Shreela
Written on Jan 29, 2023
'I loved it. The surprises really surprise and it has that hard-to-achieve propulsiveness that won't let you put it down. And the pictures are terrific!' Stephen King
'Must be the boldest double twist of the year. Truly fantastic' The Times
AN AMAZON.COM BEST MYSTERY/THRILLER OF THE YEAR
Mallory is delighted to have a new job looking after gorgeous four-year-old, Teddy. She's been sober for a year and a half and she's sure her new nannying role in the affluent suburbs will help keep her on the straight and narrow.
That is until Teddy starts to draw disturbing pictures of his imaginary friend, Anya. It is quite clear to Mallory and to Teddy's parents, even in his crude childlike style, that the woman Teddy is drawing in his pictures is dead.
Teddy's crayons are confiscated, and his paper locked away. But the drawings somehow keep coming, telling a frightening story of a woman murdered... and they're getting more sophisticated. But if Teddy isn't drawing the pictures anymore, who is? And what are they trying to tell Mallory about her new home?
'Genuine jump-scares' Guardian
'Gripping, with intriguing characters and genuinely creepy moments' Daily Mirror
'Whip-smart, creepy as hell . . . Destined to be a classic of the genre' Ransom Riggs
'One of the best and most inventive ghost stories I've read in years' Joe Hill
'Almost enough to make a person believe in ghosts' Kirkus
'So spooky' Buzzfeed
'Memorable and twisty' Esquire
- ISBN10 1405550384
- ISBN13 9781405550383
- Publish Date 10 May 2022
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Little, Brown Book Group
- Edition Unabridged edition
- Format Audiobook (MP3)
- Duration 9 hours and 29 minutes
- Language English
Reviews
pamela
Written on Jan 6, 2023
While unbelievably fun to read (I read the whole book over two nights), there was something about Hidden Pictures that just didn't sit quite right with me. At any given moment I can rate this book anywhere from two to four stars, so I've sort of settled somewhere in the middle.
To start with the positive, the story is fast-paced, conceptually interesting, and includes some lovely artwork, giving the book something unique. I also found the plot twists to be surprising, although I'm not entirely convinced, logical.
One of the significant issues with Hidden Pictures, however, is that it's marketed as a horror novel because it includes some very minor supernatural stuff. It isn't, though. This book falls firmly in the Thriller genre, so definitely don't go into this book expecting any scares, or psychological terror. It's a pretty bog-standard crime thriller plot from start to finish, with a little bit of supernatural seasoning sprinkled on top.
So why, despite absolutely devouring it, can I not decide if Hidden Pictures was good or not? I've been going over and over it in my head, and I think it's because there's this hidden undercurrent of religious conservatism that underpins the whole book. Mallory's Christianity is mentioned constantly, and there is a seedy undercurrent of transphobia that affects a huge chunk of the narrative. None of it is ever overt, but all of it was dealt with in a way that just made me feel really uncomfortable. Add to that some spectacularly blatant fatphobia, and this book reads like a YA evangelical thriller instead of a mature, adult horror novel.
Apart from that, while the end was loads of fun, and had heaps of potential, so many decisions just defied any kind of logic. Character choices required so much suspension of disbelief that I found them funny, rather than thrilling. And Mallory made some...questionable...choices in her role as babysitter that made me want to reach through the pages and fire her myself.
Still, I enjoyed Hidden Pictures enough to read the whole novel in two sittings, so despite it's problems, I did enjoy it. I suspect it's a book that will age poorly though, and is definitely not one I'll ever revisit.