Madness by Paityn Parque

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For 15 years old, Madness is an impressive first older young adult novel that has fantasy, paranormal and horror aspects set in a dystopian game setting. There is a plot that keeps moving with enough light (or slow) moments for the reader to catch their breath, characters who are interesting (particularly Dag), an almost star-crossed romance between Shadow and Jack in what can be characterized as a Hunger Games turned inside out. There is a quite a bit of violence and gore, but it is not gratuitously done. There are some awkward bits of language, odd word choices and places where the editing could have been better but overall Parque’s writing style is well-developed and should get better over time.

Thank you to the author for giving me a copy of Madness to review.