Review: Dark Eden by Patrick Carmen

Dark Eden

By: Patrick Carmen

Pub. Date: November 1, 2011

Publisher: Harper Teen

Pages: 336

Source: Netgalley

Fifteen-year-old Will Besting is sent by his doctor to Fort Eden, an institution meant to help patients suffering from crippling phobias. Once there, Will and six other teenagers take turns in mysterious fear chambers and confront their worst nightmares—with the help of the group facilitator, Rainsford, an enigmatic guide. When the patients emerge from the chamber, they feel emboldened by the previous night's experiences. But each person soon discovers strange, unexplained aches and pains. . . . What is really happening to the seven teens trapped in this dark Eden?

Patrick Carman's Dark Eden is a provocative exploration of fear, betrayal, memory, and— ultimately—immortality.

Dark Eden is a very quick and suspenseful read. I actually spent most of the book confused. I think that was because I was expecting a little bit of a different story. But by the end I was completely engrossed in this story. It was creepy and the ending was very surprising. I was not expecting that ending at all!

The story is told in Will POV. He goes to this institution to help cure is fear, but is to afraid to actually walk into the doors, so he hides and waits for the week to be over so he could go home. While hiding in a basement, he finds TV monitors and he is able to see everyone else get "healed" from their fears. It seems to good to be true and Will is trying to get to the bottom of it before it is too late.

All of the secondary characters were interesting too. They each have their own phobias and it was interesting to see what caused each person to become afraid. Rainsford, the mysterious DR curing everyone was especially interesting and I could not wait to find out what his deal was.

Overall, Dark Eden was an interesting read. I read it in a few hours time and the ending was just crazy!