Orphaned Jane has only ever been known as “29.”  She has lived at the Soothing Hills Sanatorium since she was a young girl and it’s the only home she remembers.  She’s not sure what’s wrong with her, but she hears things in the corn fields beside the asylum and when she hears music she sees colors no one else can see.  She tries to hide this because at Soothing Hills a lot of patients are subjected to various forms of torture.

 

Jules is the daughter of the esteemed Dr. Frost who is the head of the Soothing Hills Asylum.  Her father is cold and unpredictably easy to anger.  Jules has been forced into an engagement to a young man she doesn’t much care for but, if it gets her out of her father’s household and allows her more freedom, she’ll happily comply.  Since her fiancé has given the okay, her father unhappily agrees to allow Jules to volunteer at the asylum.

 

There’s a killer on the loose at Soothing Hills and all of the women who have been killed have one thing in common, they were 29’s roommate at the time.  Dr. Frost immediately orders that Jane be put to questioning, and Jane lives in fear of the increasingly torturous sessions.  She finds kindness in the new orderly, Mason, who is falling for Jane and vows that he will protect her.  But how much can she trust him?  Who is the killer, and who will be the next victim? 

 

The author brings us the true horrors of asylum life in the 19^th century.  The prescribed treatments at Soothing Hills are a true reflection of what patients in asylums at that time were subjected to.  At times, there was nothing wrong with those patients.  They were falsely imprisoned, tortured and even lobotomized.  Unfortunately they did not have a glimpse of kindness, love and hope.  But that what books are for!    

 

The Requiem Red is a 19^th century tale of gothic horror and love.  I would say the prime target for this book is the young adult audience, but it will be enjoyable to others as well.  It is fast-paced with alternating POVs from both Jane and Jules, with a couple of other POVs thrown in sporadically.  Simply written and enjoyable, I predict that you will fly through this one in one sitting. 

 

I want to thank the publisher (Month9Books) for providing me with the ARC through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program for an honest review.

I have mixed feeling while reading the book. I felt confused, spooked, delighted and angry. What a journey!

 

Happy Release Day to

The Requiem Red by Brynn Chapman!

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Happy Book Birthday, Brynn!

 

 

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?

 

 

The Requiem Red by Brynn Chapman

Publication Date: April 5, 2016

Publisher: Month9Books

 

 

Google Play | BAM | Chapters | Indies | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | TBD | iBooks

 

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.

 

She also writes under the pseudonym R.R. Smythe.

 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest |Goodreads

 

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I received a copy of this book for my stop on the blog tour atDonnie Darko Girl.

The Violet Hour's synopsis caught my eye because I thought it sounded like a unique and mysterious read. I don't get into historical fiction a lot, but that aspect of the novel has much to do with what drew me into reading it.

I'm drawn to reading about characters who have lost a parent. I know that sounds macabre, but I've been through it myself and can relate. While The Violet Hour's main character, Allegra, lost her mom to suicide, I lost my mom to cancer. Throughout the novel, I always had this hope that maybe Allegra's mom wasn't really dead. Maybe it was all a mistake or some sort of twisted misunderstanding. I think my feelings about wishing my own mom was still alive bled into The Violet Hour. I really do.

Allegra is a bright, intelligent young woman, and for her time, well, she's ahead of it. It was incredibly brave of her to leave behind the comfort her father's wealth afforded her and go out into the world to live her own way. I couldn't have done it, and I admired that about her. Her father sounds like a horrible man, and it's no wonder she was determined to get away.

I definitely found Brighton interesting, and of course I wanted to know if everything the musicians whispered about him was true or not. I wouldn't say that Allegra and Brighton were victims of insta-love, but they were attracted to each other right away and I loved it! While Allegra was determined to try to spend as much time with him as possible, he was fighting his attraction to her. So they weren't instantly in a relationship, but one developed over time naturally.

The mood of the story was a bit spooky and mysterious, which I loved. Each layer of mysterious happenings was revealed at a good pace - not too fast, not too slow - and I was left wanting to find out more. I was right about The Violet Hour - this is a unique and well written story. The time period, right before the Civil War, made for an interesting setting.

The Violet Hour could very well make you want to grab as much historical fiction as you can if you aren't already a fan of the genre. Plus the spooky mood with hints of danger throughout makes for an engrossing read. I recommend The Violet Hour to anyone who can't resist finding out secrets and Allegra and Brighton are characters you're definitely going to want to get to know well.

At first I wasn't sure how Brynn would work the daughter of Sherlock and the son of John Watson, but I must say I was very pleasantly surprised. I have grown up fascinated by Sherlock Holmes and his stories, both in books and on screen, so I hoped that this would be wonderfully different but so familiar at the same time. I was not let down!

First of all, the story written very beautifully, and at such a great pace that it made me not want to put it down and it held my attention. So much so I finished it in one night.


I was concerned on how she would do the relationship between the two main characters, I did not want to have the romance get in the way of the story telling. Brynn did fabulously on keeping focus on the story with the romance on the side as well as how the characters had grown over the book and interacted with each other and others.

There was enough mystery that it had me guessing, though towards the middle of the book I had a feeling of who it might be. What is really nice is she gives you enough tidbits to make your conclusions, then gives you another to doubt yourself just enough. At least for me.

Really is a great read. I won this through GoodRead's First Reads.