The Girl in the Castle

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When it comes to books I finish I almost always automatically rate at 2 stars, this is the rare case where despite finishing it still deserves a 1. While the story was engaging up until the ending, I felt like the ending was missing depth. It seemed to be rushed and not a lot of conclusive answers were given. It was disappointing for me because of how much the novel seemed to be building up to a big ending. Well: this book great mash up of different genres including fantasy- psychological thriller- young adult romance. PDF / EPUB File Name: The_Girl_in_the_Castle_-_James_Patterson.pdf, The_Girl_in_the_Castle_-_James_Patterson.epub

Hannah and her village are starving to death in a brutal winter. Hannah seeks out food and salvation in the baron's castle. If she is caught stealing, she will surely hang. But if she and her friends succeed, she'll save everyone she holds dear. The synopsis for The Girl in the Castle was intriguing, and the cover art was amazing. When I sat down to read this book, I wasn't sure what direction the authors were going to take. I was expecting this book to be YA Fantasy. There was a twinge of disappointment when I realized that it wasn't. However, this book was a phenomenal read and one that took me less than twenty-four hours to finish. I’m feeling torn on how to rate this book. I went in expecting a fantasy/sci-fi (the concept is Hannah is a girl in a modern psychiatric institution for teenagers, who is living a second life as a peasant in the 1300s) and it turned out to be quite different.

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Violence: PG-13 for suicide, suggestion of rape, bleeding cuts, cut herself repeatedly with a spoon sharpened against a table leg, stealing and hanging Overall: I loved this powerful, surprising story a lot! Don’t forget to read James Peterson’s note at the end. He gives important information about how he inspired to develop the plot of the book. The Girl in the Castle is a wonderfully written blend of first (Hannah) and third (Jordan) narrative that looks at the lengths one’s mind goes to to protect us from the unthinkable, from things we wish to forget, even from ourselves. And even worse there is no explanation or even a thought at provoking a reason why or how the main character gained the ability to travel through time. And EVEN worse, the main character has the decision making of a really bad scripted character from a poorly designed video game.

However, this is not reality at all. But in Hannah's mind, all of this exists. With her sister in danger, Hannah must return to the castle: the longer she's away the worse everything will become. However, the longer she stays, the chances of escape are becoming less and less... When an intern named Jordan starts to work at Belman Psych, he is drawn to Hannah. He is just starting out and wants to follow the advice of his colleagues, but something about Hannah makes him want to figure her out. Jordan begins to pay close attention to Hannah and notices that she seems like a sane individual but does have outbursts or episodes. He begins to ask her more about what is going on which is refreshing for Hannah. Is Jordan going to be the one to actually believe her and help her save her family? It was an easy read with some difficult content: Patterson and Raymond look at teen suicide, mental illness, class issues, and the way our society treats people who need help. The Girl in the Castle by James Patterson and Emily Raymond is a Young Adult Novel about a young adult named Hannah Doe who time travels between the present day and 1347. Hannah is brought into Belman Psych after what police thought was an episode in New York City and is told she is schizophrenic. Is she really though? I’m adding extra half star because of brilliant unfolding of mystery and meaningful ending and rounding up my 4.5 star to 5 great mystery, great approach to mental health issues stars!

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Now: Hannah is brought to Belman Psych, told she is suffering from hallucinations and delusions. Hannah knows the truth: she must return to the past and save her sister. Going into this the premise of the book reminded me a lot of Labyrinth by Kate Mosse. A female character from the past being brought to the future and living two lives in each. This was done tremendously well in Labyrinth, but in contrast this was done absolutely terribly in this book. Hannah Dory and her village are starving to death in a brutal winter. Hannah seeks out food and salvation in the baron’s castle. If she is caught stealing, she will surely hang. Thank you, NetGalley and LittleBrown Books for Young Readers, for the digital format of an Advanced Readers Copy of The Girl in the Castle by James Patterson and Emily Raymond. I was delighted to be selected to review this book before it's publication.