gracedreads's review against another edition
2.0
2/5 Stars + 0/5 Spice
- YA Romance/Fantasy
- Vampires
- Dual POV
- Switches between timelines
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher Second Sky and the author Shalini Boland for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
This book is not at all what I expected. Let me start by saying this book is not bad, I am just not its intended audience. I’m not even sure YA is an accurate classification, I have read and enjoyed plenty of YA that felt way more mature than this.
This book switched between two points of view and timelines one being 1881 Paris/Turkey and the other being modern day England. The beginning of this book took forever - the main plot began around 65% of the way through the book according to my kindle. The beginning of this book was unnecessarily long in my opinion. I believe it could have been significantly condensed and the main plot line been given more time. Like, *ahem* the romance plot, or honestly lack there of.
When the main plot line does finally pick up I’m not going to lie it left me wanting. The romance plot line left a lot to be desired *ba dum tss* - unintentional pun (I like to think I’m funnier than I am). It is in no way explicit by any means, and honestly the progression was not super believable.
This book features foster care, vampires and a great deal of wealth. The FMC is newly 17 and has a 12 year old brother. She inherits a huge estate and a large sum of money and more responsibility than should be even remotely considered appropriate for her age. The vampiric elements of this book are definitely different and unique compared to other popular depictions of vampires in the media - although a lot is still unknown by the end of this book.
Honestly, I believe this book is geared towards young teens. The pacing, content and overall maturity of language is very adolescent. As I found this book difficult to engage with and honestly hard to get through I do not believe I will be picking up any more books in this series.
- YA Romance/Fantasy
- Vampires
- Dual POV
- Switches between timelines
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher Second Sky and the author Shalini Boland for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
This book is not at all what I expected. Let me start by saying this book is not bad, I am just not its intended audience. I’m not even sure YA is an accurate classification, I have read and enjoyed plenty of YA that felt way more mature than this.
This book switched between two points of view and timelines one being 1881 Paris/Turkey and the other being modern day England. The beginning of this book took forever - the main plot began around 65% of the way through the book according to my kindle. The beginning of this book was unnecessarily long in my opinion. I believe it could have been significantly condensed and the main plot line been given more time. Like, *ahem* the romance plot, or honestly lack there of.
When the main plot line does finally pick up I’m not going to lie it left me wanting. The romance plot line left a lot to be desired *ba dum tss* - unintentional pun (I like to think I’m funnier than I am). It is in no way explicit by any means, and honestly the progression was not super believable.
This book features foster care, vampires and a great deal of wealth. The FMC is newly 17 and has a 12 year old brother. She inherits a huge estate and a large sum of money and more responsibility than should be even remotely considered appropriate for her age. The vampiric elements of this book are definitely different and unique compared to other popular depictions of vampires in the media - although a lot is still unknown by the end of this book.
Honestly, I believe this book is geared towards young teens. The pacing, content and overall maturity of language is very adolescent. As I found this book difficult to engage with and honestly hard to get through I do not believe I will be picking up any more books in this series.
literaryinspired's review against another edition
3.0
Hidden by Shalini Boland is the first book in the Vampires of Marchwood series, and it is an addictive young adult vampire romance filled with mystery, suspense, and a touch of darkness. The story follows Madison Greene, a 17-year-old girl who inherits an old mansion and wealth beyond her wildest dreams on her seventeenth birthday. As she steps through the creaking door of the sprawling building, she realizes her life in foster care is in the past, and her world has changed forever. But what she doesn't know is that Marchwood House hides a secret, and her life will never be the same again.
The book is divided into two timelines, one set in the present day, and the other set in Paris and Turkey in the late 1880s. The present-day storyline focuses on Madison, who spends her days exploring and learning more about her ancestors. While discovering crates and boxes of old clothing and other items, Madison learns there are secrets buried in the basement that come with the house. As she investigates further, she stumbles upon a set of large, dusty boxes in the basement and finds herself staring at the most handsome face she's ever seen. High cheekbones, porcelain skin… And when he wakes up and locks eyes with her, she realizes her heart already belongs to him, even though her head is screaming at her to get as far away from Marchwood as possible.
The second timeline takes us back to Paris and Turkey in the late 1880s and follows Alexandre, a vampire who has a dark and dangerous past. Alexandre and his family head to Turkey for several months to work at an archeology site. They are warned by the local village people to stay away from that dog site as there are night demons that once wiped out an entire population. Believing the stories to be just that, the group continues working to discover what is hidden below ground. What they find will change their lives forever.
The author does an excellent job of weaving these two timelines together, creating a captivating and engaging story that keeps the reader hooked from beginning to end. The characters are well-developed and likable, and the romance between Madison and Alexandre is sweet and genuine. The book has a great balance of mystery, suspense, and romance, and the pacing is just right. The plot is intriguing, and the author's writing style is engaging and easy to read.
One of the things I enjoyed most about this book is the way the author explained the past and gave us the backstory of how the vampires came to be. It was fascinating to see how the events in the past were connected to the present and how they affected the characters' lives. The world-building is fantastic, and the author creates a rich and detailed world filled with vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures.
The book is divided into two timelines, one set in the present day, and the other set in Paris and Turkey in the late 1880s. The present-day storyline focuses on Madison, who spends her days exploring and learning more about her ancestors. While discovering crates and boxes of old clothing and other items, Madison learns there are secrets buried in the basement that come with the house. As she investigates further, she stumbles upon a set of large, dusty boxes in the basement and finds herself staring at the most handsome face she's ever seen. High cheekbones, porcelain skin… And when he wakes up and locks eyes with her, she realizes her heart already belongs to him, even though her head is screaming at her to get as far away from Marchwood as possible.
The second timeline takes us back to Paris and Turkey in the late 1880s and follows Alexandre, a vampire who has a dark and dangerous past. Alexandre and his family head to Turkey for several months to work at an archeology site. They are warned by the local village people to stay away from that dog site as there are night demons that once wiped out an entire population. Believing the stories to be just that, the group continues working to discover what is hidden below ground. What they find will change their lives forever.
The author does an excellent job of weaving these two timelines together, creating a captivating and engaging story that keeps the reader hooked from beginning to end. The characters are well-developed and likable, and the romance between Madison and Alexandre is sweet and genuine. The book has a great balance of mystery, suspense, and romance, and the pacing is just right. The plot is intriguing, and the author's writing style is engaging and easy to read.
One of the things I enjoyed most about this book is the way the author explained the past and gave us the backstory of how the vampires came to be. It was fascinating to see how the events in the past were connected to the present and how they affected the characters' lives. The world-building is fantastic, and the author creates a rich and detailed world filled with vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures.
maaikereadsbooks_'s review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Many thanks to Second Sky and Shalini Boland for the advanced copy of Hidden via NetGalley, in return for my honest and unbiased review. Quick note: I don’t recap plots in my reviews, as it’s easy enough to read the book’s synopsis and blurbs, I purely focus on my feelings & opinions of how the books makes me feel.
As someone who has read their fair share of vampire books and is quite tired of the genre, I genuinely enjoyed this book! Shalini Boland has taken a different approach to the topic and made it intriguing once more.
Whilst some of the aspects of the story are quite unbelievable and make you, as a reader, think “well, obviously, this would only happen in fiction”; once you let go of this and go with it, the storytelling is good and draws you in.
I found myself being drawn back into the book and finished it quite quickly: a sign of a good book for me. I would recommend this to vampire fiction fans!
Spice: 1.5/5
Trigger warnings: Blood/Gore, Death, Death of a family member, Murder
briebrie8's review against another edition
3.0
Not exactly neurodivergent friendly
As a neurodivergent reader, I wasn’t a huge fan of the formatting of this book. In the start, the alternation of the present and the past without any insight as to why we were reading of the past until much later in the book skewed my focus to an almost unrepairable level. When the flip-flopping was finally over, I was able to focus on the rest of the story, but my interest had already faltered because I wasn’t able o focus through the whole thing.
Altogether, though, the concept of the novel was lovely and I do appreciate having read it.
As a neurodivergent reader, I wasn’t a huge fan of the formatting of this book. In the start, the alternation of the present and the past without any insight as to why we were reading of the past until much later in the book skewed my focus to an almost unrepairable level. When the flip-flopping was finally over, I was able to focus on the rest of the story, but my interest had already faltered because I wasn’t able o focus through the whole thing.
Altogether, though, the concept of the novel was lovely and I do appreciate having read it.
bookqueen66's review
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
raven168's review against another edition
2.0
Okay. First of all, publishers need to stop comparing bad books to great authors. This is not the first time they've done it to me, and it really ticks me off when they are absolutely nothing alike.
1.5 stars
I can't do it. I just can't. This book is terrible. I rounded up only because I barely made it to 40% before having to quit, and one star seemed a tad unfair. So this book gets the honor of being the second one I've ever given up on. I was bored out of my ever loving mind and I absolutely HATED the main character, Maddy. Seriously, this read like it was written by a teenager writing out her fantasies. Okay, that's not totally fair. What I had managed to get thru was actually written like two separate stories. Maddy's and Alexandre. Where Maddy's story was anger inducing in its unbelievable ridiculousness, Alex's was so overly detailed and exceedingly boring. I skimmed the hell out of his chapters and it didn't make a damn difference.
So yeah. Maddy is the reason I can't do this. While I don't know what kids in foster care go thru, her attitude really had me not giving a damn what happened to her. And I'll tell you why this read like some teenage fantasy to me. The day Maddy turns 17 this random dude shows up to tell her that her and her brother are the only beneficiaries of some uber rich dude that died a long time ago. They get more money than they'll ever spend, a ton of land, and a mansion that they must live in to claim. Then this random dude says that he'll pay off their foster parents so that the government won't know that these two minors are now living on their own. And Maddy won't have to go back to school either. One of the very first things Maddy does after moving is to throw an unbelievably huge party where she has no idea who most of the people are, and the majority of them are underage and getting drunk. I called a quits when she has her new friend in town take her shopping for a 4x4 vehicle despite the fact that, not only does she not have a license, but she's never driven ever before. I'm sorry, she's just too goddamn stupid for me to waste my time reading more of.
Honestly, I don't even care that I never made it to the point where the two stories meet because I can't see it making this any better. And maybe the next books are good, they do have a better rating than this one, but, again, I don't care. I really did try here, but the author failed and I'm not gonna waste any more of my time.
Copy provided by publisher via Netgalley.
1.5 stars
I can't do it. I just can't. This book is terrible. I rounded up only because I barely made it to 40% before having to quit, and one star seemed a tad unfair. So this book gets the honor of being the second one I've ever given up on. I was bored out of my ever loving mind and I absolutely HATED the main character, Maddy. Seriously, this read like it was written by a teenager writing out her fantasies. Okay, that's not totally fair. What I had managed to get thru was actually written like two separate stories. Maddy's and Alexandre. Where Maddy's story was anger inducing in its unbelievable ridiculousness, Alex's was so overly detailed and exceedingly boring. I skimmed the hell out of his chapters and it didn't make a damn difference.
So yeah. Maddy is the reason I can't do this. While I don't know what kids in foster care go thru, her attitude really had me not giving a damn what happened to her. And I'll tell you why this read like some teenage fantasy to me. The day Maddy turns 17 this random dude shows up to tell her that her and her brother are the only beneficiaries of some uber rich dude that died a long time ago. They get more money than they'll ever spend, a ton of land, and a mansion that they must live in to claim. Then this random dude says that he'll pay off their foster parents so that the government won't know that these two minors are now living on their own. And Maddy won't have to go back to school either. One of the very first things Maddy does after moving is to throw an unbelievably huge party where she has no idea who most of the people are, and the majority of them are underage and getting drunk. I called a quits when she has her new friend in town take her shopping for a 4x4 vehicle despite the fact that, not only does she not have a license, but she's never driven ever before. I'm sorry, she's just too goddamn stupid for me to waste my time reading more of.
Honestly, I don't even care that I never made it to the point where the two stories meet because I can't see it making this any better. And maybe the next books are good, they do have a better rating than this one, but, again, I don't care. I really did try here, but the author failed and I'm not gonna waste any more of my time.
Copy provided by publisher via Netgalley.