Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Hidden Pictures: A Novel by Jason Rekulak

33 reviews

sophieamreacher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Wow what an intricate creepy book. Did not expect the plot twists at all and I love when I can look back and see the little clues. Really really good. The illustrations just added so much to it and made it feel real. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child death, Infertility, Racism, Sexism, Car accident, and Classism

smalika's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

zosiablue's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I just...😬. I don't know! This was a fun thriller with the added bonus of beautiful drawings interspersed. But the twists were so improbable, the characters so cringily stereotyped, and it didn't land. If the author had leaned into the genre instead of trying to elevate it, I think he would've been more successful. Instead, it's kind of a ghost story, psycho-thriller, addict's redemption tale, and class commentary mushed into an admittedly interesting framework. But it just all felt...off.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol

kacylynne's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Drug abuse

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Kidnapping

magellen's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

As an ex-nanny, there are certain parts of this book that ring very true. Then there's portions where woof this female mc is written by a man. 
The book was also oddly dated - the first Harry Potter mention was surprising, but by the point the mc was praising its author's talent (😒) I thought I'd picked up a much older book but nope. 2022 publish date. Also the 'oh my god you like star warrrrs what a nerd!' bit was like...buddy, no one has thought that in decades.

Much of the book is a red herring - like literally the book takes some sharp turns in the back quarter that peel it entirely away from the first mystery. And like...yeah? I guess the bread crumbs are there, amongst the weird disdain lacing nearly every character.

Like...its not terrible? But it squicked me out more than once with author choices that like Mmmmm frankly, make me feel his bad vibes, much like a largely abandoned plot point from the beginning of the novel. 
I wouldn't recommend it to a friend or read it again, but if you're shooting for a reading goal eh, it is a book.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Transphobia, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Outing, Dysphoria, and Classism

talsbooknook's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

xenalia's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

4.0

I loved most of this book. It kept my interest. It was creepy, mainly bc of the pics. It kept me guessing. 

However, the main character’s name bothered me. Mallory Quinn? You mean like, Quinn Mallory? From Sliders? (90’s tv show with Jerry O’Connell) That was all I could think every time I heard her name. As a huge fan of Sliders, I really wanted her to say “yea, my mom was a huge fan of the show and named me after the main character) 
(Ok. I know that’s a stupid thing to let bother me) 

Anyway, I kept trying to figure out what was going on, who is the ghost, what does it want, who did it?! 

I loved this book up until the last part. Then, well, I didn’t hate it but it seemed like a different book. It didn’t line up with how I wanted the book to end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

livvmarks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

chloesnotscared's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, and Classism

Minor: Transphobia

lindseyrenee's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

1.0

Where to start with this? The story had potential to be really fun and at times I was wanting to know what was going to happen next, but every single character ruined this for me. They were all written as a caricature of what they should be. You have the ex druggie turned religious girl, the wacky neighbor who is paranoid from too much pot, the Hispanic landscaper, and the super scientific atheist parents. Not only was there fat shaming, but some shocking racist remarks, and transphobia that cannot be overlooked. Every single instance of those could have been deleted completely and it wouldn’t have changed anything about the story or the characters, they were just there to be there. Had those been removed I do think my rating would be different, however they weren’t and can’t be ignored.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Car accident, Alcohol, and Classism