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A review by nickoliver
Hide by Kiersten White
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I'm honestly a bit surprised. Most people I've seen read this book didn't like it in the slightest, so I didn't have any expectations, but I actually liked it? Admittedly, there were a few things I heavily disliked or wouldn't be in the story if I had a say, but for the most part, I was really sucked into the story and couldn't stop reading from a certain point on.
Now, bad things first. There were way too many different characters, and White played way too wildly with the POVs. In the hide-and-seek game itself, there were fourteen people in total, and the author attempted to give all of them at least a little bit of a backstory. But some of the characters were so inconsequential that I didn't understand why I needed to know so many details about them. Plus, a lot of them were referred to differently throughout the story - for example, there was a writer named Ian, and sometimes the text called him "Ian" and sometimes "the writer". You seriously had to keep a list of the names with their job descriptions and backstory with you at all times if you didn't want to get confused. For example, I kept forgetting who the hell Christian was. Especially the contestants who lost early were so easily forgotten that it really made no sense to give them a backstory at all. And the perspectives changed so many times that you sometimes got insight into almost every single character, and that was just too much. I think White might have attempted to not make it obvious which characters were going to be the first victims by trying to give them all the same level of importance, but it just didn't work.
Personally, I also wasn't the biggest fan with the way some of the characters were written. Brandon, for example, was lovely from beginning to end, but the way White talked about him almost infantilised him. Many of the characters were more caricatures than real people. And with Ava, one of the only non-white contestants, the author tried to bring a bit of nuance to the table - for example, had her talk about how she was always expected to be the strong one -, but there wasn't enough of it. It was more of an attempt to bring depth to the story, but it didn't really work all too well. Too many characters were also very casually homophobic towards Ava in particular - or rather, not to her face directly, just when they thought about her -, which was a bit exhausting. Why not a single one of them seemed to be able to act normally around a lesbian was beyond me.
At the beginning of the book, it seemed like Mack was the protagonist, but thanks to all the erratic perspective changes, she sometimes faded a bit into the background. Which was a bit of a pity, because she was a fascinating character, especially the way she felt about bravery and what one was expected to do in the face of something dangerous. But towards the end of the story, she did a few things that threw me off-guard. I lost track of her throughout the story and she didn't feel like a main character anymore, so I was surprised by some of her choices.
However, for a book that had too many characters and a lot of unimportant and unexplored ones at that, I did get quite attached to some of the more important ones. I did really like Mack for the most part, and I developed a soft spot for LeGrand. And while it was developed a bit too quickly, considering the story was set over the course of only a week, I did also get a bit invested in Mack and Ava's relationship. Maybe also because I didn't expect there to be sapphics, and I always love being surprised by queerness.
I was mostly excited for the story because the plot really hooked me in. For me, it took about 20% for me to start being invested, which is when the game actually started. I didn't know where the story was going to go, but I did expect it to go differently. I know a lot of people who didn't like where it went and what the actual reason for the game was, and while it was certainly a bit unoriginal and generic, it didn't put me off the book the way it seemed to have done for others. I still had a good time reading and was pulled in. I actually kind of liked it. Though I do think that White attempted to start conversations about important topics at time that fell a bit flat for me and didn't really go anywhere. That could've been explored a little bit more. And the ending was a little bit anticlimactic.
This was my sixth book by White, I think? Her books are mostly around the 3 star mark for me, with a tendency to be higher than that rather than lower. So I usually enjoy her stories, and this one was no exception. I read this pretty quickly once I got hooked, and while there were certainly things that could've been improved - mostly the chaos with the characters and the perspectives -, I still enjoyed it a lot. Which really surprised me.
Now, bad things first. There were way too many different characters, and White played way too wildly with the POVs. In the hide-and-seek game itself, there were fourteen people in total, and the author attempted to give all of them at least a little bit of a backstory. But some of the characters were so inconsequential that I didn't understand why I needed to know so many details about them. Plus, a lot of them were referred to differently throughout the story - for example, there was a writer named Ian, and sometimes the text called him "Ian" and sometimes "the writer". You seriously had to keep a list of the names with their job descriptions and backstory with you at all times if you didn't want to get confused. For example, I kept forgetting who the hell Christian was. Especially the contestants who lost early were so easily forgotten that it really made no sense to give them a backstory at all. And the perspectives changed so many times that you sometimes got insight into almost every single character, and that was just too much. I think White might have attempted to not make it obvious which characters were going to be the first victims by trying to give them all the same level of importance, but it just didn't work.
Personally, I also wasn't the biggest fan with the way some of the characters were written. Brandon, for example, was lovely from beginning to end, but the way White talked about him almost infantilised him. Many of the characters were more caricatures than real people. And with Ava, one of the only non-white contestants, the author tried to bring a bit of nuance to the table - for example, had her talk about how she was always expected to be the strong one -, but there wasn't enough of it. It was more of an attempt to bring depth to the story, but it didn't really work all too well. Too many characters were also very casually homophobic towards Ava in particular - or rather, not to her face directly, just when they thought about her -, which was a bit exhausting. Why not a single one of them seemed to be able to act normally around a lesbian was beyond me.
At the beginning of the book, it seemed like Mack was the protagonist, but thanks to all the erratic perspective changes, she sometimes faded a bit into the background. Which was a bit of a pity, because she was a fascinating character, especially the way she felt about bravery and what one was expected to do in the face of something dangerous. But towards the end of the story, she did a few things that threw me off-guard. I lost track of her throughout the story and she didn't feel like a main character anymore, so I was surprised by some of her choices.
However, for a book that had too many characters and a lot of unimportant and unexplored ones at that, I did get quite attached to some of the more important ones. I did really like Mack for the most part, and I developed a soft spot for LeGrand. And while it was developed a bit too quickly, considering the story was set over the course of only a week, I did also get a bit invested in Mack and Ava's relationship. Maybe also because I didn't expect there to be sapphics, and I always love being surprised by queerness.
I was mostly excited for the story because the plot really hooked me in. For me, it took about 20% for me to start being invested, which is when the game actually started. I didn't know where the story was going to go, but I did expect it to go differently. I know a lot of people who didn't like where it went and what the actual reason for the game was, and while it was certainly a bit unoriginal and generic, it didn't put me off the book the way it seemed to have done for others. I still had a good time reading and was pulled in. I actually kind of liked it. Though I do think that White attempted to start conversations about important topics at time that fell a bit flat for me and didn't really go anywhere. That could've been explored a little bit more. And the ending was a little bit anticlimactic.
This was my sixth book by White, I think? Her books are mostly around the 3 star mark for me, with a tendency to be higher than that rather than lower. So I usually enjoy her stories, and this one was no exception. I read this pretty quickly once I got hooked, and while there were certainly things that could've been improved - mostly the chaos with the characters and the perspectives -, I still enjoyed it a lot. Which really surprised me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Infidelity