Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Hidden Pictures: A Novel by Jason Rekulak

55 reviews

whatathymeitwas's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Well that was a trip, I kept thinking I knew what was going on and boy, was I wrong. I liked this quite a bit. It does have its issues, but the fact that it was a well written, unique story, pretty much held my attention. I also appreciated that it was presented with artwork within, that was refreshing. Overall I enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Grief, Infertility, Kidnapping, Stalking, Alcohol, Death of parent, Death, Dysphoria, Gun violence, Car accident, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Murder

Moderate: Dementia, Gaslighting, Medical content, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

onemorepagecrew's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak has been popular on Booksta and I had seen comparisons to The Whisper Man in terms of creepiness, so I was excited to read it.  When I saw it at my library, I paused another book I was in the middle of (and enjoying!) to start this one.  I tore through it in a day and it’s a definitely a page-turner with a unique-ish concept. 

 

The book centers on Mallory, who is a young woman actively working on her sobriety after an addiction relapse with narcotics.  She takes a job as a live-in nanny in an affluent suburb and the child she is caring for begins to draw unsettling pictures.  The physical book is a MUST for this book – do not do the audio book!  The pictures throughout are key.  

 

I read a lot of thrillers and it takes a quite a bit to get under my skin, so for me this was not creepy or tense.  It was, however, incredibly interesting.  It had my attention for the mystery and puzzle-solving.  

 

It’s worth mentioning, the representation of someone in narcotics recovery was very surface level and used primarily to discredit Mallory as a reliable person. Many of the characters were stereotypical representations (the neighbor, the boyfriend, etc.) so approach this one with plot over character assumptions.  There was one other plot issue I had, but to avoid a spoiler I will leave it unmentioned here (DM me if you’ve read this so we can chat!).  None of these were major issues for me and I still enjoyed the mystery very much. 

 

If you need a slump-busting, quick mystery – I’d give this a go! 

 

Content warnings:  Addiction, Murder, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Child abuse 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Murder, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Kidnapping, Gun violence, and Child abuse

bakerreads's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Car accident, Racism, and Child abuse

Minor: Alcohol and Religious bigotry

bookshelf_al's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Gaslighting

Minor: Child abuse

kaylashauntedlibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Child abuse