The Dollhouse Asylum by Mary Gray

The Dollhouse Asylum
by Mary Gray
Released |October 22nd 2013 by Spencer Hill Press|
Edition |Physical ARC|
Source |Publisher|
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A virus that had once been contained has returned, and soon no place will be left untouched by its destruction. But when Cheyenne wakes up in Elysian Fields--a subdivision cut off from the world and its monster-creating virus--she is thrilled to have a chance at survival.
At first, Elysian Fields,with its beautiful houses and manicured lawns, is perfect. Teo Richardson, the older man who stole Cheyenne's heart, built it so they could be together. But when Teo tells Cheyenne there are tests that she and seven other couples must pass to be worthy of salvation, Cheyenne begins to question the perfection of his world.
The people they were before are gone. Cheyenne is now "Persephone," and each couple has been re-named to reflect the most tragic romances ever told. Everyone is fighting to pass the test, to remain in Elysian Fields. Teo dresses them up, tells them when to move and how to act, and in order to pass the test, they must play along.
If they play it right, then they'll be safe.
But if they play it wrong, they'll die.

The Dollhouse Asylum was a very different read for me. It was weird, but intriguing all at the same time. Throughout the book I had very mixed feelings on it and just didn't know what to expect next. That was a good thing and a bad thing. I was confused at times, but I also kind of liked that unexpected feeling. It took me a while to get into the story. The characters weren't really the kind that I liked and I hated Teo from the very beginning. He was extremely weird and vague and he always spoke in riddles. And Cheyenne was very weak minded in the beginning and it became a bit of an annoyance. But as the book progress, she slowly started to come to terms with a few things and I started to like her a little bit by the end of the book.


The characters of this book were different in their own way. I really liked how each couple represented a different tragic couple in history. I found that very interesting and I think it is what kept me intrigued with the story. I think the use of it was awesome on the author's part :) Teo, who was Cheyenne's teacher back at school was a very unlikable character. As I've stated before, he was just overall WEIRD and very sadistic. But I do think in his own twisted mind that he loved Cheyenne. And when I say he had a twisted mind, he really did! Cheyenne was so annoying in the beginning. I really couldn't stand hearing her gush about Teo because I found nothing attracted about him from the get go, but by the end of the book I thought she grew as a character. Marc was pretty interesting being Teo's brother and all. They were opposite of each other and he was the more likable of the two.

I think the main problem I had with this book was that I couldn't find that connection to the characters that I look for in a book. The story itself was pretty interesting, but I couldn't connect with the characters as a whole. I also couldn't get into the story in the beginning for whatever reason, but by the end of the book I thought it was pretty good. This was a very interesting read and I was so glad to give it a try. I would like to thank Spencer Hill Press for providing me with an ARC for review.