Review of Secrets of Edenfield
Posted: 20 Jul 2022, 18:18
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Secrets of Edenfield" by Loni Hoots.]
Secrets of Edenfield is a dramatic fiction book by Toni Hoots. The story takes place in Edenfield, now a dismissed mental institution. Terrible things happened to the patients behind closed doors. The question is: would you dare to peek?
The structure of the book it's quite complex. It starts as a coral novel, in which each chapter is told, as if it were an independent short story, from the point of view of numerous patients at the Edenfield Institute. I enjoyed the way every character introduced the following narrator at the end of the chapter. The first part is set in the early sixties when Edenfield was still operational. Then, there is an abrupt interruption and a time jump 40 years into the future. In this second part take place the inquiry and the trial about the atrocities committed in the asylum. This was my favourite bit of the book. Probably it was determined by the nature of the first part, but I think the second one was more coherent and maintained a better flow, overall.
I enjoyed the characters, especially the patients. I appreciated the variety the author provided in this regard: everyone had a completely different reason for which they were hospitalized; e.g., Charlee was a homosexual girl, and the Tupper Twins were just born different. Are these sufficient reasons to be locked up permanently and subjected to torture? Edenfield's executives undoubtedly thought so.
I detected some flaws in this book. The first thing that comes to mind is the opening lines: it's not an error, but I found them to not be gripping enough. Moreover, I could spot way too many repetitive sentences, and the editing definitely could be improved.
I liked the topic of this novel, and I genuinely appreciated how the book was developed: it's clear it was well thought out. Unfortunately, the number of errors I encountered prevents me from giving it a perfect score, according to the Guidelines. I would suggest going through another round of editing since the material is quite good. At the time being, my rating for this novel is 3 out of 4 stars. There are some other features mentioned above that I didn't like very much, but I don't think they would justify the deduction of another star.
I recommend this book to those interested in the history of psychiatric hospitals. At the same time, though, I have to add a trigger warning for those readers who are particularly sensitive to domestic violence and abuse issues.
******
Secrets of Edenfield
View: on Bookshelves
Secrets of Edenfield is a dramatic fiction book by Toni Hoots. The story takes place in Edenfield, now a dismissed mental institution. Terrible things happened to the patients behind closed doors. The question is: would you dare to peek?
The structure of the book it's quite complex. It starts as a coral novel, in which each chapter is told, as if it were an independent short story, from the point of view of numerous patients at the Edenfield Institute. I enjoyed the way every character introduced the following narrator at the end of the chapter. The first part is set in the early sixties when Edenfield was still operational. Then, there is an abrupt interruption and a time jump 40 years into the future. In this second part take place the inquiry and the trial about the atrocities committed in the asylum. This was my favourite bit of the book. Probably it was determined by the nature of the first part, but I think the second one was more coherent and maintained a better flow, overall.
I enjoyed the characters, especially the patients. I appreciated the variety the author provided in this regard: everyone had a completely different reason for which they were hospitalized; e.g., Charlee was a homosexual girl, and the Tupper Twins were just born different. Are these sufficient reasons to be locked up permanently and subjected to torture? Edenfield's executives undoubtedly thought so.
I detected some flaws in this book. The first thing that comes to mind is the opening lines: it's not an error, but I found them to not be gripping enough. Moreover, I could spot way too many repetitive sentences, and the editing definitely could be improved.
I liked the topic of this novel, and I genuinely appreciated how the book was developed: it's clear it was well thought out. Unfortunately, the number of errors I encountered prevents me from giving it a perfect score, according to the Guidelines. I would suggest going through another round of editing since the material is quite good. At the time being, my rating for this novel is 3 out of 4 stars. There are some other features mentioned above that I didn't like very much, but I don't think they would justify the deduction of another star.
I recommend this book to those interested in the history of psychiatric hospitals. At the same time, though, I have to add a trigger warning for those readers who are particularly sensitive to domestic violence and abuse issues.
******
Secrets of Edenfield
View: on Bookshelves