Summary: Seventeen year-old Daphne Janus is devastated when she wakes up after her parents save her life. When, six months later, her parents agree to let her accompany her best friend to a getaway resort on an island off the coast of California, she thinks she'll finally have her chance to try again. She doesn't know her parents have sent her to the Purgatorium as a last-ditch effort to save their child.
Her best friend and life-long neighbor takes her to a mostly uninhabited island with a wildlife preserve on one side and Chumash Indian ruins on the “haunted” side. The resort might be beautiful, the beach pristine, and the views from the headland amazing, but strange things begin to happen that soon have Daphne running for her life. At first she finds the therapeutic games thrilling: the ghosts that visit her room, the dropping elevator, and the kayak incident are actually kind of fun once she recovers from them. But when her horse bucks her off during a trail ride and she becomes lost on the haunted side of the island, it’s not fun anymore, and she wonders if her parents have sent her there to help her or to punish her.
Title: The Purgatorium
Author: Eva PohlerPages: 213
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Review: I received this book (beta) free from the author in exchange for an honest review.
This was a crazy book and I'm not really sure what to think about it. It was a good story and well written but it was also very strange. I found it to be very unethical, not the book but elements of the story. Think Shutter Island but more intense. It is a thriller mystery and leaves the reader guessing until the very end. At the end you are let in on the big secret. The Purgatorium does deal with some dark topics but it puts them in a different perspective.
I feel awful for Daphne for the hand that she was dealt. I can't even begin to fathom what she had been going through. I kind of feel like her family and friends did betray her but only because they felt like it was the best option that they had. But if I was in her shoes I would have been pissed. I feel like she forgave everyone too soon, I think it should have been a bit longer. Regardless I do want to continue this series and I would also love to hear the other characters stories and experiences. I have a lot of questions about the other "patients", is everyone there for the same reasons? What are there stories? How did they all get there?
Yes, I will be reading more books in this series and by Eva Pohler in general. So for those readers who enjoy mysteries and thrillers jump on this one. Also any fans of Shutter Island, you will love The Purgatorium.
About this author
I write fiction for teens and adults and teach writing and literature at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where I live with my husband, three kids, two dogs, and two rats (Katniss and Prim, of course). I'm also an avid reader and book reviewer. I've always said I never want to give up reading for writing or vice versa. I want to do both. My favorite authors are Tracy Chevalier, Ann Patchett, Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, Rick Riordan, and Stephanie Meyer. I have too many to name, but those are a handful of them. When I'm not spending time with the family, working, reading, or writing, I can be found watching The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, The Middle, and NCIS.
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