A review by lovesbooksandtea
Hidden Monster by Amanda Strong

2.0

The beginning showed promise and I stuck with it until the end so I could find out the solution to the mystery. All the bits in the middle though...there was a little too much victim-blaming for my liking, both by the supporting cast and by the main character. There was also this toxic idea of “well my boyfriend is lying to me and controlling me, trapping me on an island so I can’t escape but it’s ok because he’s just trying to protect me” which I can’t stand in YA novels as they give young girls the wrong idea of what a relationship should be. I also hate the perpetuation of girls being bad friends/bad people and only boys being trustworthy. So many issues with all of the characters. There were also issues with the text itself, the author thanks a proofreader in her acknowledgments but that person really did not do a thorough job.
The ending was a total twist that I didn’t see coming and that’s why this book is getting 2 stars instead of 1.