Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

94 reviews

betsysbubble'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

3.75

I'm not entirely what to make of this book. The illustrations were genuinely creepy and freaked me out quite a bit which definitely added to the overall atmosphere of the novel. The pacing was extremely fast and easy to fall into - I read over 100 pages in what felt like half an hour - the pages just really flew by without much effort. 
I can't say that I entirely understand what happened in the end or why. The timing of events doesn't completely make sense in my head which is why this isn't a 4 star read. I find that with thrillers like this sometimes the endings start to feel extremely far-fetched to me and while this hasn't happened for this book I can see how it was teetering on that edge. 
HOWEVER, this was a quick read with plenty of twists and turns. I wasn't completely gripped but I was certainly interested enough to want to finish it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Death, Grief, Murder, and Violence

savreads28's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Stalking, Drug use, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Confinement, Blood, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Racism, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Violence, Dementia, Torture, Car accident, and Drug abuse

cnannery19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infertility, Addiction, Death, and Confinement

rebekahlauren3's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Murder, Drug use, and Violence

yaboigrass's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

0.5

Well. That was a book. It was also racist and transphobic and fat phobic! And men should stop writing women if they don’t want to bother getting to know women. Surprised I finished it, truly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Transphobia, Murder, and Gaslighting

leechspit's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Just like Teddy, this story is made with a wild imagination steering us through all kinds of twists. I could not put this book down. The beginning of the book is a great set up. We meet Mallory, a recovering addict who needs a fresh start in life. With the help of her Wonder sponsor, she becomes the new live in nanny for a sweet child, Teddy, who has a weird habit of drawing these grotesque pictures. I will say, the first part of the story got in my head to the point where I needed to read something different because I got a little jumpy. Then right when you think everything is going to be predictable, the story takes a sharp left. I was stunned. I went from being incredibly scared to incredibly sad, and maybe a little angry. An absolute thriller I couldn't put down. Incredible art to compliment the complex mystery, every horror and thriller fan should read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use

Minor: Blood and Violence

This book could use a TW for implied transphobia

maeregin's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Drug use, Death, Kidnapping, and Infertility

jennabeck13's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)

Genre: Thriller

About 370 pages

Mallory Quinn is a recovering addict who has spent the past two years desperately trying to turn her life around. So when she gets the chance to be a live-in nanny for a picture-perfect family in a quaint New Jersey suburb, she is determined to excel in the position. She gets along great with Teddy, the young boy in the family, and the job seems to be going well. Until one day, she notices some of Teddy’s drawings are a bit disturbing. They show what looks to be a murder… Combining the drawings with a story she heard from a crazy neighbor, Mallory begins to wonder if the house is haunted and if a ghost is using Teddy to communicate its story. She’s not sure how to approach this with the parents as she worries they will think it’s related to her prior drug use, so she sets out independently to figure out what is going on.

WOW. THIS BOOK IS INSANE. I’ve had this on my shelf for a few months but was so nervous to read it because of all the good things I’d heard and was afraid it wouldn’t live up to my expectations, but holy cow, it exceeded them. I won’t go into details for fear of spoiling. But this book was chilling, twisted, and engaging from beginning to end. Rekulak did a terrific job at character development and creating a super eerie setting. I also loved the inclusion of the drawings throughout, so this is definitely one that I recommend picking up a physical copy.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Gun violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Child abuse, Death, and Medical content

carriehaley89's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Infertility

thebookishnurseescape's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Addiction, Murder, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Gun violence, and Kidnapping