aspect of the story (unless I missed clues before then?), but other than that, WAKEFIELD is well written with believable characters. I liked the paranormal twist involving a residential treatment facility. I've never read a story like this before. There were pop culture references I thought were fun, too. I'm looking forward to the next installment!