Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

456 reviews

cherricherrain's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Child death, Car accident, and Sexual harassment

its_me_again_emma's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Hidden Pictures is perfectly paced starting with an opening memory that sets the tone for the rest of the novel and asks the question, can we detect other presences that defy rational explanation? This and other questions of the psyche are explored through the narrative's various characters, specifically Mallory Quinn and Ted and Caroline Maxwell.
For the question of "strong character development," I chose a middle-ground answer because I didn't feel anyone's characterizations drastically change, but Mallory, the main character, begins to feel like she's carving a place out for herself in the world when she's living with and working for the Maxwells. I also chose a middle-ground answer for diversity not on the basis that most of the prominent characters are the same race but because they are all of the same elite class with Mallory being an exception. However, there is significant time spent learning about the affluent community's racist past and present, so I did not give it a middle-ground rating to detract from the novel in any way.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this book from start to finish nor did I encounter any of the stale plot points I expected to see.   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse

Moderate: Stalking and Sexual harassment

Minor: Racism and Car accident

rachaelthebroker's review against another edition

dark inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

sarahrosebee's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

What a wild ride I was just on 😱
Story line? Great. Interesting. Fast paced. 
The transphobic messaging? Not so great. I’m disappointed in the fact that there are transphobic jokes, but on top of that it is used as the literal thriller twist. Like what? I just can’t give a book many stars when that’s the message you’re trying to deliver.

Alsoooo in the beginning I was immediately feeling those red flags with that weird crunchy right wing conservative rhetoric? There were clear signs. Dissing on science but then not actually believing in food science? 

And then don’t even get me started on the religion talk.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry

chelbelle122's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wow.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Racism, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The end portions feel a bit rushed and contrived but I was gripped and steadily reading for much of this novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content, Grief, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

A large aspect of the conclusion of this book’s plot could be described as potentially transphobic, making a kid conform to a gender identity that isn’t their own

cloudwalkerbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

brookebatesratesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

abbadabbz's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

mrs_bookdragon's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse and Murder