A review by bookwormmelissa
Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

3.0

Thanks to Flatiron and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to publication. I've never read anything by this author, but the description made it seem like a darker version of Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson, so I was really interested. This is a suburban nanny book where the nanny, Mallory, used to be addicted to painkillers after an athletic injury, and this is her first chance to strike out on her own after trying to put her life back together. While I did think this was a propulsive read, there were so many descriptions and plot points that did not make sense (Mallory's born-again Christian identity, her lack of trauma from the background she has, and the decisions she makes when she discovers the strange drawings done by Teddy). The pages turned fast, but the suspension of reality was insane, and then when the twist and reveal happened at about 80%, it did not feel true to the characters to me. I was very disappointed. I still give it 3 stars because of the pacing, but so much did not fit.