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stonecoldfaux's review against another edition
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Alcoholism
voidcrawler's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
littered with right wing propaganda, primarily in the form of transphobia. sprinkle in some casual fatphobia, racism, and religious bigotry, and you have this book.
i’m now convinced booktok, especially the horror side of it, either don’t read the books they promote or they severely lack reading comprehension skills. everyone’s more obsessed with how “wOw fUcKed uP!!! 🥴” something is in terms of gore and jump-scares over the actual problematic shit in this book. bonkers, really, since so many horrortok creators are left-leaning and lgbtq+.
i’m now convinced booktok, especially the horror side of it, either don’t read the books they promote or they severely lack reading comprehension skills. everyone’s more obsessed with how “wOw fUcKed uP!!! 🥴” something is in terms of gore and jump-scares over the actual problematic shit in this book. bonkers, really, since so many horrortok creators are left-leaning and lgbtq+.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Transphobia
halierivers's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
I really struggled with what to rate this. On one hand it was such a great concept and the images inside were a unique addition I enjoyed. On top of that, this book is a bestseller.
It feels like I missed a memo because I not only didn’t like it. I had a handful of problems that stood out to me besides pacing and having way too many unnecessary details and scenes that didn’t need to be there. The big thing was it felt like this author was demonizing “liberal” parents withabsolute extremes to the point of forcing transgenderism on a child and talking to a five year old about anal sex
There was also some overt and unnecessary racism in this book. And weird Christian rhetoric. It almost didn’t seem intentional, but it was distracting none the less since the story would have been perfectly fine without these two things shoved in there.
The ending was (again) such an interesting idea but it was almost impossible to overlook the amount of time wasted getting there. The ghost reveal part, not the gender part. This book had a few cool ideas just done so poorly. I will not be picking up this author again. Not when there are so many better thrillers/mysteries out there.
Also I advise avoiding this book if you struggle with gender dysphoria of any type as the author definitely slid some not so covert transphobia in there.
It feels like I missed a memo because I not only didn’t like it. I had a handful of problems that stood out to me besides pacing and having way too many unnecessary details and scenes that didn’t need to be there. The big thing was it felt like this author was demonizing “liberal” parents with
There was also some overt and unnecessary racism in this book. And weird Christian rhetoric. It almost didn’t seem intentional, but it was distracting none the less since the story would have been perfectly fine without these two things shoved in there.
The ending was (again) such an interesting idea but it was almost impossible to overlook the amount of time wasted getting there. The ghost reveal part, not the gender part. This book had a few cool ideas just done so poorly. I will not be picking up this author again. Not when there are so many better thrillers/mysteries out there.
Also I advise avoiding this book if you struggle with gender dysphoria of any type as the author definitely slid some not so covert transphobia in there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Minor: 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
kelsoups's review
dark
mysterious
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
2.75
Quick and easy read, but predictable. Ending felt unsatisfying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Death of parent
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Gun violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Infertility, and Violence
Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Racism, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Pregnancy, and Police brutality
coeurloyal's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
I eagerly purchased Hidden Pictures for my 2023 TBR shortly after it won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Horror in 2022. I am appalled that this book not only was nominated but won the award given its hidden extreme right propaganda. I was disgusted to be surprised by a plot full of transphobia, religious elitism, fatphobia, racial stereotypes, and hidden political propaganda. I will not be giving this book a proper review as I do not recommend anyone read it and wish I could take my money back from having supported it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Car accident, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Transphobia
karyan1's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Car accident, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, and Drug use
Minor: Terminal illness
tcgarback's review
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Critical Score: B
Personal Score: C+
Reading Experience: 📘📘📘📘📘(5/5)
This was so, so much fun to read. Super propulsive. Well-rounded. Kind of feel-good. I was sure I’d give it a great score.
Then one of the plot twists made the house fall apart.
Before I get into spoilers, I’ll add that the coziness and excitement I felt for the majority of this book filled me with joy. I kept saying to myself how glad I was to agree with the hype. It bums me out that I no longer feel that way.
I did not read this book as transphobic in and of itself. But the gender identity twist is the perfect material for bigots to argue that liberal parents are forcing children to be trans. This book falls right into a homophobic agenda.
Basically, the twist makes delusions of grooming real. If there were actual trans characters in this book and they were well-written, this problematic twist wouldn’t matter much, but the only presence of queerness (and it’s not even a queer person, just the subject matter of queerness) in this narrative is in a forced gender swap. That is so dangerous to put out there, when homophobes are looking for every piece of material with which to bolster their toxic arguments.
Do parents like this actually exist? Yes. But when the subject matter of gender queerness is only present through the harm of these parents, it produces the danger of the single story, theorized by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Will someone who’s not transphobic walk away from this story transphobic? Probably not. But will a transphobic person read this and feel vindicated? Yes.
I’ll add that I am so sick of the trope of queerness being used as a shocking reveal—and again, it’s not actual queerness in this book, just the subject matter of it, because the child does not identify as trans. Queer identity is not a cute little plot device to throw in for fun. It’s not a lightbulb idea. It’s a sensitive subject that deserves to be handled with taste and knowledge.
I also realized by the end that Hidden Pictures is very, if quietly, gender norm-y and anti-atheism, though I was fine with the religiousness of the MC; if anything it was kind of refreshing? I feel like a clown saying that, because we have plentyyy of religious MC’s out there. It’s not where we are thirsty for representation, lol.
If it weren’t for these gripes, I’d adore this book. I know that sounds like barely a positive, but it’s true that I thought this was awesome until the twists.
Critical Score: B
Personal Score: C+
Reading Experience: 📘📘📘📘📘(5/5)
This was so, so much fun to read. Super propulsive. Well-rounded. Kind of feel-good. I was sure I’d give it a great score.
Then one of the plot twists made the house fall apart.
Before I get into spoilers, I’ll add that the coziness and excitement I felt for the majority of this book filled me with joy. I kept saying to myself how glad I was to agree with the hype. It bums me out that I no longer feel that way.
I did not read this book as transphobic in and of itself. But the gender identity twist is the perfect material for bigots to argue that liberal parents are forcing children to be trans. This book falls right into a homophobic agenda.
Basically, the twist makes delusions of grooming real. If there were actual trans characters in this book and they were well-written, this problematic twist wouldn’t matter much, but the only presence of queerness (and it’s not even a queer person, just the subject matter of queerness) in this narrative is in a forced gender swap. That is so dangerous to put out there, when homophobes are looking for every piece of material with which to bolster their toxic arguments.
Do parents like this actually exist? Yes. But when the subject matter of gender queerness is only present through the harm of these parents, it produces the danger of the single story, theorized by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Will someone who’s not transphobic walk away from this story transphobic? Probably not. But will a transphobic person read this and feel vindicated? Yes.
I’ll add that I am so sick of the trope of queerness being used as a shocking reveal—and again, it’s not actual queerness in this book, just the subject matter of it, because the child does not identify as trans. Queer identity is not a cute little plot device to throw in for fun. It’s not a lightbulb idea. It’s a sensitive subject that deserves to be handled with taste and knowledge.
I also realized by the end that Hidden Pictures is very, if quietly, gender norm-y and anti-atheism, though I was fine with the religiousness of the MC; if anything it was kind of refreshing? I feel like a clown saying that, because we have plentyyy of religious MC’s out there. It’s not where we are thirsty for representation, lol.
If it weren’t for these gripes, I’d adore this book. I know that sounds like barely a positive, but it’s true that I thought this was awesome until the twists.
Content Warnings
Minor: Religious bigotry and Transphobia
moodreadererin's review
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
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
mx_eyebrows's review
I don’t usually write reviews, but his book annoyed me so much that I have to. The first half of it was going along pretty well, and then things took several turns.
From the jump there is a lot of mention about the main character being Christian, and the two other adult main characters being atheist. We are banged over the head with it on several occasions. It just feels icky, like you're getting reminded that atheists are bad people subtly, over and over. And wouldn’t you know, the Christian ends up to be the hero and the Atheists are bad people. Of course.
Then, we get a plot point/twist using gender identity that I found to be very problematic.</spoiler>
There are many other plot points that are introduced and then not mentioned again until the very end, and didn’t even need to be there. And, a lot of confusing or stupid decisions by characters. Just a trope filled mess.
My advice is to not waste your time.
From the jump there is a lot of mention about the main character being Christian, and the two other adult main characters being atheist. We are banged over the head with it on several occasions. It just feels icky, like you're getting reminded that atheists are bad people subtly, over and over. And wouldn’t you know, the Christian ends up to be the hero and the Atheists are bad people. Of course.
Then, we get a plot point/twist using gender identity that I found to be very problematic.</spoiler>
There are many other plot points that are introduced and then not mentioned again until the very end, and didn’t even need to be there. And, a lot of confusing or stupid decisions by characters. Just a trope filled mess.
My advice is to not waste your time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Kidnapping, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Drug abuse, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, and Body shaming