Molly’s Letter Essay 6: Sanctum

Molly Luckart

Mr. Jockers

ILA Period 8

3/2/17

Sanctum

Dear readers,

I recently finished reading the book, Sanctum. It is a 368 paged, Mystery written by Madeleine Roux. Roux is a Minnesota native and a graduate from Beloit college. She is a New York Times and Publishers weekly bestseller. Sanctum was published in 2013 and is the second book in the Asylum series. It features photographs found from real life asylums. Those pictures really made the book extra creepy because it gave visuals with such detailed descriptions. I read this book because I read the first one Asylum. After finishing Asylum, I needed to find out what happened next because it left on such a cliffhanger. I also read it because I am trying to read different genres besides my typical, realistic fiction.

Sanctum starts off with Dan, the main character getting a letter from his old roommate’s mother. She wanted to tell him that Felix, his old roommate is now living in a running asylum and won’t stop asking for Dan. In the previous book Dan, Abby, and Jordan all started hearing things and having hallucinations. They ended up leaving the camp early because they wanted to get rid of those. Although after they all admitted that they hadn’t gone away since they’ve gotten home, Dan decided to visit Felix to see if he could get answers. Felix gave Dan coordinates which ended up to be Brookline’s(the asylum from the summer program). The three friends wanted to put an end to their traumatizing summer once and for all. By doing that they decided to go back. The rest of the book is about how they tried to solve what is going on since they never did in the summer.

I would compare this series to Dead Girls Hysteria Hall written by Katie Alender. They both take place in an insane asylum and talk about paranormal activity. They also both had a similar setting and the inside of the asylums were explained alike. I liked the way the author kind of made the whole series one book. They pick up right where they left off and each goes more in depth of each problem that was left unresolved in the last book. It also forced you to read the next book because it felt like the last page was just any other last page in a chapter. I would add an example from the last page would spoil the book! I noticed how detailed the author elaborated on everything. For example on page 47, “A nurse in tidy blue scrub pants and a chunky-knit sweater greeted them just inside the door.” The description really helps you visualize exactly what’s going on. Lastly here is one of my favorite passages,”Dan heard the door whisper shut behind him and lock into place. It seemed as though all the air rushed out of the room, leaving them in a cool, hermetically sealed box. Felix didn’t even turn at his entrance, though Dan saw the beginnings of a smile tug at the corner of his thin lips. “Hello, Daniel Crawford”, Felix said calmly. “I’ve been waiting for you.”” page 51

I like that passage because it really shows that Felix is not acting like himself and something is definitely wrong with him. It also is when the whole book started and new problems occurred.  I would rate this book an eight out of ten.

Sincerely, Molly Luckart

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4 thoughts on “Molly’s Letter Essay 6: Sanctum

  1. Hi Molly,

    I enjoyed reading your letter essay. I liked how you described the book and why you read it in the beginning of your letter. Something you may want to do is indent your sentence-starter paragraphs so that it is easier for the reader to understand where one starts and ends. After reading your letter essay, this sounds like a series that I would be interested in.

    -Meghan

  2. Molly,

    I really enjoyed reading your letter essay. You did a really good job describing why you read the book and what you liked about it. I also thought you did a really good job with your introduction. You did a really nice job talking about the authors accomplishments. After reading your letter essay I am interested in reading this series.

    -Claire

  3. Dear Molly,

    Great job! I really liked your letter-essay. I think you did a really great job explaining why you read the book and I liked how you described the pictures in the book and how they made reading the book more enjoyable for you. I also think you did a nice job writing a detailed summary, and how you explained what had happened in the first book as well. I would just suggest for letter-essays in the future, to double check for any grammatical errors, so your letter essay is clear and easy to understand. Thank you for sharing your letter-essay with us.

    Sydney Rodriguez

  4. Dear Molly,
    I loved reading your letter essay! It was very interesting and I am definitely going to read this book soon. Your summary was very informative and your explanation of the pictures in the book made the whole letter essay more intriguing and captivating. Thanks for sharing this book!

    -Addisen

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