Scan barcode
A review by dcnireads
Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
at first i was a bit skeptical about the writing style. it didnt really feel like i was reading a novel, it just felt like i was reading someone's diary, or a simple, straight-to-the-point recollection of a tense, complicated, scary story. i thought it felt boring and detrimental to the vibe of the whole book considering what genre it falls under, but i was still invested and im a simple reader, so anything quick and steady paced and easy to read was enough for me. but when i got to the end, i went from being only midly satisfied to genuinely impressed.
the epilogue revealing that it was mallory writing the whole story from her own point of view as a way to help flora understand what happened to her was a clever, clever move. that one line about mallory mentioning that she found it hard to write everything until sofia advised her to just write like herself instead of trying to write like an experienced author? honestly genius. whether or not it was done on purpose to disguise the basic writing and narration style, it still worked for me. this was initally looking like a good 4-4.5 read, but to be honest that onemove really impressed me. so did that teddy/flora plot twist and red herring that is annie barrett's ghost story. in conclusion, i think this is worthy of being a good ole 5 star read after all.
the epilogue revealing that it was mallory writing the whole story from her own point of view as a way to help flora understand what happened to her was a clever, clever move. that one line about mallory mentioning that she found it hard to write everything until sofia advised her to just write like herself instead of trying to write like an experienced author? honestly genius. whether or not it was done on purpose to disguise the basic writing and narration style, it still worked for me. this was initally looking like a good 4-4.5 read, but to be honest that onemove really impressed me. so did that teddy/flora plot twist and red herring that is annie barrett's ghost story. in conclusion, i think this is worthy of being a good ole 5 star read after all.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Drug use and Grief