Insanity is a split POV novel that never quite hit it's full potential. The first 83 pages are pure gold; we're introduced to a spunky girl named Forest working in a creepy old asylum. What more can I ask for? But my intrest in the book took a nose dive when Forest's point of view came to an ubrupt end. After Vaught switched the point of view, the book took a sharp left turn and left me feeling...gypped. I loved Forest's voice, she was relatable and funny, and I was really excited about the next 300 pages. I was pretty disapointed when Vaught went and switched the POV to some other guy who lacked Forest's charisma and charm. Worst part: Forest was gone. she didn't show up again for a long time, and when she did finally come back, she had lost her depth completely and almost felt like a different character. It was really disappointing.

Plot

The whole book is composed of a smorgasbord of overused horror stories smooshed into one book.Lets go through the list. Lets see, theres a child murder, a psycho father that kills his daughters friends, a pair of backwoods murderers, and a smattering of ghosts and insane patients of the asylum. All of those shoved into on relatively short (368pgs) book. It really doesn't mesh well. Insanity tries oh-so hard to scare you, and yet I wasn't really scared once.

If Susan Vaught did one thing right with Insanity, it was the atmopshere. It was really creepy (NOT scary) and probably saved the novel for me.

See the rest of the review Here ( )

Insanity is a split POV novel that never quite hit it's full potential. The first 83 pages are pure gold; we're introduced to a spunky girl named Forest working in a creepy old asylum. What more can I ask for? But my intrest in the book took a nose dive when Forest's point of view came to an ubrupt end. After Vaught switched the point of view, the book took a sharp left turn and left me feeling...gypped. I loved Forest's voice, she was relatable and funny, and I was really excited about the next 300 pages. I was pretty disapointed when Vaught went and switched the POV to some other guy who lacked Forest's charisma and charm. Worst part: Forest was gone. she didn't show up again for a long time, and when she did finally come back, she had lost her depth completely and almost felt like a different character. It was really disappointing.

Plot

The whole book is composed of a smorgasbord of overused horror stories smooshed into one book.Lets go through the list. Lets see, theres a child murder, a psycho father that kills his daughters friends, a pair of backwoods murderers, and a smattering of ghosts and insane patients of the asylum. All of those shoved into on relatively short (368pgs) book. It really doesn't mesh well. Insanity tries oh-so hard to scare you, and yet I wasn't really scared once.

If Susan Vaught did one thing right with Insanity, it was the atmopshere. It was really creepy (NOT scary) and probably saved the novel for me.

See the rest of the review Here ( )

Insanity is a split POV novel that never quite hit it's full potential. The first 83 pages are pure gold; we're introduced to a spunky girl named Forest working in a creepy old asylum. What more can I ask for? But my intrest in the book took a nose dive when Forest's point of view came to an ubrupt end. After Vaught switched the point of view, the book took a sharp left turn and left me feeling...gypped. I loved Forest's voice, she was relatable and funny, and I was really excited about the next 300 pages. I was pretty disapointed when Vaught went and switched the POV to some other guy who lacked Forest's charisma and charm. Worst part: Forest was gone. she didn't show up again for a long time, and when she did finally come back, she had lost her depth completely and almost felt like a different character. It was really disappointing.

Plot

The whole book is composed of a smorgasbord of overused horror stories smooshed into one book.Lets go through the list. Lets see, theres a child murder, a psycho father that kills his daughters friends, a pair of backwoods murderers, and a smattering of ghosts and insane patients of the asylum. All of those shoved into on relatively short (368pgs) book. It really doesn't mesh well. Insanity tries oh-so hard to scare you, and yet I wasn't really scared once.

If Susan Vaught did one thing right with Insanity, it was the atmopshere. It was really creepy (NOT scary) and probably saved the novel for me.

See the rest of the review Here ( )

The intertwining stories of three teenagers who find themselves haunted beyond imagining in the depths of a Kentucky mental institution. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: I was often confused or bored with Insanity, but there were certain things that pushed the review up one star.

Opening Sentence: There was something wrong with the dog.

The Review:

This book starts out with Forest in Lincoln, an old asylum from Never, Kentucky. Ghosts and haints and crazy people live in its walls. Readers follow four characters through four main stories, each with a different villain and plotline, each from a different point of view. My feelings are very mixed about this book. The writing style is not bad at all, but sometimes the novel gets confusing with its descriptions of ghosts, shades, ghasts, spirits. I never could keep the different ones straight. I never connected to the characters, either, so it was a struggle to push through the three hundred pages. When I finished I was relieved. Insanity was just not for me.

However, I’ll give Insanity this: when I was reading at night, and the creepiest villain of the bunch appeared, I could not stop shivering. The descriptions of a man’s body with a child’s face, giggling while chasing with a shard of sharp metal, was ruthless in its delivery. I was completely freaked out. This raised my opinion of the book because the reason I didn’t like the villains is we didn’t have enough time to let them develop and grow strong before the attack, and we basically hear about them and then the main battle happens. Bam! At least with “Maman” (villain above) I could get invested in the descriptions and a little more into the book.

First things first, the characters. Part one we follow Forest. She’s a nice character, but not interesting, not with that intriguing factor. The love story between her and Levi moved slowly, and besides that sometimes I couldn’t tell she was even into him. Number two is Darius, and his story confused me often. By the end we get clarity on what just went down, but I was still a little wary. He had a different outlook on life and I enjoyed the refreshing change from the blander Forest. Next, Trina. I have to say that Trina’s section was my favorite of the bunch! We start out with Trina putting her father to sleep with a spell, because apparently she’s a witch, and learning that her father hunts and kills Madocs. Soon her father is heading out to kill Darius, who is also her boyfriend, because she let it slip that he might have some magic. What a start to part three! The pull to read grew more intense, though still I wasn’t really loving Insanity. And the final part, four. This time it’s Levi we follow, the Levi that has a budding relationship with Forest. He helps send spirits into the afterlife and is sometimes referred to as a haint. It was funny, because with Forest you see that she likes Levi, but it seems more friendship orientated than a romance. But with Levi you can really tell how much he loves her, and that scares him. Again, of all the characters my favorite would have to be Trina.

The setting is creepy, Lincoln. During part four especially you get a glimpse of the life pulsing under wood and nail. Since there is a “thin spot” it’s easier to travel from living to the world of the dead, heaven or hell or whatever one person decides. So, basically, the purpose of the gang is to help spirits into the afterlife and stop any bad things that manage to escape back into the world. I guess the idea has a certain charm, but the parts are all separate stories and you never have long enough to grasp the gravity of the last situation before the next happens.

I was stuck between giving this book two stars or three. I didn’t like it, bluntly, but there were parts that I enjoyed more than others. In the end, I decided that since one star is only DNF, and two stars is not enjoyable, but three stars is okay, I’d give it three. I wanted to consider everything and in the end not everything was bad. The writing style is not horrible at all, and certain characters are interesting enough to evoke a little feeling. Again, though. We still have the sometimes fast paced, sometimes confusing aspect. I think you should read the book if it sounds interesting, but if not, leave it alone. We all have different tastes and others may look at my five-star review while giving a one-star one, so others may like this more than me.

Notable Scene:

And behind the dogs-

What was that?

My hands curled into fists as he came toward me. I opened my mouth to yell, but no sound came out.

FTC Advisory: Bloomsbury USA Childrens provided me with a copy of Insanity. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. In addition, I don’t receive affiliate fees for anything purchased via links from my site. ( )