A gushing review of My Daylight Monsters

My Daylight Monsters
(Mary Hades #0.5)

By Sarah Dalton

Synopsis:

I always thought my demons came out in the day, rather than at night. I've never been scared of the dark. I've only ever been scared of real things: getting ill, having injections, physical pain...death. Those are my monsters, not ghosts or vampires or whatever else can hide under your bed at night.

I was wrong.

The dark makes everything worse.

When Mary's psychiatrist advises a short stay at a psychiatric unit, her worst nightmares are confirmed. How can she get better in a place that fills her with dread? When she meets the other patients, she begins to gather some hope, until she realises that the death toll in the hospital is rising without explanation. Something sinister stalks the corridors and maybe she is the only one who can stop it...

Mary has to confront the Things that she sees if they are to stand a chance. But will she survive a confrontation with death itself?

Source: Goodreads

My rating: 5/5

My Thoughts:

**I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

This was a fantastic read; one of my favourite books this year! Although we're only in February so that doesn't really say much...but I can't stop gushing about this. Loved it!

Mary sees things: monsters, hallucinations, ghosts, visions, call them what you want but Mary sees them when no one else can. These 'visions' appear like warnings, usually just before she's in danger but when she tries to explain the skull-man or the 'invisible' writing on the wall, she's considered crazy.

Oddly enough, one of my friends was asking me about mental disorders the other day. She read an article about how some mental illnesses are more commonly known than others. My Daylight Monsters explores a variety of mental illnesses suffered by teenagers in a rehabilitation centre; from depression, anorexia and drug addiction to unexplainable mental breakdowns. Everyone committed has a story, and as the book progresses we learn about the other patients as well as Mary's personal dilemmas.

I might be morbid but I loved the mystery and thrill that accompanied this tale. The unusually frequent deaths, Mary's weird spirit-friend Johnny and the bad vibes of the psychiatric ward gave me the shivers. When Mo was telling his ghost story I was unintentionally biting my finger. I expect to have several sleepless nights, freaking out in the darkness but this story was completely worth it!

I am told that I am over-generous with my review ratings but this time I really can't help it - this was my idea of a five-star read. I'm sure there are countless similar books that have even better storylines but I adored the way it was written, how real the characters felt and the spine tingling feeling I got during the final few chapters. Most highly recommended!

Zed (:

Favourite Quotes:

Mum puts a hand on my shoulder. "You won't be in for long. Just until you're better, I promise."

"What's better?" I mumble, "How will I know?" Will someone tell me?"You'll know, sweetheart. You'll know."

Group therapy. It must be one of the most depressing, frustrating, pointless, soul-destroyingly awful things I've ever done in my entire life.

There's something about 2am that drops a veil between reality and fantasy. I hear people talk about veils between worlds, but I think there are veils in the mind. When you're stressed, tired or ill, those veils flutter away and for a moment you forget what's real and what isn't.

We agree to meet in our room at exactly midnight. I love it, because midnight is such a magical time. It's zero. It's the beginning of things. I once said that to someone at school and she said I was a bit mental. Maybe I am.

"Then tell me."

I sit up and face her. "You'll think I'm crazy."
She gives me an overdramatic shrug. "We're in a psychiatric ward, Mary. I already think you're bloody mental..."

That's the thing about hospitals, what I've always hated. We give up control of our life and hand it over to someone else. Most of the time it's a good thing. We need these people and their expertise. But what if they don't want to make us better? What then?