Review- Schasm by Shari J. Ryan

Goodreads Summary: 

When reality utterly fails you, there is always the comfort of the land of dreams. Chloe Valcourt, a tormented nineteen-year-old young woman, has for twelve years hovered between a daily life dominated by an abusive mother and an imagined alternate world that exists only in her mind’s eye. Can she keep track of which is real—and whether or not she is real, too? Schasm is the mind-bending young adult romance by Shari J. Ryan that mines the heart of darkness, where one young woman seeks light in her own shimmering daydreams. 

A psychological condition has captured the body, mind, and soul of Chloe, and thrust her into the hands of probing doctors at the continued mercy of her tyrannical mother. As she struggles to break free of the grim life into which she was born, she continues to suffer the daily assaults from her mother and the dispiriting weakness of her dejected father. When Chloe unexpectedly finds herself drawn into a new, warm life abundant in love and romance with a kindhearted man named Alex, the escape at last gives her a happiness that she's never been allowed to feel. However, when hidden truths reveal a life that she cannot remember, Chloe finds herself lost between what is real and what isn't. 

Blending extreme daydreaming, alternating realities, and multiple personalities, Schasm is a gripping tale that treads the thin line between a harrowing reality and the captivating terrain of an imagined world. As Chloe plays too close to the edge of insanity, her multiple realities clash, leaving her to question everything, including her own existence. Anyone who relishes a flight of fancy with richly drawn characters and surprising twists of plot will be immersed in the strange new world of Schasm, where nothing is at it seems.

REVIEW:

*NOTE: We (The Readdicts) received a copy of Schasm from author Shari J. Ryan in exchange for an honest review. We thank Shari for the book! 

Schasm sounded like a very interesting read when author Shari J. Ryan first emailed us about it. I am deeply intrigued by people with psychological disorders but I never really got any chance to read a book based on similar terms. So when Schasm came along, I knew I had to read the book. 

Unfortunately for me, albeit interesting, Schasm was nothing but utterly confusing. I get that such a book has to be confusing, but there is a huge difference between mind fuck good confusing and plain not understandable confusing. Know what I mean? So yes, this one was the latter.  
Schasm is the story of Chloe who comes from a family of people having psychological disorders and I really liked getting to know about them all but it wasn't very detailed. Chloe herself can drift and travel to another time and another place as and when she likes or sometimes unexpectedly even. Her various journeys have her discovering new things and uncovering old tales. 
The book was a confusing amalgamation of Contemporary with Fantasy and I hate to say this because maybe it's my fault, but I didn't quite catch it all. I think that maybe I should read this book once again to understand it better but I am afraid there are plenty more books waiting and what if I don't still get it anyway? 
I tried very hard to look at Schasm with different perspectives, especially after seeing some solid four and five star reviews for the book on Goodreads. I do still love my cliffhanger endings and dose of confusion but I really wanted to understand this book and the protagonist's problem. I was hoping against hope that by the end of it all, everything would be fine and I'd get my answers, but I didn't. 

Author Shari J Ryan's writing is really good and simple and that's always a huge plus when the topic that's being dealt with is complicated. Also, I loved the length of the book- it was short which made it easy and quick to read. So yes, there are tons of good things about the book. 

Personally, I am a huge fan of dreams and am always trying to figure out what they convey. I am also a huge fan of drifting so basically, what Schasm covers up is something I really hold dear. It is really very captivating and makes you want to know more and I hope there is more to come because I didn't get that ending. 

RATING: