Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - Hidden Pictures

Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

49 reviews

kmoore98's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

Adding to my review a year in hindsight and after much discussion with my bookclub. This was such a fun read but the ending is so transphobic is undoes all of the stuff before it. A shame the author also like to shout out JK Rowling. A good premise that is let down by the ending.

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ertrunnell's review against another edition

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Loveable characters? No

2.5

There were things I hated about this book, but I still couldn’t stop listening so can’t knock it down too much. I definitely didn’t guess the major plot twist like some other readers did. Had more of a YA feel than adult.

Hated: transphobia, religious commentary, plot holes, irritating narrator, fatphobia

I thought it would have been interesting if the twist was that the whole thing was based on an unreliable narrator.

Other than what’s mentioned in “hated,” the writing was decent and I did want to figure out what the hell was going on.

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monstersinspace's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.0

For the first half of this book I was bored and found Malory fairly annoying. The constant commenting on other people's weight and life style was completely unnecessary and real judgmental coming from someone who used to do heroin. Like we get it, you found jesus and started running again, do we really need several pages discussing the calories in the lunch you are eating. Also, if you're going to have a character lie all the time stop having them talk about how much they hate lying. It was so annoying for Malory to keep going on and on about how guilty she felt and how perfect the timing was to not lie but then keep doing it. Another thing that annoyed me was the SUPER Christian overtones, the family was evil because the kidnapped a kid not cause they didn't believe in god I even had to Google the author in the middle to figure out if I had accidentally borrowed a Christian novel. The whole part of the husband being in love with Malory and wanting them to run away made no sense because I felt like he was barely in the book. Two awkward interactions don't really lead to a lets runway together moment and having him watch her sleep just seems like a cop out. The ghost being a different ghost was kind of a cool point and I feel like the clues worked well to lead to both conclusion. keeping Teddy as a boy even after they left upstate New York and no one was suspicious was just weird and unnecessary, and that coupled with the constant reference to JK rowling makes me a little more then suspicious of the author's intentions. </Spoiler>

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thecozyrogue's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.75

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coeurloyal's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

I eagerly purchased Hidden Pictures for my 2023 TBR shortly after it won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Horror in 2022. I am appalled that this book not only was nominated but won the award given its hidden extreme right propaganda. I was disgusted to be surprised by a plot full of transphobia, religious elitism, fatphobia, racial stereotypes, and hidden political propaganda. I will not be giving this book a proper review as I do not recommend anyone read it and wish I could take my money back from having supported it.

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arnold_shelby's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

This is the worst written book I have ever read. It's absolutely ridiculous and the "twist" doesn't hold up to any level of scrutiny.

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ayisharasheed's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

1.0

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talsbooknook's review against another edition

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This is a poorly written book full of right wing dog whistles, religious propaganda and transphobia. Absolute nonsense.

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notsarahconnor's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

Transphobia. Copaganda. Fatphobia. All of these things are found in Jason Rekulak's Hidden Pictures, yet this book managed to be the 2023 Goodread's Reader's Choice Horror winner and is being raved about on TikTok.

Read the full spoilerific review on my blog!

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ksedreads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

1.0

“I can summon both pictures from memory, the same scene from two different artists.”

Fresh out of rehab, Mallory Quinn takes a job in the affluent suburb of Spring Brook, New Jersey as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy. Mallory immediately loves this new job. She lives in the Maxwell's pool house, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman's lifeless body. As the days pass, Teddy's artwork becomes more and more sinister, and his stick figures steadily evolve into more detailed, complex, and lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to suspect these are glimpses of an unsolved murder from long ago, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force lingering in the forest behind the Maxwell's house. With help from a handsome landscaper and an eccentric neighbor, Mallory sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy while coming to terms with a tragedy in her own past before it's too late.

Big oof. First off, this book won the good reads award for best Horror book. It is more of a Thriller than a Horror book. “Hidden Pictures” started off as a fast paced and enjoyable read and I thought I might rate it 5 stars. Then the racist, fat phobic, and transphobic undertones of the book made themselves known. It immediately turned me off from the book and I ended up giving it 1 ⭐️. It’s 2023, do better.

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