A review by grimalkintoes
Hide by Kiersten White

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

2.0

Special thanks to Libro.fm for a free, electronic ALC of this novel.
Expected publication date: May 24, 2022

The challenge: spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park and don't get caught.

The prize: enough money to change everything.


Kiersten White's debut adult supernatural thriller, Hide is not a fun ride. Set in an abandoned amusement park, fourteen competitors are tasked with playing a high stakes game of hide and seek. The payout? $50,000 in cash. The complication? It might not just be people hunting them.

While this was certainly a suspenseful novel, I don't think that I can give it a higher rating than 2☆ in good faith. The character development was weak, the pacing slow as hell, the backstories too complicated, and the world-building drab. This novel had an opportunity to truly shine in the horrific genre-bending of innocent childhood games, but it didn't quite rise to the challenge.

If you're a fan of The Hunger Games and/or Squid Game, though, I do recommend it as a book to listen to in the background or pick up if you have nothing else queued up on your TBR.