Blog Tour & Review: “The Requiem Red” by Brynn Chapman
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Rate:
Rate:
Synopsis:
Patient Twenty-nine.
A monster roams the halls of Soothing Hills Asylum. Three girls dead. 29 is endowed with the curse…or gift of perception. She hears messages in music, sees lyrics in paintings. And the corn. A lifetime asylum resident, the orchestral corn music is the only constant in her life.
Mason, a new, kind orderly, sees 29 as a woman, not a lunatic. And as his belief in her grows, so does her self- confidence. That perhaps she might escape, might see the outside world.
But the monster has other plans. The missing girls share one common thread…each was twenty-nine’s cell mate.
Will she be next?
This historical suspense wastes no time jumping into action of the story . From the very first page readers are fed snippets of flashbacks of events and the character’s back story. It sets a heavy tone of suspense that fills the air and the readers has so many questions that will eventually be answered towards the latter part of the book.The asylum gives off a spooky and eerie atmosphere as Chapman describes the details of each nook and cranny of the building. From hushed whispers in the night, to secret underground tunnels, and a possible killer on the loose, this is someplace you definitely don’t want to pay a visit to.
Jane, our main protagonist, is very mysterious. She is quiet and weary when dealing with the nurses and doctors of the facility, but is always alert to what goes on daily at the asylum. She is very observant and is immediately suspicious, like some others that reside in the asylum, that something sinister is going on within its walls. While Jane is the main narrator of the novel, readers are also treated to other POVs of pivotal characters in the story. One of the most striking characters besides Jane, is Jules who bears an uncanny resemblance to Jane. Are they the same person, is the past and present blurring into one, or does Jane have multiple personalities? This is one of the many mysteries within in the plot that kept me on my toes.
Although Jane is surrounded by many other patients she always feels utterly alone in the asylum and has the constant feeling of being trapped. On top of that, the pieces of her past and how she ended up here are blurry. The reader feels sympathy towards Jane’s plight as her only friends seem to be her beloved drawings. Will she find a way out of her caged “prison”?
Overall, I loved this book! The details used to describe the asylum makes it seem like it’s straight out of a horror film and the plot and characters are well written. The reader only gets fed bits and pieces of the story told by various characters so you’re unsure of whom to really trust. This factor iskey in keeping the reader constantly engrossed in the story. The ending is open-ended, so will there be a sequel?
Follow the The Requiem Red by Brynn Chapman Blog Tour and don’t miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.
Born and raised in western Pennsylvania, Brynn Chapman is the daughter of two teachers. Her writing reflects her passions: science, history and love—not necessarily in that order. In real life, the geek gene runs strong in her family, as does the Asperger’s syndrome. Her writing reflects her experience as a pediatric therapist and her interactions with society’s downtrodden. In fiction, she’s a strong believer in underdogs and happily-ever-afters. She also writes non-fiction and lectures on the subjects of autism and sensory integration and is a medical contributor to online journal The Age of Autism.
FTC Disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for a honest and fair review.
1 thought on “Blog Tour & Review: “The Requiem Red” by Brynn Chapman”