A review by reuben_books
Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

0.25

This book is just a thinly veiled excuse to spew transphobia. If you’re queer, I’d advise not reading it. More details with spoilers at the end of my review. 

Just a few minor points before I go into rant mode: 

The initial premise of this book is so much like that of Freida McFadden’s ‘The Housemaid’, but seeing as they were both published in the same year, this could only be coincidence (I hope). 

I would also say it is way more of a mystery thriller/detective story with ghosts than a horror, so I don’t know why it was in the Goodreads Choice Awards horror category, let ALONE why it won. 

The ONE good thing I have to say about the book after finishing it was that towards the beginning I did get a little spooked. I didn’t realise how scary turning pages of pictures could be. I wish they’d stayed with the more childish style of pictures though, because they were way more eerie than the ‘proper’ drawings. 

**SPOILERS FROM HERE**

There’s a pretty big plot hole in the book. It’s established that Anya can only draw when she takes control of someone else, so where did the pictures come from that it was made clear neither Teddy nor Mallory drew?? Absolutely no explanation was given for this. Also, why couldn’t Anya draw words?? It’s clear she still understood words with the spirit board and her ‘talking’ at the end (even though this was in English but she apparently can’t speak English), yet for some reason she was unable to write words when she could draw such impressive images?? Both of these just seem like LAZY omissions. 

With the above points, this book would be around a 3-star rating. I enjoyed the first half, but the second half just got out of hand and sloppy. The twists weren’t shocking and the inclusion of a page-long confession monologue and awkward ‘1 year after’ chapter just seemed lazy. 

My main issues with the book were that of racism and transphobia. 

There was a current of racism throughout the book, but it came to a head towards the end when Mallory says someone who has lived in the USA for OVER 6 years was doing ‘remarkably well’ at being able to speak English. SO condescending. As if all non-English speakers are thick and incapable of learning new languages. And like most European countries, I’m sure there is a large portion of Hungary that is at least conversational, if not fluent, in English. 

But the HUGE problem in this book is the transphobia. 

The multiple mentions of Harry Potter and JK Rowling (especially in a book written in 2022 where I’m sure most people are aware of her own transphobia) should have been a red flag. Unfortunately, I didn’t pick up on it properly before the ‘twist’. 

As a trans person myself, I DESPISE when a character being trans/not the gender people perceived them to be is used as a major, shocking plot twist. We exist in the real world, and our existence shouldn’t be used as a plot point or spectacle by authors who are clearly not from the LBGTQIA+ community. The kid didn’t even NEED to ‘change gender’ in the story. The parents could have moved away, or made up some bullshit story instead of doing it. Clearly just an excuse to instil transphobia into the book. 

The transphobia clicked as soon as Mallory demands ‘why didn’t you tell me Teddy is a girl’. This is BEFORE we find out that Teddy’s parents have changed Teddy’s gender, so for all Mallory or we knew, Teddy was actually trans. This is immediately invalidating trans identities, and could have been said in so many other ways e.g., ‘Was Teddy born a girl?’ or even ‘Is Teddy transgender?’. 

They also say that Teddy was emotionally traumatised from 2-3 years of living as a boy. Yeah, sure. Imagine how trans people feel having to live their lives in bodies that feel completely alien to them! Its baffling how a link isn’t made here by so many transphobes.  

Also, my favourite quote from the book if you weren’t already convinced of Rekulak’s blatant transphobia: 

'Ted and Caroline were very sick people who made a lot of mistakes, and their biggest mistake was taking you away from your parents. Their second-biggest mistake was dressing you in boy clothes and changing your name from Flora to Teddy.' EXCUSE ME?? THEY LITERALLY MURDERED PEOPLE, BUT THIS WAS WORSE????? 

So, to sum up this book: evil, murderous atheist people steal away a child and force it to be transgender, while saintly, devout Christian woman (who has found healing from addiction through God don’t forget) saves said child and returns them to their ‘natural’ God-given gender.

FUCK YOU Jason Rekulak. 
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