The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender
Rating: 4 out of 5 Magical Coffee Cups
From Goodreads
In this asylum, your mind plays tricks on you all the time…
Delia’s new house isn’t just a house. Long ago, it was the Piven Institute for the Care and Correction of Troubled Females—an insane asylum nicknamed “Hysteria Hall.” However, many of the inmates were not insane, just defiant and strong-willed. Kind of like Delia herself.
But the house still wants to keep “troubled” girls locked away. So, in the most horrifying way, Delia gets trapped.
And that’s when she learns that the house is also haunted.
Ghost girls wander the halls in their old-fashioned nightgowns. A handsome ghost boy named Theo roams the grounds. Delia finds that all the spirits are unsettled and full of dark secrets. The house, as well, harbors shocking truths within its walls—truths that only Delia can uncover, and that may set her free.
But she’ll need to act quickly before the house’s power overtakes everything she loves.
From the master of suspense Katie Alender comes a riveting tale of twisted memories and betrayals, and the meaning of madness.
I was showing one of my students around the library the other day and we were looking for a new book for her.
Student: *grabs a book off shelf* “Have you read this?
Me: No, I haven’t.
S: “You need to read this. It’s amazing!”
M: “Okay, I’ll check it out today”
S: *walking away with a friend* “OMG! I just recommended a book to a librarian!”
M: *to self “wait, weren’t we looking for a book for her?”
Well, one of us found a book!
I had my doubts about this one at first and I will admit that I put off reading it for a long time but right from the start this book had my attention. There were so many twists throughout this book, I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. This book was creepy but there was more than just that, there was a well thought out plot and well-developed main character. Things moved quickly with this book. The summary talks about how Delia is “trapped in the most horrifying way”, and yeah, she is but it also happens pretty early on in the book. I would have thought that something like this would have been a great ending but I did not expect this at the start. I knew it was going to be awesome.
There is just so much going on in that house, you are always learning something about someone. I really enjoyed learning about each of the “unsettled spirits”.
I need to find that student and thank her for such a great recommendation.
Literary Coffee 