Reviews with content warning for Transphobia - Hidden Pictures

I really struggled with what to rate this. On one hand it was such a great concept and the images inside were a unique addition I enjoyed. On top of that, this book is a bestseller.

It feels like I missed a memo because I not only didn’t like it. I had a handful of problems that stood out to me besides pacing and having way too many unnecessary details and scenes that didn’t need to be there. The big thing was it felt like this author was demonizing “liberal” parents with

absolute extremes to the point of forcing transgenderism on a child and talking to a five year old about anal sex

There was also some overt and unnecessary racism in this book. And weird Christian rhetoric. It almost didn’t seem intentional, but it was distracting none the less since the story would have been perfectly fine without these two things shoved in there.

The ending was (again) such an interesting idea but it was almost impossible to overlook the amount of time wasted getting there. The ghost reveal part, not the gender part. This book had a few cool ideas just done so poorly. I will not be picking up this author again. Not when there are so many better thrillers/mysteries out there.

Also I advise avoiding this book if you struggle with gender dysphoria of any type as the author definitely slid some not so covert transphobia in there.

Content Warnings

reubenalbatross's review against another edition

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0.25

This book is just a thinly veiled excuse to spew transphobia. If you’re queer, I’d advise not reading it. More details with spoilers at the end of my review.

Just a few minor points before I go into rant mode:

The initial premise of this book is so much like that of Freida McFadden’s ‘The Housemaid’, but seeing as they were both published in the same year, this could only be coincidence (I hope).

I would also say it is way more of a mystery thriller/detective story with ghosts than a horror, so I don’t know why it was in the Goodreads Choice Awards horror category, let ALONE why it won.

The ONE good thing I have to say about the book after finishing it was that towards the beginning I did get a little spooked. I didn’t realise how scary turning pages of pictures could be. I wish they’d stayed with the more childish style of pictures though, because they were way more eerie than the ‘proper’ drawings.

**SPOILERS FROM HERE**

There’s a pretty big plot hole in the book. It’s established that Anya can only draw when she takes control of someone else, so where did the pictures come from that it was made clear neither Teddy nor Mallory drew?? Absolutely no explanation was given for this. Also, why couldn’t Anya draw words?? It’s clear she still understood words with the spirit board and her ‘talking’ at the end (even though this was in English but she apparently can’t speak English), yet for some reason she was unable to write words when she could draw such impressive images?? Both of these just seem like LAZY omissions.

With the above points, this book would be around a 3-star rating. I enjoyed the first half, but the second half just got out of hand and sloppy. The twists weren’t shocking and the inclusion of a page-long confession monologue and awkward ‘1 year after’ chapter just seemed lazy.

My main issues with the book were that of racism and transphobia.

There was a current of racism throughout the book, but it came to a head towards the end when Mallory says someone who has lived in the USA for OVER 6 years was doing ‘remarkably well’ at being able to speak English. SO condescending. As if all non-English speakers are thick and incapable of learning new languages. And like most European countries, I’m sure there is a large portion of Hungary that is at least conversational, if not fluent, in English.

But the HUGE problem in this book is the transphobia.

The multiple mentions of Harry Potter and JK Rowling (especially in a book written in 2022 where I’m sure most people are aware of her own transphobia) should have been a red flag. Unfortunately, I didn’t pick up on it properly before the ‘twist’.

As a trans person myself, I DESPISE when a character being trans/not the gender people perceived them to be is used as a major, shocking plot twist. We exist in the real world, and our existence shouldn’t be used as a plot point or spectacle by authors who are clearly not from the LBGTQIA+ community. The kid didn’t even NEED to ‘change gender’ in the story. The parents could have moved away, or made up some bullshit story instead of doing it. Clearly just an excuse to instil transphobia into the book.

The transphobia clicked as soon as Mallory demands ‘why didn’t you tell me Teddy is a girl’. This is BEFORE we find out that Teddy’s parents have changed Teddy’s gender, so for all Mallory or we knew, Teddy was actually trans. This is immediately invalidating trans identities, and could have been said in so many other ways e.g., ‘Was Teddy born a girl?’ or even ‘Is Teddy transgender?’.

They also say that Teddy was emotionally traumatised from 2-3 years of living as a boy. Yeah, sure. Imagine how trans people feel having to live their lives in bodies that feel completely alien to them! Its baffling how a link isn’t made here by so many transphobes.

Also, my favourite quote from the book if you weren’t already convinced of Rekulak’s blatant transphobia:

'Ted and Caroline were very sick people who made a lot of mistakes, and their biggest mistake was taking you away from your parents. Their second-biggest mistake was dressing you in boy clothes and changing your name from Flora to Teddy.' EXCUSE ME?? THEY LITERALLY MURDERED PEOPLE, BUT THIS WAS WORSE?????

So, to sum up this book: evil, murderous atheist people steal away a child and force it to be transgender, while saintly, devout Christian woman (who has found healing from addiction through God don’t forget) saves said child and returns them to their ‘natural’ God-given gender.

FUCK YOU Jason Rekulak.

Content Warnings

hannanni41's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-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

2.5

It had a lot of promise but just had too many plot contrivances and required too much suspension of disbelief for me. The pictures were a lot of fun though

Content Warnings

maggiefaerie's review against another edition

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DNF @29% This book bounces from microaggressions to flat out racism, transphobia, fat shaming, and it's laced with right wing values. These elements don't provide any societal commentary. They're unnecessary and I found reading this book to be extremely uncomfortable.

Content Warnings

lydiagarcia's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

karmachamillionaire's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

1.0

This book is entertaining enough if read mindlessly, but it’s deeply problematic on multiple fronts (transphobic, fatphobic, contains unchallenged racist stereotypes, has an extremely misconstrued view of sex education for children etc.) cannot recommend and am really shocked by how many readers are missing it’s clearly anti-leftist, far-right/conservative dog whistles & agenda.

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ryan_mitchell's review against another edition

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0.25

Transphobic, racist, not even scary.

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chrisdennismyers's review against another edition

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medium-paced

1.25

I really liked the concept and the art was good and added interest, BUT....

it is extremely transphobic. The ending amounts to a religious lady saves a girl from having to act like a boy in a very atheistic home....Bad.</spolier>

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