Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

14 reviews

ladypuercoloco's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

I got into this one way more than I expected to - not sure why I chose it/how I came by it until I realized it fulfilled a Kindle Challenge requirement for a Goodreads pick.  I read horror/mysteries/thrillers all the time and honestly the blurb sounded a bit familiar to me, but as I got into the book I realized this one really stands out from other nanny horror books I've read.  The supernatural aspects are really well done

"Anya" being the mother was mind-blowing!  I liked the red herring of the mid-century murder plot that wasn't a murder...So many twists and turns came as surprises but even though I marked this spoiler and I seriously doubt anyone cares to read my reviews just in case I won't give more away.

. Having known a few addicts in various stages of use/recovery I really liked the future that was laid out for Mallory and the amount of work she was willing to put in.  This one was a pleasant early January surprise that will be hopefully setting the pace for the year - I LOVE being surprised by plot twists I really don't see coming!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Car accident, Child death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Dysphoria, Addiction, Child abuse, Infertility, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Alcoholism

Overall I don't feel like any particular thing was too graphic but the contents/plot/subplot can be a lot to take in in retrospect. It honestly wasn't until I was looking through the trigger warning list that I realized just how many played a part in this book, but I listed all as mild as none were terribly drawn out. It's a horror book. There are bound to be some horrible things in, especially when it has been an award winner. I rated it just about as high as I ever rate anything - it is excellent at what it does and the elements it is able to work in

markedwithanm's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Addiction, Car accident, Drug use, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder

annahamburger's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Drug use, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, and Classism

Minor: Confinement, Dysphoria, Infertility, Transphobia, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Cursing, Dementia, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Blood, and Infidelity

scarlett_f's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Death of parent, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Murder, Toxic relationship, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, and Violence

missbeetle's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Addiction, Murder, Toxic relationship, Blood, Drug abuse, and Infertility

its_erin's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.25

The scariest things in this book are the main character's decisions. 

I picked this up hoping for a chilling read, something unsettling. While this did not hit the mark for me, it may for others. 

It's a slow build. And by slow I mean that halfway in I still struggled to stay invested and wanted to put it down. I feel that this disinterest comes down to a few factors: 

1) I didn't find the main character compelling or, at times, likeable. She could be grating, and often times her thoughts and actions were scarier than any of the pictures. 

2) The build to a climax was nonexistent for most of the book. It was hard to understand what was happening, where the plot was leading, or what was trying to be accomplished. And this wasn't in the fun "keep ya guessing" way, it was just in the poorly written way. 

3) The writing style wasn't my favorite. Writing in first-person was a stylistic choice that I don't think paid off, and choosing to do "reveals" about the main character's background 75% of the way in was a disservice to the character. 

I will say that the most compelling character was Caroline - who is not the main character - and that was only at the end. Otherwise, it's hard to say if this is a ghost story, a treatise on addiction, or a grimm's fairytale about liberals gone bad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, and Addiction

Moderate: Xenophobia, Drug abuse, and Toxic relationship

ellaticonstellation's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

5.0

OMFG! This book is insane! Extremely good! Fast-paced and creative. I don't want to spoil it, but damn, this was a good read. I couldn't stop reading. The spirit stuff was creepy, and the drawings, omg, it's wild. The audiobook companion helped a lot. Wow! Jason, it would be amazing if you wrote more books, my man. Thank you for the ride❤️🔥 Mallory Quinn, the Maxwells,  Caroline, Ted, Teddy. The revelations were astonishing💕

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Violence, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Cursing, Death of parent, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Murder, Torture, Gore, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

While the mystery kept me guessing! Which is good but it just wasn't as enjoyable as I'd hoped it would be. I got annoyed with the MC a lot. She was too impulsive and way too trusting for someone who'd lived that type of life. But it was still a good book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Murder, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Death, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Xenophobia

meganjoy16's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Addiction, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic relationship, Death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Infertility, and Child death

myriam_almonti's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Violence, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Hate crime, Drug use, Infidelity, Murder, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Xenophobia and Car accident

Minor: Miscarriage and Racism