(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Toby's life was perfectly normal... until it was unravelled by something as simple as a blood test.
Taken from his family, Toby now lives in the Death House: an out-of-time existence far from the modern world, where he, and the others who live there, are studied by Matron and her team of nurses. They're looking for any sign of sickness. Any sign of their wards changing. Any sign that it's time to take them to the sanatorium.
No one returns from the sanatorium.
Withdrawn from his house-mates and living in his memories of the past, Toby spends his days fighting his fear. But then a new arrival in the house shatters the fragile peace, and everything changes.
Because everybody dies. It's how you choose to live that counts.

*3.5 stars*

Something very unusual happened to me with this book. I was really eager to get into a YA book that didn't revolve around kissing or fights-to-the-death...and what I got was one of the most disappointing novels...

BUT I LOVED IT!!!

I mean, really, the characters (in particular, the children) behaved as I expected and were almost to the point of cliché. The hospital staff were barely visible throughout - we kinda knew they were there but didn't get any sort of character-description for them.

Nothing really happens until the last 20% of the book - until then, we get the stories of the kids and all the interactions - some good, some not - but then, oh then! - the finale happens and I wonder what in the blue hell has just happened. It made me feel sad and angry, but also broke my heart just a little. It was a finish like I hadn't read in a while.

Why the rest of the book couldn't have been that way I couldn't say. It was just a bit bland and not really up to what I expected. But that ending...worth the price of admission, for sure!


Paul
ARH

Young adult thriller from an author new to me. I enjoyed this book. It was an easy read, although a dark subject