Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

115 reviews

3readingcircus's review

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Addiction, and Drug use

Moderate: Gaslighting and Infertility

Minor: Sexual harassment and Racism

megemac's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This is difficult to rate, and not for the reasons I normally struggle to rate a thriller. I enjoyed the story, it kept me captivated and I do love a good ghost story. However there are a few things that I wasn't really comfortable with.

I think using infertility as a reason to abduct a child, is a cop out in a lot of ways. Infertility is a very sensitive topic to many and so I do think that this could have gone a different route or be handled a with more care. There is also the very transphobic vibes that I got. Again, I do understand where Rekulak was trying to go (or at least I hope that was his direction) - but a bit more research would have been a major help for this author. Leaving it as it was smacks of privilege and lack of wanting to understand. Honestly, the same goes for the addiction aspect of the story. A little more research would have helped things not seem so cut and dry or uninformed. 

With all that said, the story was strong and kept me entertained and wanting to read. It was creepy without being terrifying. My rating is for the bulk of the story as a whole. When recommending it I will be sharing my hesitations with others and encourage them to be sure to do the same. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Infertility, Kidnapping, and Addiction

spooderman's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Physical abuse, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Blood, and Transphobia

Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Outing, and Stalking

Minor: Bullying, Dementia, Dysphoria, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Classism, Infidelity, Vomit, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Medical content, and Medical trauma

hannanni41's review

dark mysterious fast-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

2.5

It had a lot of promise but just had too many plot contrivances and required too much suspension of disbelief for me. The pictures were a lot of fun though

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Grief, Car accident, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Transphobia

Minor: Infertility and Racism

tiana_king's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent, Classism, Death, Infertility, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Dementia

softballgrl8812's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

This book kept me hooked all the way through!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, and Murder

Moderate: Kidnapping and Drug use

Minor: Infertility

honeywine's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Stalking, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Infertility, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Murder, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Car accident

Moderate: Alcohol and Infidelity

madanxiety's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.75

Wow. This was a thrill! Especially for keeping me awake on a long drive.

The twist was crazy! I had my suspicions that the ghost was really the previous nanny, but I never would've guessed it was Teddy's real mother, and that Teddy was a girl.

At first, I thought the pacing was quite slow, which I actually didn't mind. I described it to my roommate as a "slow burn supernatural mystery." However, by the end, it really ramped up, and it was interesting seeing all the pieces come together, like any mystery, I suppose. Definitely important to go into this book blind! 

But man, I wished the audiobook narrator had done her due diligence to pronounce some of the Spanish words. It was absolutely pitiful, especially given how easy/consistent Spanish pronunciation is. It didn't have to be perfect, but all she would've had to do is Google a pronunciation to get it halfway decent. It was such a minor detail but I cringed every time 😂. Adrian's family dialogue did kinda strike me as "Latinos / Spanglish written by a gringo" tho lol. Idek if that's true but it felt a little forced. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Death, Grief, Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Addiction

Moderate: Infertility

heathermarie08's review

adventurous challenging dark 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

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Death of parent, Infertility, Kidnapping, and Confinement

annabanana714's review against another edition

dark 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Child abuse, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Infertility