Type of read: Commuter Read.

What made me pick it up: I was scouring Spotify for an audiobook that I would be able to finish before I ran out of reading hours.

Overall rating: I have mixed feelings about 'The Asylum Confessions.' To start, it's absolutely not written as a bingeable read. The end of each chapter is the exact same, 'if you figured out who I am, you probably know where I'm drinking, come find me for more stories.' I know the premise of the book is that they are going through and talking with different patients and getting their stories, but the way that it's being presented is just horrible. What was a feeble attempt at conversational comes across as segmented, choppy, and repetitive. I'm not sure if these were all originally written as short stories and then put together into a larger publication, but I wish that there was some editing to make it all flow a lot better. The chapters don't have to be connected, but for pete's sake, don't write the same thing four times and expect it to keep my attention.

On top of all that, these are some of the most boring serial killers I've ever met in my life. Some of their stories had a few cringe moments, and there are definitely parts that make you think and react, but overall, 'The Asylum Confessions' is a try-hard that needed to try just a bit harder. I also hate it when the authors tell me how I'm supposed to feel (ex., books saying something is hard to read, or something would make me cringe, or anything along those lines) and don't just write it in a way that MAKES me feel like that. So maybe I'm not really mixed on my feelings...I'm disappointed with 'The Asylum Confessions' because I feel like it had such potential but it was just absolutely squandered. I wanted to like this one so badly!

Reader's Note:  'The Asylum Confessions' includes themes of cannibalism, medical content, BDSM, death, murder, rape, physical assault, sexual assault, pregnancy, stillbirth, child loss, and religious trauma.