Reviews - The Hidden Book: A Novel

41 reviews for:

The Hidden Book: A Novel

Kirsty Manning

3.64 AVERAGE

rinny_reads5's review

3.0

Duel timeline historical fiction. I definitely enjoyed the ww2 timeline a little better than the current time.

mmmontelibano's review against another edition

3.25

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

sailorbug's review against another edition

3.0

dark slow-paced

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

paws42's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional informative sad 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: Complicated

seebs's review

3.0

I felt this book was going to be a deep dive… and instead was a flip of depth and a flip of “growing up”. Some element felt tossed in to be relevant, but it came of more “trying to be trendy”.

keepingyouonread's review against another edition

3.0

Thank you @williammorrowbooks for the gifted copy. This is a #backlistbook for me as it came out in August 2024.

This dual timeline historical fiction takes place in the 40s at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria and in Australia from the 80s to present day. The 40s timeline is told from Lena’s POV (a woman in town hiding her disabled sister) and Santiago’s POV (a young boy tasked with helping camp photographer, Mateo). The present day is told from Hannah’s POV as she tries to learn more about a mysterious book of pictures her grandfather leaves to her mother.

What I liked: This is a quick read (I finished in two days). I really liked the historical POV, there was more action and intrigue. Would Lena’s sister be sent away? Would Lena and Nico be reunited? How did they get the book out? WW2 books will always be emotional and the characters are in such peril that it’s hard for the present day characters to compete.

What didn’t work for me: I found Hannah’s story a little boring. Her mother wants to forget the past and won’t let her see the book of photos. Hannah wants to get her PhD in European war history but just abandons her project. The research aspect of how the grandfather came to possess the book of photos isn’t really explored in this timeline.

There’s a bisexual storyline that’s brought up casually then dismissed until the very end of the book. In my opinion, it felt a bit rushed and just token representation.

Who should read it: I had heard about Mauthausen but not as much as other camps, so I found the historical portion educational. While a tough read, the author shies away from another too graphic and most graphic scenes are off page or just discussed by characters later.