The Girl in the Castle

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What a great read. I was so engrossed in the stories of Hannah Doh / Hannah Dory, and psych student intern Jordan Hassan, that I didn’t do my usually analysing of the plot, trying to divulge what, who , why, where, how….

Hannah Dory lives in a small village during the Middle Ages. With her family and community starving, she's about to do something extraordinarily stupid.... But he has a little time because at each second Hannah is drawn into the castle and her connection with this time line slowly fades away. He can lose her to her beloved castle forever!Psych student Jordan Hassan's internship at Belman coincides with Hannah's latest admittance. Immediately learning about Hannah's case, he instantantly becomes intrigued. Wanting to learn more about her, Jordan forms a friendship of sorts earning Hannah's trust. Despite being unsure about what to believe about her 'other' life, Jordan is certain about this: To find out the truth about Hannah so she can come to terms with the past that troubles her so.... Going into this the premise of the book reminded me a lot of Labyrinth by Kate Mosse. A female character from the past being brought to the future and living two lives in each. This was done tremendously well in Labyrinth, but in contrast this was done absolutely terribly in this book. The Girl in the Castle by James Patterson and Emily Raymond is a Young Adult Novel about a young adult named Hannah Doe who time travels between the present day and 1347. Hannah is brought into Belman Psych after what police thought was an episode in New York City and is told she is schizophrenic. Is she really though? NOW: Hannah knows the truth: she is Hannah Doe and Hannah Dory, and she must return to the past before it's too late to save her sister. Can Jordan, the Abnormal-Psych student who seems to truly care, be the one to finally help her? Well: this book great mash up of different genres including fantasy- psychological thriller- young adult romance.

I have never read a James Patterson novel until now. But since it was gifted to me, I tried it out. The synopsis is intriguing. I’m feeling torn on how to rate this book. I went in expecting a fantasy/sci-fi (the concept is Hannah is a girl in a modern psychiatric institution for teenagers, who is living a second life as a peasant in the 1300s) and it turned out to be quite different. Many thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Books for Young Readers for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts. The things she’s talking about her past time line are so detailed, consisted and vivid. It’s so real! Could she time travel? Could she tell the truth from the beginning? She only needs someone to believe in her. Book Genre: Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Science Fiction, Thriller, Time Travel, Young AdultNOW: Hannah knows the truth: she is Hannah Doe and Hannah Dory, and she must return to the past before it’s too late to save her sister. Can Jordan, the Abnormal-Psych student who seems to truly care, be the one to finally help her? When an intern named Jordan starts to work at Belman Psych, he is drawn to Hannah. He is just starting out and wants to follow the advice of his colleagues, but something about Hannah makes him want to figure her out. Jordan begins to pay close attention to Hannah and notices that she seems like a sane individual but does have outbursts or episodes. He begins to ask her more about what is going on which is refreshing for Hannah. Is Jordan going to be the one to actually believe her and help her save her family? While the story was engaging up until the ending, I felt like the ending was missing depth. It seemed to be rushed and not a lot of conclusive answers were given. It was disappointing for me because of how much the novel seemed to be building up to a big ending.

Hannah Dory and her village are starving to death in a brutal winter. Hannah seeks out food and salvation in the baron’s castle. If she is caught stealing, she will surely hang. Thank you, NetGalley and LittleBrown Books for Young Readers, for the digital format of an Advanced Readers Copy of The Girl in the Castle by James Patterson and Emily Raymond. I was delighted to be selected to review this book before it's publication. I’m adding extra half star because of brilliant unfolding of mystery and meaningful ending and rounding up my 4.5 star to 5 great mystery, great approach to mental health issues stars!

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This raises a lot of questions. Which reality is the real one? How do the two realities relate? How will Hannah get through this? Well, by the end, there's not a lot of certain answers.