Review of Dark Eden by Patrick Carman

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? 

~Add To Your Goodreads Shelf~ 

Although Dark Eden sounds pretty amazing (I was pretty excited about it) I was left feeling rather disappointed. The story as a whole was rather dull, surprisingly not much happens, the plot twists are rather predictable and the big secret at the end was just... silly. 

I started the book with high hopes, as the blurb makes it sound amazing. Will has an extreme phobia, just like all the other kids and he's sent to Fort Eden to be cured of it. Upon arrival he suddenly decides to get the heck away from the group, finds himself a convenient underground bunker which conveniently has security cameras linking to the inside of Fort Eden and decides to stay there for a while. He doesn't question this once during the book. While we're stick with him, one by one he watches the others get cured in one of the most stereotypical ways possible. The story drags on a lot as that's basically all that happens throughout the majority of the story, with the occasional interesting bit when I discovered what each of the other kid's fears were.

The ending. I was hoping for something with a little more... well, just more. As I said, I found it rather silly and it was quite weak too. And just in case you didn't quite get the basic concept of what had happened, the Author has added a few short chapters on Will's afterthoughts, just to make sure you're really asleep. 

2/5

Received free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review