The premise of the book is great and the author really delivers. Great read. Highly recommended. .

Ok… what did I just read...
The relationship between the psychiatrist and young girl is disturbing as f*ck and extremely inappropriate but unfortunately, you see alarming relationships like this quite often than normal but again Cara isn’t even legal?? And hello PEDOPHILE.
Something that it totally not realistic… a 20 yr old being a psychiatrist??? HOW.
I get it this is a work of fiction but c’mon…
The romantic relationship in this book between Cara and Alec was a complete mess and uncalled for. I could’ve been just fine without this messy relationship.
And then the ending, like this book wasn’t already chaotic AF, it just ends abruptly.
Thankfully, this book was short and definitely didn’t take up much of my time.

Overall, this book was unrealistic, doesn’t shed enough light on mental health, unsuitable, and upsetting.

Alec Wayland, a young doctor training to be a psychiatrist takes on Carmen Brown, a misfit young girl of 16 under his wing, who has clearly suffered trauma from within a dysfunctional relationship with her impoverished family.
The setting is a provincial mental hospital. Cara, as she prefers to be called, takes a yen to her carer, sleeping in his quarters and being cooperative only with him. She soon realised that her mentor himself has a troubled past, with the scars to prove it. However, the young doctor is warned not to get too close to Cara, not to breach professional boundaries.
So this is about a therapeutic relationship for both parties, as each learns to be close again, transcending even the doctor/patient contract. Cara is described as being as youthful as her sixteen years should imply, yet also possessing the wisdom of a woman who has maybe lived many times. Shades of Jung's anima.......
It is not clear whether the love between these two is consummated, this possibly exists in either one or the other's imagination.
There is a purity of intent on the part of the writer, but the lack of realism to the general context in which the story takes place, does raise questions. The main character from whom we see these events would surely have been prosecuted for abusing a minor in reality, and would have had much more than a warning for betraying the evident emotional involvement he has for Cara.
These factors do detract from the enjoyment of the story and is a fairly glaring weakness in my opinion, which is a shame, as otherwise the reality of these two damaged individuals is depicted in in satisfyingly gritty terms. There is no fairy-tale ending but ending brings its own closure.

Carla is dropped off at the asylum against her will. The man who leaves her in the lobby says to the receptionist “take care of her.” When Alex (an attendant) calms Cara down, she refuses to answer any questions. As time passes, Cara gets to know Alex and asks him questions that disturbed him. Alex relives past events that he thought he had resolved and not bother him any more. Cara is upsetting the asylum (due to all the anger that is inside her) by venting her anger to everyone. Cara doesn’t want to follow orders given to put her on the path to healing. Will Cara get well? What does Alex think about Cara?

An engaging read that shows how a patient might react to being in an asylum. It also gives a glimpse of how attendants think and work with patients. I felt Cara’s anger and inability to explain why she was so angry. The author gives a “gentle” look at an asylum. It is a well written novel.

Cara is a troubled young girl who is left at Calm Springs by her father. She is then in the care of Alex, a caring intern only a few years older than she is. Alex fights his feelings of attraction to Cara and strives to provide psychological analysis to help her. She doesn’t make it easy and brings his own deeply buried trauma to the surface, forcing him to come to terms, with not only Cara’s problems, but his own.

Elsa Harrow’s novel is about two damaged people meeting as doctor and patient and gives an insight into the world in an mental health institution.

This is quite fast-paced, and the chemistry between Cara and Alex is well written, but it is a little unbelievable for such an unprofessional relationship to develop in such an environment. However, it’s still an enjoyable read.



I would like to thank the Author/the Publishers/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

Thank you NetGalley, the publishers and the author of this book for allowing me the chance to read this book in return for an honest review.

I’m delighted to say that I adored this book.

Alec and Cara were two characters I found to be perfectly written, we learn a lot about them and their past and also how they help and compliment each other;

Cara is stubborn but has had a life that led her to where Alec works, and Alec is curious and determined to learn more about Cara and figure her out, but along the way they both help each other out without realising.

The only downside I can think of is the ending, I found it to end too abruptly and wished there was more to it, like what happens next in their lives? Do they find a way to stay together or do they move on after everything?

Thank you to NetGalley, GoodReads, Black Rose Writing and the Author, for this book in exchange for my honest review! This was a quick read, but too unrealistic for my taste.

Cara is a disturbed, 16-year-old that is dropped off at a mental institution by her father. She immediately bonds to Alec—a 20-year-old employee—and refuses to communicate with anyone else. Alec is also attending school to be a psychiatrist. Cara is so distraught and combative the first night, that Alec takes her to his room to spend the night and promises to take care of her and never leave her.....really???? I know this is a work of fiction, but there was no way I could let my imagination stretch that far!

Cara and Alec were realistically flawed and likable characters, but the fact that she was allowed to sleep in his room—in his bed—was so unrealistic that it was laughable. I’m not sure where the book takes place, so maybe this is acceptable in whatever country it is 🤪.

Anyway, in order for Cara to open up to Alec, she insists he opens up to her as well. Alec is attracted to Cara, but continues to treat her—another big NO-NO—and struggles as his own unresolved issues are brought to the surface.

First there was the total inappropriateness of their relationship—then it finished with an abrupt ending. On the plus side, it’s a short book. This was a hard book to read and review. Because I’ve worked in a mental health facility, I know how unrealistic the entire situation is and don’t recommend.
#CarasAsylum #NetGalley

2.5 stars

Cara’s Asylum by Elsa Harrow is the story of a young girl sent to a mental institution.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Black Rose Writing, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Synopsis:
Carmen Brown (Cara) is 16, when she is dropped off at Calm Springs by her father. She is about to turn things upside down in this facility where mostly elderly patients live out their lives, medicated as needed. Cara has had a rough up-bringing, learning about sex at an age where she should have been out playing, instead of helping her mother make ends meet anyway she could. Cara has learned to speak her mind. She doesn’t sugar-coat anything, and expects the same from others.

Alec is an intern, a few years older than Cara, studying to be a psychiatrist. He is the first to greet her upon her arrival at the Institute, and immediately gets attached to this very vulnerable girl. He pleads to be her caregiver, because he desperately wants to help her.

Almost from the beginning, there is an emotional and physical connection between Cara and Alec, which he fights to keep control of. As well, her insistence on honesty at all times, and her unending questions, leads Alec down a path he didn’t want to visit. He may have to deal with his own past if he has any hope of helping Cara.

My Opinions:
The premise of this book was good, very good. Unfortunately, it fell flat. It lacked depth, was just unrealistic, and a tad creepy.

My Rant - I am not a romance reader, and there should not have been romance in this book anyway. This is about a young girl sent to a mental institution (whether she should be there or not). The thought of such intimacy between a Caregiver and his young patient is atrocious. It doesn’t matter that they didn’t sleep together, the whole idea of their closeness, hugs, hand-holding, caresses, makes a mockery of a true Mental Institution. It would simply not be allowed to happen, and yes, it’s fiction, but fiction should at least have a ring of truth to it. Do you really think a 16-year old patient would be allowed to sleep in the bed of her caregiver? This just made me angry. Alec should have been fired, and the Institution held accountable.

That whole angle of their close relationship just took away from what could have been a very good book. Both Cara and Alec had issues to work through, there was no reason to put them in a romantic relationship. Okay, enough said, I’m calm.

Moving on. The book ended rather abruptly, almost like the author had a limited amount of time or words, and she’d hit her limit, or because the relationship between Cara and Alec ended, it was time to end the book?

However, if you take away the relationship issues that I had between the two main characters, the premise is good. Two people helping each other. I also thought the writing was very good for a debut novel, as well as the dialog. So overall, I have given stars based on those things.

Needless, to say, this book was not for me. I am sure others will like it, it just wasn’t me.

I enjoyed this book and think that the vision that the author was going for is something unique. It is something that I would like to see continued into a second book as this one e dedicated on a cliff hanger.

The dynamic between the characters and the twisted past of Alec was something that I enjoyed diving into

One of the things that I did not like was that the book switched points of view so quickly on a page with no indication that it was changing.

He is a therapist or therapist wanna-be and he is 20 or twenty something and he is having feelings for this sexually abused 14 year old? Just gave me the creeps. I had to DNF.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this title.

To me Cara and Alec has some kind of forbidden relationship. He is her doctor who broke loads of rules. She is a 16 year old mental patient . The story never really ends. It just tells about the two of them talking , having strong feelings for each other. Writer needs to write rest of story.

What the f*ck. I usually reserve 1/5 for books that I did not finish (happens rarely) but this one really takes the biscuit. I'm honestly angry that I wasted so much time on it waiting for an ending that didn't come.

I feel like I can't even give a quick synopsis because nothing happened. There was no peak, just a girl (Cara) dropped off in a mental asylum by her father where she falls in love instantly with a doctor (Alec) training to be a psychiatrist who loves her instantly in return but is troubled himself. That is genuinely all there is to the story.

This is probably the most infuriating, most cringe inducing novel I have ever laid eyes on. The premise of the plot had the potential to play a relevant mental health awareness roll in the publishing industry, instead it completely glamourises mental illness, whilst unsubtly sprinkling undertones of peadophilia throughout the story, condemning it yet describing the female protagonist as;

"She was an adult in a very young body and innocence still graced her stunning features."

Ummmm NO. She's a child. And you can't denounce pedophilia yet dress it up as something endearing at the same time.

The starting chapter is Cara being left in the asylum by her father, no paper work filled out, no other information given, and Cara being "closely" carried by Alec to his room to sleep in his bed. You don't just carry a neurotic patient you have just met to your bedroom to sleep in your bed whilst you sleep on a chair watching. The story does not reflect reality at all. The "love story" feels so utterly misplaced to the point where I was uncomfortable reading this.

To sum up:
- Peadophilia used as a shock factor, yet described appealingly (see quote above)
- Cara and Dr Alec's relationship is completely inappropriate, glamourising it is the wrong thing to do to a YA audience
- Aggravates the mental health stigma
- Lack of peak and/or ending
- Romance completely out of place.

This is the most scathing review I have ever written, and it feels like a cleansing of the soul after reading that garbage. I would give this book a zero if I could.

Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m really not sure what I’ve read. A girl, handed over to an asylum in the middle of the night and a member of staff - who just seems to break all the rules there could possibly be and no one says a word?? What??!

The writing was ok - not too bad actually and the storyline was almost there but I really though there’d be. twist of some kind there to make the book but no, nothing and then it just ends? I don’t get it. There’s a whole lot of storyline missing to this one and it was a real disappointment.