Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Hidden Pictures: A Novel by Jason Rekulak

55 reviews

becphe's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Engrossing story with a narrator who could possibly be unreliable, keeps you guessing. Other characters unfold slowly making the story suspenseful, interesting and very entertaining.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Murder

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Drug use, and Grief

Minor: Infertility

moodreadererin's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Stalking, Transphobia, Child abuse, and Racism

Minor: Medical content, Car accident, and Infertility

elaina_ice's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

This book was ok. Not the over 4 star rated book I thought I was getting. The book felt extremely implausible and honestly if I were Adrian, I would have left and never looked back after finding out she was lying to me about her entire life. The twist was interesting and unexpected, but the writing was not so good. I think in the era of Tiktok books, people are beginning to equate unexpected twist = a good book, which is so jot the case. There is much more to making an excellent story than the twist.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Murder

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

This had potential, and I was really genuinely enjoying it until about the last 100 pages or so. There's really not much I can say about what I didn't like about this book with this review remaining spoiler free, but I'll try to be as cryptic as possible. It really guts me that this was a 5 star prediction lol

First though, I do want to bring up its merits, because I think that it has some.

Things I liked: It's set in a small town based on a real town that not only is near to where I live but that I've been to several times and it mentions several landmarks that are familiar to me. I also liked the illustration elements and how they get spookier and spookier as the book goes on.

Things I didn't like: Pretty much everything else but especially the big plot twist at the end. Absolutely the stupidest thing in the world. Made half of the book absolutely pointless. This could've been edited down to just 200 pages and it would've been better and not as much of a waste of time.

I only add the half a star because I have a soft spot for the small town that the book is based on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Racism, Fatphobia, Car accident, Infertility, Drug use, Addiction, Death, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Xenophobia, Excrement, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Child death, and Infidelity

Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual assault

Minor: Rape

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

wonderfulxwonderful's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Addiction, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Drug use, and Murder

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Death, Dementia, and Mental illness

anna_green_gables's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Cursing, Infertility, and Racism

chaptersbydani's review against another edition

1.5

Right-wing thriller— which was super disappointing. A lot of racism with an extra dose of transphobia. 

Only reason why it’s not a 1 star is because I appreciated the experimental format of the book. The illustrations were really cool and enhanced the story. And it’s something I’ve not seen done before. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Violence, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Infertility, Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, and Transphobia

lcg527's review against another edition

dark 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Child abuse, and Kidnapping

millie's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

this book will keep yoy on edge for probably 80-85% with good writing, impeccable build-up tension and then just trip on its own feet & miss the landing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Car accident