Review: Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

Grace Mae is already familiar with madness when family secrets and the bulge in her belly send her to an insane asylum—but it is in the darkness that she finds a new lease on life. When a visiting doctor interested in criminal psychology recognizes Grace’s brilliant mind beneath her rage, he recruits her as his assistant. Continuing to operate under the cloak of madness at crime scenes allows her to gather clues from bystanders who believe her less than human. Now comfortable in an ethical asylum, Grace finds friends—and hope. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who will bring her shaky sanity and the demons in her past dangerously close to the surface.

Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery

Mindy McGinnis, the acclaimed author of Not a Drop to Drink and In a Handful of Dust, combines murder, madness, and mystery in a beautifully twisted gothic historical thriller perfect for fans of novels such as Asylum and The Diviners as well as television’s True Detective and American Horror Story.

Pages: 400

Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Brittany Pressley

Published By: Katherine Tegen Books

Genre: YA - Mystery, Historical Fiction

Cover Review:
I love this cover, it conveys so much about what this book is about.

Rating:
✮✮✮✮✮

Review:

When I first heard about Madness So Discreet, I had no desire to read this book - which I don't understand after rereading the synopsis of this book, this book is right up my alley of books that I would die to get my hands on - okay maybe not die, but you get the idea. I finally decided to give Madness So Discreet a chance because I heard about This Darkness Mind which I am unable to read at the time - and I am so glad that I did. This book is everything I could have wanted, and more.

This book was exciting, suspenseful, and mysterious about a girl who goes from a privileged life to working with an asylum doctor to solve crimes. The story was brought to life with Mindy McGinnis' writing style and her intriguing characters. Grace, who has endured the worst from her family, gets sent to an asylum, where she is rescued by Dr. Thornhollow, who is so incredibly socially awkward, I couldn't help but love him. Grace, herself, is such a complex character, and it's interesting to see how her character grows and changes as the story progresses.

I'm the kind of person who loves, even if it's a tiny little spark, romance in every novel I want to read. I love romance, and even though I must admit, I wish Grace and Thornhollow had something grow between them, I do love that there isn't. I feel like it would have detracted from the relationship you do see grow between Grace and Thornhollow throughout the novel. I loved how Grace and Thornhollow clicked on a different level (although I would have been happy if it had developed maybe near the end).

Another great thing about this novel is that you get to see more than just the relationship between Grace and Thornhollow, you get to see her relationship with some of the other women in the asylum like Elizabeth and Nell, and you see how these two women become more than just friends with Grace, they become family, something she really hasn't experienced in her life. I also want to mention Adelaide, who I absolutely loved with her quick loyalty to Grace, even against her own brother, Thornhollow; and her personality. I wish that she had been more part of the story than the amount of time that she had actually been in the novel.

This is definitely one of my favorite reads because it's not your normal novel about a girl who suffers and has the happily ever after, it's much more darker than that. I would highly recommend this novel if you are a fan of the Asylum series by Madeleine Roux or if you are a fan of the tv show Criminal Minds, because throughout the novel, I was reminded of this show with some of the things Thornhollow does and says. I look forward to reading more by Mindy McGinnis and hopefully more books like this one.