Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Hidden Pictures

Author doesn’t attempt to hide his vile politics and the writing is not on the level of an adult novel. Also, for a book that’s marketed as horror, it’s not scary.

Content Warnings

dalmavatai's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Ahhh it's so hard to rate this book & to explain my feelings about it. This book starts off pretty basic with some oft-repeated plot points of the thriller/mystery genre - the trope of the addict nanny who's not believed, the father in the family attracted to the nanny, the handsome local guy piquing the nanny's interest. I really enjoy the nanny-in-the-rich-family and the creepy-kid/creepy-drawings trope so I did like the setup, though it became quite formulaic as the story went on. I did overall enjoy the conclusion to the story because it was definitely something I didn't see coming and it was really interesting, especially how our MC figured out the truth, I really enjoyed the process of getting there.

However... while this book attempts some very basic commentary on racism and sexism, it simultaneously ends up being ableist, fatphobic and transphobic at times, none of which is challenged. The transphobia is especially concerning as it ends up being a larger portion of the book than the other things that are mostly just throwaway comments and remarks. At one point, the transphobia of the MC is challenged, but then the book uses a trope that is very cisheteronormative - and if you don't understand why,

it is because our MC assumes Teddy to be a girl as soon as she sees that s/he has a vulva; however, obviously not all people with a vulva are women, such as trans women, and womanhood itself is not rooted in the possession of a vulva. This is the MC's rather transphobic assumption which is then challenged by Ted, but then it turns out that Teddy is *actually* a girl named Flora who was kidnapped by Ted and Caroline and made to live as a boy so that Flora wouldn't be found. I just... don't know how to feel about this plot point. Especially that at the end, Flora goes back to being a girl (after being allowed to explore all options with regards to their gender identity - or so we're led to believe, because really our society is deeply cisheteronormative which means that, according to psychological studies, even when parents believe they are raising their children in a 'gender-neutral' way, they are subconsciously encouraging gender-normative behaviors that falsely link genitalia, appearance, and behavior in a correlative manner - so, if you have a penis then you're a boy and you will dress like a boy and like things that boys like). So Flora "goes back to being a girl" at which point our MC says "I think she's always known that she was a girl", which is not challenged either, so we're left with very cisheteronormative understandings of gender which believe in an intrinsic correlation between genitalia, appearance/clothing and behavior. Sooo it's quite complex but I wanted to justify why I felt the way that I did with where this book went.

The other thing is that a specific nationality becomes an important plot point towards the end of the book, and as a person with that nationality, I feel compelled to tell you that many words, facts, and dishes were incorrect in the book and I wish that the author had done his homework regarding my nationality because I was really happy to see it in a book that I randomly picked up, but understandably less happy to discover that so many of the details were simply incorrect.

Sooo while I enjoyed most of this book and found the reveals satisfying and shocking, I have many issues with it otherwise. 🤐

Content Warnings

ohhthehorrors's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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