Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

10 reviews

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

2.5

Finished reading: October 29th 2024

"When you eliminate the impossible, all that remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

I had a fantastic time reading this author's debut back when I read it in 2017, and I've been looking forward to read more of his writing ever since. I'm still not sure why it took me over two years to finally get to his second book Hidden Pictures... The blurb made it sound like a fitting read for Halloween month, and it was the perfect excuse to finally pick it up. Things started out well enough and I was really enjoying my time with this book despite some red flags. Sadly, the plot made a drastic turn around the 70-80% mark that completely ruined the story for me. Not only were the twists absolutely ridiculous, but they also left me with a bad taste in my mouth and the main gender-related twist was borderline offensive. Transphobia, racism, discrimination against atheists, fatphobia... This story seemed to have a particular right-wing political agenda, and this not only made me dislike certain characters but also ruined the reading experience for me. It's such a shame, because the premise itself is fantastic and I can't deny that I was really enjoying myself during most of the book despite the previously mentioned red flags present throughout the story. I also loved the illustrations, which really complemented the plot... I gave Hidden Pictures an extra star for them, but the rest pretty much ended in a trainwreck. I do hope his newest story has less of a political angle, because I will probably have to give up his writing otherwise. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infertility, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

staceyinthesticks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Infertility, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, and Gaslighting

savreads28's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

cnannery19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

jennabeck13's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)

Genre: Thriller

About 370 pages

Mallory Quinn is a recovering addict who has spent the past two years desperately trying to turn her life around. So when she gets the chance to be a live-in nanny for a picture-perfect family in a quaint New Jersey suburb, she is determined to excel in the position. She gets along great with Teddy, the young boy in the family, and the job seems to be going well. Until one day, she notices some of Teddy’s drawings are a bit disturbing. They show what looks to be a murder… Combining the drawings with a story she heard from a crazy neighbor, Mallory begins to wonder if the house is haunted and if a ghost is using Teddy to communicate its story. She’s not sure how to approach this with the parents as she worries they will think it’s related to her prior drug use, so she sets out independently to figure out what is going on.

WOW. THIS BOOK IS INSANE. I’ve had this on my shelf for a few months but was so nervous to read it because of all the good things I’d heard and was afraid it wouldn’t live up to my expectations, but holy cow, it exceeded them. I won’t go into details for fear of spoiling. But this book was chilling, twisted, and engaging from beginning to end. Rekulak did a terrific job at character development and creating a super eerie setting. I also loved the inclusion of the drawings throughout, so this is definitely one that I recommend picking up a physical copy.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

spooderman's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Stalking, and Outing

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Chronic illness, Infertility, Infidelity, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Classism

myriam_almonti's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Xenophobia and Car accident

Minor: Miscarriage and Racism

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.75

My goodness, I just finished this book (at night, sheesh😬) and I have goosebumps. I literally still have chills. I honestly commend the author for their dedication to this book. The illustrations really made the book what it is. It was an excellent incorporation. I honestly loved this book from front to back.  The big twist was a little far fetch for me, but it was plausible. And even after I was still growing anxious. I understand the hype. I truly a little scared at times. What a true horror book.

But I wish everything tied together. The way Annie found out about the reveal was far fetch considering the reader themselves didn't get to see how she came up with this conclusion. Also, I lowkey wished they stuck with the ghost story because the actual twist of it all being Caroline and the spirit being someone else was so last minutes. And I still don't see how the opening scene of her doing the experiment had much to do with the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Infertility, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Medical content

livvmarks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

whatathymeitwas's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Well that was a trip, I kept thinking I knew what was going on and boy, was I wrong. I liked this quite a bit. It does have its issues, but the fact that it was a well written, unique story, pretty much held my attention. I also appreciated that it was presented with artwork within, that was refreshing. Overall I enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Car accident, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail