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nialiversuch's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
cheyenne7's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
professor_reads's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Violence
cbarsa9's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is an underrated novel. It artfully skirts the line of magical realism, letting you decide what to believe—if there’s more to the world than we know, or if it’s simply one woman’s mental health struggles. The characters are well developed and feel full and vivid. It’s not a perfect work, but it’s compelling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Murder
abookishtype's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Ruby is a special person. She has a big heart, but is haunted by family secrets and loneliness. Unfortunately, she’s also prickly—prickly enough that it’s hard for people to learn about the kindness and loyalty underneath Ruby’s apparent standoffishness. Everyone gets Ruby wrong. And when Ruby gets caught up in sinister events in The Hidden, by Melanie Golding, it means that a lot of people end up surprised while they chase her across Great Britain...
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss, for review consideration. Read the rest of my review at https://abookishtype.wordpress.com/2021/10/18/the-hidden-by-melanie-golding/
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss, for review consideration. Read the rest of my review at https://abookishtype.wordpress.com/2021/10/18/the-hidden-by-melanie-golding/
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse
fictionmajorette's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Full thoughts: https://fictionmajorette.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-hidden-melanie-golding.html
A very large theme in this story is motherhood, different types of mothers, different decisions mothers need to make, etc. I'm personally not a mother (and have no desire to ever be one) so I might have a different take away than some other readers, but I really liked the way that motherhood isn't shown as being some altruistic life calling. All of the mothers in this book (and there are 5) are complex and flawed because they're human and that complexity includes the mothering-aspects of their lives.
The characters and character relationships in this book were great. Golding does a fantastic job of giving us character details right upfront which helped ground me and feel like I really knew these characters. These character details come in such a seamless way that it never felt heavy handed or overly telling instead of showing. I also really enjoyed how those initial character details were deepened as the story progressed and we learned more layers to that detail.
The narrative structure was really fun and I think really helped to keep the overall pacing engaging. The first scene in the book is the child being abandoned and then we start switching between Ruby and Joanna and different times within the last year and we see the lead up to how and why that child was abandoned. Most of Joanna's chapters were in the present where she is investigating the attack on the man in the apartment and most of Ruby's chapters are in the past where she's integrating herself into this other family. Obviously, the two plot lines are going to converge at some point and it is a fun journey to see how, exactly, that is going to be done.
The reveals were fantastic and were paced perfectly. Specifically, there were 3 reveals back to back to back within a certain 10% window of the book that I was just in awe of. Those three reveals completely changed the direction of the narrative as well as my perspective on multiple characters. I also felt the reveals were well hinted at ahead of time so nothing felt like it was coming completely out of left field.
Overall, I really loved this book - the characters, relationships, themes, pacing, and reveals were all dialed in perfectly for my reading tastes. I will be going back and reading Golding's debut novel from 2019 for sure.
Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for review
Expected publication date is November 9, 2021.
A very large theme in this story is motherhood, different types of mothers, different decisions mothers need to make, etc. I'm personally not a mother (and have no desire to ever be one) so I might have a different take away than some other readers, but I really liked the way that motherhood isn't shown as being some altruistic life calling. All of the mothers in this book (and there are 5) are complex and flawed because they're human and that complexity includes the mothering-aspects of their lives.
The characters and character relationships in this book were great. Golding does a fantastic job of giving us character details right upfront which helped ground me and feel like I really knew these characters. These character details come in such a seamless way that it never felt heavy handed or overly telling instead of showing. I also really enjoyed how those initial character details were deepened as the story progressed and we learned more layers to that detail.
The narrative structure was really fun and I think really helped to keep the overall pacing engaging. The first scene in the book is the child being abandoned and then we start switching between Ruby and Joanna and different times within the last year and we see the lead up to how and why that child was abandoned. Most of Joanna's chapters were in the present where she is investigating the attack on the man in the apartment and most of Ruby's chapters are in the past where she's integrating herself into this other family. Obviously, the two plot lines are going to converge at some point and it is a fun journey to see how, exactly, that is going to be done.
The reveals were fantastic and were paced perfectly. Specifically, there were 3 reveals back to back to back within a certain 10% window of the book that I was just in awe of. Those three reveals completely changed the direction of the narrative as well as my perspective on multiple characters. I also felt the reveals were well hinted at ahead of time so nothing felt like it was coming completely out of left field.
Overall, I really loved this book - the characters, relationships, themes, pacing, and reveals were all dialed in perfectly for my reading tastes. I will be going back and reading Golding's debut novel from 2019 for sure.
Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for review
Expected publication date is November 9, 2021.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse
librariangeorgia's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Abandonment
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
Minor: Blood
elna17a9a's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for and advanced copy for review*
It took me a while to get into this one, and I almost decided to give up on it. But I kept reminding myself how ,such I loved Little Darlings, and so I forced myself to keep going. About 30% of the way in it picked up and I was invested, but it starts off slow and removed, focusing on Ruby.
Once you're into the meat of the plot (a handsome young man across the way has a woman and young child living in his soundproofed apartment - he says they're undocumented and agoraphobic, but the woman tells Ruby that she should be scared of him, and goes on and on about a coat...), it picks up and I wanted to know how it would all shake out.
3.5 stars, rounded up.
It took me a while to get into this one, and I almost decided to give up on it. But I kept reminding myself how ,such I loved Little Darlings, and so I forced myself to keep going. About 30% of the way in it picked up and I was invested, but it starts off slow and removed, focusing on Ruby.
Once you're into the meat of the plot (a handsome young man across the way has a woman and young child living in his soundproofed apartment - he says they're undocumented and agoraphobic, but the woman tells Ruby that she should be scared of him, and goes on and on about a coat...), it picks up and I wanted to know how it would all shake out.
3.5 stars, rounded up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Abandonment
Moderate: Domestic abuse
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