Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

Hide by Kiersten White

41 reviews

dizzymissliz's review against another edition

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

4.5

some of the characters were a little flat, but the development was good. the setting was really cool and the author is a really good writer who uses really descriptive language. i was on the edge of my seat the whole time and got a little scared! it was my favourite type of horror, the one where it builds up and you don't know what's coming until the end.

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tkhenry99's review against another edition

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3.75

i really liked the way this was written, cycling through all the characters and information about them. i think it was a clever way to represent the idea of being trapped in a cycle due to things outside of your control. i loved how distinct every character’s voice was, especially brandon’s. but i thought 14 characters was too many and i couldn’t keep them all straight, especially when they started dying. i wish we had gotten a little more of mack’s backstory—
what happened to her in the years between her family’s murder and becoming homeless in her early 20s?
i’m also not sure how i feel about the ending.
i like that it isn’t a traditional happy ending, and White’s message was clearly that the next generation isn’t responsible for fixing the messes their elders made, but i have a hard time being in mack’s side. releasing a demon into the world with no knowledge of what it might do seems……. bad….. to say the least.
and tbh i felt like the romance was unnecessary. i just don’t see why every book needs to have a random romantic subplot 🤷🏼‍♀️ and it wasn’t as spooky/scary as i expected it to be. 

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nixieba25f's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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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gm_vak's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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livlamentloathe's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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atlas_shruggs's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

I've always loved media featuring deadly games, so I knew immediately that I would like this book.
It follows Mack, a young homeless woman with a tragic past, and thirteen other people as they enter a hide and go seek competition in an abandoned amusement park. Of course the game turns deadly, and supernatural, and everything goes to hell.
The writing was good, not revolutionary but well written, the plot was gripping and intriguing. My only issue at first was remembering who everyone was, I ended up writing it on a post-it and sticking it inside the cover, which really helped.
I could totally see this book being adapted into a movie or TV show, and despite being an absolute scaredy cat I would force myself to watch it.
I also didn't know that this book was queer, so that was definitely a pleasant surprise, as well as it having disability rep.
Of course heavy body horror trigger warnings, but if you're looking for a book that feels like the Hunger Games but in an amusement park, then I would definitely recommend picking this one up. 

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kimberlyswalters's review against another edition

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

1.0

The characters were dull. I liked Ava, but I didn't feel a strong connection to her or any other character. I didn't care about any of them dying because of that. The concept was good, but I felt like it could've been better if it were written from one characters perspective, or even switching it each chapter. The omnipotence of it made things a bit muddled and allowed less time to get to know each character more (which I think is the exact opposite of what the author intended). For instance, the only thing you really know about Mack is her past and how she blames herself for what happened, and that she has the hots for Ava. I just wanted a chance to care about the characters more, but most of them are either unlikeable, exaggerated stereotypes, and/or boring.

I don't think I have the vocabulary to express how much I disliked the ending, so I can only try to sum it up and hope whoever is reading this rambling will understand.
Even if I don't care for the characters, I'd at least like to know what happened to them, the rest of Asterion, and if the families suffered, or if the beast ended up fed and satisfied and where our characters were going afterwards. It left too many questions that mattered unanswered, so it just felt sloppy and like the author also didn't care where they ended up, or if the readers were satisfied. I'm really just ranting here, but I don't like wasting my time on entertainment that just ends up frustrating me and leaving me feeling confused about the author's intent. Hopefully this silly little review will save someone else from reading it if they also aren't a fan of that style of ending.
It was blunt and unnecessary.  It was gifted to me, so I am glad I didn't spend my own money on this. 

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halfbloodprincess_hogwarts's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

Time to sprinkle in some spooky season reading💛I ran across this title at Woodman's and was captivated by the rich golden yellow cover. Along with the haunting amusement park. 

Fourteen strangers are invited to play the game hide-and-seek, the winner receiving $50,000. 

This reminded me of the movie Ready or Not, where the bride is sacrificed in their game of hide and seek. 

Except, well, the players do not know whom is doing the seeking. The rules are vague, they sign a contract that doesn't hold the hosts liable for anything that happens to the players. 

The premise of this game taking place at an abandoned amusement park is so cool, with so many places to hide. While the sun is up the players are to remain hidden and can only come out when the sun is setting. 

Hide captivated my attention from the beginning, though the jumping around from character's flashbacks to the current time period... did keep throwing me off.

 Their temporary guide, Linda, even throws in a fun quest of locating a leather bound book and returning it to her for a prize.

 I knew there had to be more to it besides a "reality tv" game of hide-and-seek. 

All of the questions and mystery are eventually answered and makes a lot of sense....a lot of twisted f'ed up sense. 

This is one of the most morbid and on edge hide-and-seek thrillers. I would listen to this audiobook again. 

Listening to many characters perspectives is a plus, getting to know them individually and eventually how they are all tied together.

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archaicrobin's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The premise of this book had me so excited. A group of people invited to partake in a reality tv show where the goal is to win a massive hide and seek challenge inside an abandoned amusement park, where more than just money is on the line…..

I love horror set in amusement parks and was anticipating this one so much! Unfortunately this was a huge let down. 

There are so many characters introduced immediately and none of them I found to be very interesting or intriguing. I wasn’t attached to any of them and it felt like the author was trying to stereotype them all so you’d remember them. There was Mac the chick with baggage, beautiful Ava the bitch, the other Ava the cool lesbian, Jayden the dick jock, Atrius the artistic weirdo and so on and so on, blah blah.  Every character came off as a cardboard cut out of a real person to me. 

Along with the characters, the story itself had such an opportunity to be unique and do something different but it was very predictable, and very boring once you hit the halfway point. I was struggling towards the end for sure. 

Honestly, I didn’t hate this book. I was actually really into it at first but once the “twist” is revealed the story loses its momentum and never gets it back. 

If you’re looking for a really good survival horror novel set in an amusement park, skip Hide and instead pick up Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven. I could not put Fantasticland down, and highly recommend it!

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thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Let it be known that I am deeply fascinated by abandoned places, but especially abandoned amusement parks. So I was instantly drawn to this book! 

It was sort-of like “The Hunger Games” meets “Ready or Not” (a criminally underrated movie IMO) meets “Stranger Things”. 

I don’t want to give too much away, as it’s better to go in blindly. But I will say I had hoped for faster pacing, and maybe less switches between POVs. The plot was intriguing, though the second half derailed from that intrigue at times. I would also note that, personally, I didn’t really find this read as a horror. Maybe more of a suspense? It had the creepiness factor. 

Not a bad book, though I had wished for more. It definitely surprised me, which is a plus. Would love to see it made into a movie!

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