A wonderfully written and captivating narrative of two densely constructed characters. There is a ton to unpack and the emotional punch is deftly handled. I would read more from Adam Pottle without hesitation.I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you for the opportunity.

Apparitions by Adam Pottle(Please read the authors foreword as it’s important to the context of the book.)Imagine being born deaf, and never taught language. Imagine living with an absent mother who *tries* to teach you to read and sign, but ultimately gives up. Imagine you’re then kidnapped by your father…who locks you up in his windowless basement with one ever-glaring lightbulb, gives you a bucket for a bathroom, a mattress to sleep on, abuses you to no end and repairs your broken arm with a stick and duct tape. The men that live on your father’s property treat you horribly too. Then in the midst of a shootout, you escape…running, scared, everything around you brand new and frightening. You’re found and taken to a hospital and then a psychiatric hospital. There you befriend another deaf boy who seems like your savior, but is just another abuser who forces you into his cult.This book is told through the mind of the deaf main character, as well as the secondary characters journal entries, and physician notes. It is a heartbreakingly horrific tale..more so about the horrors of humanity. It’s been a LONG time since a book made me feel this much. Maybe that’s because my own child is nonverbal and we speak to each other with ASL, but this book punched me right in the gut. I’m recommending it completely. DO check the trigger warnings as there are quite a few and they’re brutal.My thanks to author Adam Pottle, and BookSirens for the ebook to read and review. All opinions here are my own and voluntary.

A nameless deaf teen escapes from his father's home where he was imprisoned in his basement and was subjected to other horrific experiences and events during that time. He is now in a mental institution where he meets another deaf inmate who teaches him sign language among other things.The novel starts out alternating between the nameless deaf teen's experiences and Felix's until their paths cross in the mental institution. The story is a bit confusing in spots as well as seems a bit slow and hard to get into at first. Once Felix and the nameless deaf boy meet, the story picks up greatly and moves along much faster. I most likely would read more for this author.I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I knew going into this book, that it was going to be extremely emotional. So I set myself up for it. Little did I know that I was going to fly through the pages, wanting to know what was going to happen to the unnamed narrator til the very end.John Smith is what we call the narrator. First raised by his mother, then kidnapped by his father who tortures, neglects, and confines him to room in the basement. He eventually escapes, ending up in a mental institution. The phrase “out of the fire, into the frying pan” came to mind.We then meet Felix. The narrator is befriend by him and clings to him for companionship.I was amazed by Pottle’s writing. Even though the storyline was horrific, the prose was absolutely gorgeous.The narrator is shown as a naive boy who views the world in a different light in comparison to someone who has lived a normal life. He was not taught language/communication by his mom or dad.Here is a quote- “I saw the long haired man the most. He had drawings on his arms: green snakes and red lions and black skulls. I wondered if they had grown out of him like freckles and if pictures would grow out of my arms too.”Here’s another quote I loved- “I got used to the room. Got used to the weight of the house above me. Blank spaces have rhythms. The most boring rooms have a beat that you settle into over time. My cell had a beat, slow and heavy like a whale’ heart. I lived within that beat, moved to its music.

"With so many ways to say the same thing, he signed, they can talk their way out of trouble. But signing-- it's harder to lie when you speak with your body."Apparitions is a wonderfully horrific dark tale of a Deaf boy going through a life of torture and manipulation. This is a story of trusting someone when trust is the last thing you want to give. This is the definition of vulnerability, of betrayal, of frustration, and misunderstanding.Imagine with me if you will what it would be like to be thrown into a land where you can not communicate, where the world is so foreign that you have to go along just to stay out of trouble. You can't read, can't speak, can't understand where you are or why you are there. Imagine the loneliness and the judgemental looks. Surrounded by people yet totally alone.This book is filled with insights from a perspective that will leave you in awe. Open your mind and empathize."What do you do if the way you're built is against the rules?"Go back, read that again, and just think about it. How many people live that reality? Who feel that the way they are built, both mentally and physically, are against the rules? That they are an insult to the way people are "supposed" to be. The thought makes me feel hollow."Everyone has a different reality, Felix signed, and the best world accepts them all."Don't get me wrong, this is not a book of sunshine, rainbows, and hope. It is brutal, it is devastating, it is isolation. This is a story of grabbing on to the first thing that connects with you and being glad for a moment that you have a friend."I was alone. No one knew where I was. No one knew who I was. I didn't know who I was. Looking in the mirror solved nothing."