'Hidden' by Shalini Boland is a dual pov, cross century story about a girl and her brother who are just barely getting by in the foster system. Madison is of course, a bit of an outcast. She wears a lot of dark clothing and has little money. Lately, stress also has her acting out at school.
Just when things seem about at their worst, the siblings inherit wealth and a house. As the eldest, she's in charge of their fortune, guided by a solicitor representing the estate of their ancestors. But there's always a catch.
Alexandre is a feisty Frenchman who always seems to find himself in trouble. Also the eldest of his family, he's expected to set a good example and maintain a good reputation for his own siblings as they come into their own. Easier said than done.
After upsetting another group of nobles, he and his family leave town for a bit on the trip of a lifetime. Off to Turkey on a career making archaelogical expedition, his sister doesn't even want to go. She finds the entire idea off-putting and boring, but has no choice other than to accompany them.
What I love about this tale is the origin story for the vampires. It's uncommon to see authors dig deep (no pun intended) for their characters turning points, but Boland does this in a way that's almost reminiscent of the vampire queen herself, Anne Rice.
Boland excels at the backstory, the social structure of the world she builds for that time, and the dialogue is well-done. Even Madison and Ben's backstory is handled pretty well. I find them to be less interesting characters in general, but largely because they are mostly stereotypes. They're still likable and you want to see them succeed.
I enjoyed the way the two timelines were written, with the dual-narrations coinciding with each other.. drawing closer and closer until they merged. It's at this point I think the story struggled a little, however.
Somewhere, Alexander's personality got lost when he was put in the modern setting. Dialogue didn't mesh well and chemistry could have been better between the pair. Madison's reactions flipped in moments, in ways that didn't feel authentic.
Nonetheless, I am looking forward to trying book two. It's possible that since this is just the first in the series, Boland hadn't fully settled into her groove yet and as it had a ton of potential, I'm hopeful the improvements will show themselves there.
Still, it was a solid enough read if you don't mind a slow pace. I think Alex could be lovely.
(I received this title as an ARC. All opinions are mine and freely given.)