Crazy House

3.5*

Life in a cell. Fifteen radiological miles of farmland, and a set of twin sisters. It’s own small world where balance is everything. Cassie and Becca are polar opposite twins; careful Cassie and radical Rebecca. Making the best of life in their community, with a father in the hospital after an attempted suicide, and mom gone never to return after a mind alteration. It’s the simple life. School and farm, farm and school. Until the Day Becca steals her sister's truck and goes missing. Cassie tries to cover at first, but once she is convinced her sister has been taken, there is nothing to stop Cassie from finding Becca.

Becca wakes up in a prison known as Crazy House. She has no idea how she got there, what is going on, or how to show more stay alive. That’s right. This prison will beat the crap out of you, and make you happy for death. The prison is full of nothing but children/teens, and anyone can be put to death at any time. The big questions, what do you wish for more; A horrific fight where you are sure to limp away, or a quick and easy death?

As usual Patterson writes a quick story with short chapters. They alternate between various characters, mostly Cassie and Becca. The tagline of the cover says the next Hunger Games, and while I see a little Hunger Games, I see other stories more. It is a derivative novel. It wants to be a mash up of The Maze Runner and Divergent. It does work, but it has been done better. However, as a long time fan of the Maximum Ride series, I do know that sometimes, for Patterson, the first book in the series is not the best. Divergent had an excellent first book, and the rest of the series sucked. The Maze Runner was tedious, but interesting, but not engaging enough to make me finish the series. I lived and breathed the Hunger Games. While I will not live and breath Crazy House, I am intrigued enough to want to read the sequel. But I’m not begging for it right now.

Patterson and Charbonnet have done a good job in the first book, of filling in the what. It has only covered about half of the who, and there is no why in site. I want to know the why. Like the Maze Runner, I don’t have a kinship with the characters, I find them one dimensional and expected. However, unlike the Maze Runner, I want to know the why. Why was this done? Why these divisions? Why these girls? I won't lie. The story is somewhat predictable. However, predictable or not I want to know why. show less

I know a lot of people tend to have a love/hate relationship with James Patterson and I personally have been a huge fan of his for years. In fact, I would exclusively only read his books for the longest time. These past few years I have branched out to other authors and other genres and found myself really intrigued by the other works out there. But, I cannot deny that some of James Patterson's books are just great storytelling and I can't deny that it may have largely to do with his co-authors on such books as this one.

Crazy House sounds like it takes place in a mental hospital or maybe that broken down old house in your neighborhood that is run by drug dealers or gang bangers. You know the one I'm talking about? No? Just me then. show more Ok.

This book is actually a dystopian thriller set in the future where the country is split into cells of civilization. Each cell has its own purpose, like mining or agriculture. In this sense, it reminds me of Hunger Games. Twins Becca and Cassie live in an Ag cell and live on a failing farm. When Becca goes missing "Careful Cassie" as she's called must break the rules in order to find her sister, who is known as "Ridiculous Rebecca" or the "bad twin". This book had multiple twists and turns and there was always something crazy about to happen. All I know is this is a great read for anyone of any age and you should definitely pick it up before the next installment (which I hope is coming) comes out. show less

Quite an enjoyable book, definitely a different fare to James Patterson's normal work.

The book starts off in the deep end, much like an episode of Black Mirror, giving you no idea what's going on and as the pages pass you establish it's some type of futuristic dystopian society.

Overall the story is good, however it honestly felt like half a book when you reached the end. What's here is a great lead up to a story, yet the story never materialises, it's the groundwork for a sequel or series, yet nothing as of now indicates more books are coming. So that's disappointing.

So it's alright, but would be better if the story continued on to a destination.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I requested Crazy House because I've always wanted to read a James Patterson book and I quite enjoy novels with a dystopian setting. The premise is simple: Becca Greenfield is thrown into prison known as the Crazy House where she's told that she's on death row. In the meantime her twin, Cassie, is trying to find her. A fight for survival begins.

The writing is nothing spectacular, in fact I found it quite juvenile in places, but the world building is intriguing and the story is fast paced and I ended up reading it in one sitting. The novel comes with a few decent twists and turns and kept me guessing until the end. The characters are well developed and show more believable teenagers.

Recommended for fans of dystopian YA, but do not expect anything groundbreaking or special. show less

I haven't read any other books by Patterson but I was aware that he is well known and quite prolific. The book starts with the disappearance of Becca Greenfield from her small town. She isn't the first kid to suddenly disappear and none have ever come back after vanishing. Becca's sister frantically starts hunting for her but the odds are stacked against her. Becca is under arrest and being held in the Crazy House, a secret place where no one gets out alive.

After two chapters I quickly realised that this was aimed at the YA audience, especially those with an interest in dystopian novels. Although this isn't the kind of book I would normally go for I decided to stick with it and see where it went. I think the best way I can sum up my show more feelings about this book is, meh! I didn't particularly like any of the characters but they were ok. The plot is pretty interesting but isn't properly explored. There are twists and turns but they are largely telegraphed and so become fairly obvious.

It was a little disappointing to find out that Patterson is basically a book conveyor belt these days who values quantity over all else. It was ok but I won't be rushing to read the next book any time soon. show less

James Patterson finally makes it to dystopian YA. It's okay, but I've read better. A quick read that could have much more world building early on, you are just tossed into the plot and only at the very end do you get any sort of big picture.

This novel reminded me a lot of The Hunger Games. Dystopian YA novel, with agriculture cell, mining cell, metal cell, etc. None of the cells are aware of the others. Suddenly, young people are disappearing. When Becca disappears, her twin, Cassie, starts searches for her, and uncovers a horrifying reality at the Crazy House.