Barnes & NobleEscape from Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Meet Patient Zero

“To be Patient Zero meant losing himself, not to death, but to something much worse.” I was in a reading by slump so decided it was time for a comfort reread. I chose the Asylum series. Read into that what you will… Before we go to summer school with Dan, Abby and Jordan, we need to visit Brookline when its rooms were cells, not dorm rooms. This is Brookline the asylum. Trust me; you do not want to be here. “This place … It’s not quite what it looks like. It’s not what it seems.” It’s 1968 and Ricky is being dropped off by his mother and Butch at his third ‘retreat’. Sure, there was the incident with Butch. Ricky’s not denying that, even if Butch had it coming. This is about more than that, though. This is about Martin. Homophobia is rife and we’re still decades away from people calling out conversion therapy for the horror show that it is. I remember that we all dreaded and feared the Warden but, after all of these years, the specifics were hazy in my mind. However, I never forgot that he’s an extraordinarily disturbed man with a god complex who should be a patient, not staff. “Whatever else he is, he’s also a butcher. A monster.” For Ricky, the only good thing about Brookline is Kay. She’s also there for ‘treatment’ and I spent the entire book wanting to protect her. “You know you and I are just different. Different isn’t sick.” I’d never seen a book that included found photos when I first read this series. I was absolutely fascinated turning the pages to discover new creepy images. I looked forward to rediscovering the photos this time around and was not disappointed. I’d forgotten that we meet Dennis in this book and I’ve only just realised that Roger was first introduced here as well. The deeper you allow yourself to wander around in the underbelly of Brookline, the more rewarded you’ll be. And more disturbed, too, by the depravity of those in power. I wish there’d been details of everything that took place between Chapter 47 and the Epilogue. I need to know what Kay’s life looked like post Brookline. “If we can survive in here, we can do anything.” Content warnings are included on my blog.