This is the story of a local historian who is writing a book about the old Ambergate Lunatic Asylum. While looking through the abandoned, crumbling building, she finds a room with a bunch of suitcases inside. In the cases, are the patients' belongings. This leads her to a quest to gain answers to long-buried secrets.

This book held so much promise. The mystery is interesting. The subject matter is interesting. The characters have so much possibility to draw the reader in and move them beyond words. But, none of that happened. I found the plot predictable and unoriginal. The characters were flat. I should have cared about them a lot more than I did. Their stories should have moved me a lot more than they did.

I expected to love this book, but I just ... didn't. It was okay. I've read worse, but it didn't set me on fire. It was more of a damp fizzle.

People wanting an easy, quick read.

Amy. She is a good character. However, she could have been even more dynamic. She could have tugged at my heartstrings a lot more than she did. She should have.

The predictability. I thought there would be some big scandal involved in whatever Sarah investigated. I thought there would be more than one person's story. I thought we would see more of the novel from Sarah's point of view as she uncovered details of the old asylum. But, none of this happened. What did happen was just not as interesting.

Disappointed. There were moments when details of the asylum moved me; made me think about how terrible the treatment of mental patients used to be.

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Created Feb 23, 2019 at 5:53am • Submit your own review...