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mstormodolge 's review for:
Hide and Seeker
by Daka Hermon
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Honestly, this book would have gotten a 5 once I got into it just because of how much depth there is, but I didn't like the ending so here we are lmao.
this story deserves some backstory from my side of things- I first found the "connected" sequel to this book (the nightmare king one) in an elementary school I was subbing in and I thought the cover was so cool I downloaded it and started reading. however, like two chapters in you see these three characters with 'spiral marks' on their wrists and the lead of NK feels connected to them. I knew it had to be an earlier connected book, so here we are. this took me months to read with tons of breaks because it is a bit slow and also just wasn't a priority, but I forgot to bring my kindle one day to a school so I finally finished it. As the story went along, it really did get better.
overall, I like our lead. he is part of the DM club and I will say that got a bit intense at times, but I also really liked him. and everyone depended on him which is crazy for like a middle schooler.
his friends are also very cool and unique, they all seem to have a lot of thought put into them. even the more side characters and kids from nowhere are all unique and I really appreciate that.
the overall thing was lowkey terrifying, idk how a kid would read this. it very much gives childrens version of those truth or dare horror films, but using the more age appropriate hide and seek. the whole thing is if you break the rules, the 'seeker' brings you to nowhere. that was horrific in my opinion. when our characters finally make it to nowhere, we find that you basically are constantly facing your biggest fears, and if you touch someone, you get their fears too. They meet Duke, who has been there for 80 years and has 11 fears and I feel for him hard. I really liked Duke.
overall, the whole fight against the seeker was really cool. Spoiler, but we also find that all the kids that leave nowhere go to the age they should have been- just because they don't age in nowhere doesn't mean it stops, so like duke, being 13 when he gets caught, will be 93 when they escape. sad sad sad.
anyway as I was saying, the fight is really cool. I like how much of the overcoming your fears comes into it and how unique everyone's fears are portrayed- how even "simple" or common fears are turned into something super scary.
The ending was a bit boring, though, if I'm being honest. I didn't really like how they don't clean anything up, if that makes sense. We slightly hear about our main crew of three, but what about Zee??? is he better now?? I liked him, I feel bad for him. I also wanna know if they're able to find Duke. No one knows anything but first names, so I think it would be hard but I mean I'd look for a newspaper article about a missing kid reappearing 80 years later you know??? I'd try to find him before he croaks. or like did he just immediately croak? that makes me sad, ugh. but whatever, can't get sad about a fictional character-- I'm currently cosplaying as a gym employee because my friend needed someone to stand behind the front desk of his gym haha-- so no time to be all sad.
excited to get back into the second book, but truthfully if it's as slow to start then quick to end as this one, I don't know if I'll be able to review it as highly. I don't see how that's good for kids or adults reading it lol.
this story deserves some backstory from my side of things- I first found the "connected" sequel to this book (the nightmare king one) in an elementary school I was subbing in and I thought the cover was so cool I downloaded it and started reading. however, like two chapters in you see these three characters with 'spiral marks' on their wrists and the lead of NK feels connected to them. I knew it had to be an earlier connected book, so here we are. this took me months to read with tons of breaks because it is a bit slow and also just wasn't a priority, but I forgot to bring my kindle one day to a school so I finally finished it. As the story went along, it really did get better.
overall, I like our lead. he is part of the DM club and I will say that got a bit intense at times, but I also really liked him. and everyone depended on him which is crazy for like a middle schooler.
his friends are also very cool and unique, they all seem to have a lot of thought put into them. even the more side characters and kids from nowhere are all unique and I really appreciate that.
the overall thing was lowkey terrifying, idk how a kid would read this. it very much gives childrens version of those truth or dare horror films, but using the more age appropriate hide and seek. the whole thing is if you break the rules, the 'seeker' brings you to nowhere. that was horrific in my opinion. when our characters finally make it to nowhere, we find that you basically are constantly facing your biggest fears, and if you touch someone, you get their fears too. They meet Duke, who has been there for 80 years and has 11 fears and I feel for him hard. I really liked Duke.
overall, the whole fight against the seeker was really cool. Spoiler, but we also find that all the kids that leave nowhere go to the age they should have been- just because they don't age in nowhere doesn't mean it stops, so like duke, being 13 when he gets caught, will be 93 when they escape. sad sad sad.
anyway as I was saying, the fight is really cool. I like how much of the overcoming your fears comes into it and how unique everyone's fears are portrayed- how even "simple" or common fears are turned into something super scary.
The ending was a bit boring, though, if I'm being honest. I didn't really like how they don't clean anything up, if that makes sense. We slightly hear about our main crew of three, but what about Zee??? is he better now?? I liked him, I feel bad for him. I also wanna know if they're able to find Duke. No one knows anything but first names, so I think it would be hard but I mean I'd look for a newspaper article about a missing kid reappearing 80 years later you know??? I'd try to find him before he croaks. or like did he just immediately croak? that makes me sad, ugh. but whatever, can't get sad about a fictional character-- I'm currently cosplaying as a gym employee because my friend needed someone to stand behind the front desk of his gym haha-- so no time to be all sad.
excited to get back into the second book, but truthfully if it's as slow to start then quick to end as this one, I don't know if I'll be able to review it as highly. I don't see how that's good for kids or adults reading it lol.