Hidden Pictures

Loved the book. So many twists that I did not see coming! The child's drawings throughout the book made it so much more creepy and intriguing. The main character is a recovering addict, clean for over a year. Her sponsor finds her a great paying job as a nanny for a wealthy family. The family consists of a mom, a dad, and one child; Teddy. Teddy is an excellent child who loves to draw and seems to have a very active imagination. Teddy even has an imaginary friend named Anya, who he draws pictures of. The MC feels like she's hit the jackpot when she lands the nanny position. She gets to move into the guest house (which she has all to herself), the pay is incredible, Teddy and her really bond, she gets along great with Teddy's parents and they make her feel like almost a part of the family, she gets to swim in their pool, and goes for runs around the ritzy neighborhood, and even meets the handsome guy who mows the family's yard and they seem to hit it off great! However, things take a sinister turn when Teddy's drawings get creepier and creepier and each one put together with the next seem to tell a dark and ominous story. Children Teddy's age should not be drawing pictures like these! Then she meets the odd woman who lives next door. The strange neighbor tells her about the ghostly legend of the previous tenant of the guesthouse she's now living in. A beautiful young foreigner, named Anne, who comes to live with her distant family and moves into the very guest house she's now living in. The young woman is beautiful and catches the eye of suitors, but to the disappointment of her family, she's uninterested in following the rules of the social norms, and keeps to herself and her drawings. She enjoyed exploring the wooded area behind the property and drawing beautiful pictures. Until one day it seems she goes missing and is never heard from again. What happened to Anne? Could Anne have any relation to Teddy's drawings and imaginary friend Anya?

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ I loved this book! As a full-time working mom x2 with very little free time, I don’t have a lot of time to spend reading. However, I somehow managed to read this book in a little over 24 hours. I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this book because I NEEDED to know how it was going to end! Props to the author for his intriguing writing style. I was pulled in right from the beginning. Hidden Pictures follows Mallory, a recovering addict who is trying to secure employment to help her move beyond the halfway house she is currently living in. Her sponsor, Russell, sets her up with a live-in babysitting job for Carol & Ted. Carol works at the VA as a psychiatrist while Ted’s career isn’t revealed until much later in the story. They need a live-in babysitter for their 5 year old son, Teddy, before he begins kindergarten after the summer. Mallory & Teddy get along really well right from the beginning! They spend the summer having a lot of fun. As the story progresses, Teddy begins drawing pictures that are a little concerning. The pictures lead Mallory on a hunt for more information about an unsolved murder that occurred in the same house. The actual pictures included in the novel really added context to what Mallory was seeing. Mallory’s backstory was both heartbreaking and eye-opening. Her addiction began like so many others’ has and it took her life on a downward spiral before she was able to pull herself out of it. The author did a great job of describing addiction and the hold it has on the addict’s life. I was rooting for Mallory from the beginning. It was easy to connect with her and want her to have a happy ending. Mallory spends most of the book trying to decipher what Teddy’s pictures mean. What she finds out was not expected by anyone, least of all, me. I did not see that coming at all! It really caught me off guard and I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. Overall, Hidden Pictures was so very well written. The twists, mystery and paranormal components of the story made this one of the quickest reads for me in a long time. I can see why it was bestseller. I will definitely keep an eye out for more from Jason Rekulak!

I absolutely LOVED this novel beginning to end. Talk about thrilling, captivating, and intriguing from the first page. Incredible writing style, and those twists?!!! 1000/10

Page turner, engaging, twisty!! Loved this book from start to finish. Highly recommend!

I loved everything about this except the ending; it was underwhelming but wrapped up nicely afterwards. The story had my heart racing and I was so enthralled, even when the pieces first started falling into place, but then out of nowhere comes this extremely mundane explanation that took me out of the creepy world that I had been in. I liked the characters and felt that they were well developed. Bonus points for the mentions of Drexel University (those always make me happy). I didn’t think you needed the pictures to understand the story but this does add to the creep factor. I still recommend this despite my feelings about the ending.

This was a great concept. It can be an addicting read. The illustrations and how they are presented are a big part of that. I gave it 3 stars rather than 4 or 5 because I was often reading it out of annoyance and wondering why the characters were so irrational, and generally creating their own problems. It is also very linear. Mild spoilers ahead, but you get quite a bit of the book spoiled just by reading the synopsis. The plot more is less revealed by the synopsis and is based on ghosts being tangibly real, which again is just kind of frustrating to read. I think it would be more interesting if the twists and turns were plausible, rather than having to do with ghosts tangibly possessing people and affecting the world. There are also few enough characters that you can correctly assume who the bad guys are and I was a little bit annoyed that there wasn't more to it. The prose felt overly simple but to the writer's credit that makes it easy to read and sometimes chilling when it just casually describes creepy things that occur. There were no real life kind of themes I could relate to or find interest in. It just felt kind of fake like a fairy tale. The lesson is that some people are crazy and ghosts can get you. A "twist" is that the main character has written this book to tell the story in their words and perspective, but this wasn't really explored too much as far as how perspectives can be different. I found this on somebody's scifi or fantasy list, which it is not. Young adult paranormal stuff.

Such an amazing psychological suspense novel with a pinch of Stephen King. Loved this book…. The protagonist Mallory was very endearing and definitely someone you want to cheer for. She is a recovery addict. In fact, the story begins with her stumbling into a college arena for a paid scientific experiment. She’s not sure what they’re going to do and she doesn’t really care. She just needs the money for a fix. When her name is finally called, she goes into a room with a woman and five men sitting in front of her. They place a blindfold on her and tell her she is to raise her hand. Every time she feels one of the men looking at her as the Tesco. She does this when she senses them looking at her and at the end of the test, all the men applied her efforts and she has told that she does the best of anyone so far, the scientist asked if she’d be willing to come back for more testing. Mallory says if you pay me I’ll come back as much as you want. But later that night she sells her iPhone in order to get more drugs, and she never hears from the woman again. That is the end of the prologue , the story starts when Mallory is 18 months from drug use and is living in a sober home. Her sponsor her a connection of his is offering her an interview to be a nanny in an upscale neighborhood. This was one of the first parts of the book I really didn’t like. As a person in long-term recovery myself who has nearly 16 years of recovery. (Most within the 12 step world - AA) I want to point out to others that some of the things in this book are nowhere near the reality. It is very rare for a person to have a sponsor of the opposite sex. in the story Mallory explains that she chose Russell because he’s a former Olympic running trainer, and she was also an elite runner. However, as I said, none of that really matters as it is very rare for somebody to have a sponsor of an opposite sex. Any rational person in 12 steps that does sponsorship would never agree to sponsoring someone of the opposite sex for obvious reasons. Another thing in regards to recovery, Mallory states she doesn’t drink caffeine because it is a stimulant. Although some people in recovery make this choice it too is rare and I feel like it is somewhat stigmatizing and makes people believe people in recovery are all walking time bombs… The last thing I want to mention in regards to recovery and this is a minor spoiler so please skip this section. If you don’t want to read this now, however it is a minor spoiler. Later in the story, Mallory tells Russell some things that are very hard to believe and he looks at her like she may have relapsed, so she says to him go ahead and you can test me if you want (drug test). And Russell does. Again this is very rare and should never happen. Drug testing is not part of the 12-steps. We work an honesty program. Mallory gets the job and is in love with the family and fresh start she has. However, soon Mallory starts to notice strange drawings from the little boy she is taking care of. They seem like an omen. Mallory makes some assumption based on history she learns about the property and things start to get creepier. Stephen King like… but This is not your average horror story, in fact it isn’t at all. It’s psychological Suspense novel and of course the twists start popping up. This was a very exciting page turner and one that I could have easily read in one sitting. If you are a fan of psychological suspense novels this is a must read.

4.5 stars. I wasn’t sure how to start this review without giving anything away but here’s a no spoiler take! This book was both eerie and aggravating (in a good way!) it really kept me engaged from start to finish. The illustrations throughout the story were chef’s kiss 👨‍🍳💋. If you’re usually an audiobook listener, I’d highly recommend reading the physical or Kindle version instead, or at least following along with a copy. The pictures truly bring the story to life and add an extra layer of intensity you’d miss otherwise. At first, I thought it was shaping up to be your typical horror plot, but then the ending hit! That’s when the real emotions kicked in. I was shocked… and even a little sad (can’t explain why without spoilers!). The story was executed really well. The pacing, the character development, and the unique personalities made the whole thing feel believable and immersive. I’m glad to have this on my shelf and would absolutely reread it, especially if I were doing a buddy read with someone who hadn’t read it yet. Now, about the epilogue, I have to admit, after such a strong ending, it felt like a bit of a drag. Necessary, yes, but I think some of the details could’ve been trimmed. Still, since it’s at the very end, it didn’t take away from how strong the rest of the book was. **Just to throw it out there the book arrived fast and in good standing no missing pages or anything. Beautiful cover as well**

is nice

Suficientemente original e intrigante. No soy un lector rápido pero me atrapó tanto que lo acabe en 3 días.

For our May’s book club pick, we dove into Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak and WOW, I loved it! From the very first page, Rekulak’s pacing had me completely immersed in Mallory’s world. The eerie mystery unfolds so seamlessly that you barely realise how deep you’re getting until you’re too hooked to put it down. One of the things I loved most was that every single thing you learn about the characters has a purpose by the end. Nothing is random, everything ties back in, making for such a satisfying read. And the twists! Every time I thought I had it figured out, I was completely wrong in the BEST way. Rekulak does such a fantastic job of leading you down one path only to surprise you with something even better. URGH and the epilogue. I cried. The way I cared about these characters really surprised me. If you love a thriller that keeps you guessing and delivers a truly rewarding ending, this one is a must!

ホラーだと思っていたが、スリラーに近いですね。 自分は予想しながら読むタイプではないので、２つのどんでん返しには見事に騙されました。 無数にちりばめられたイラストが効果的で、特に最後の一枚には涙しました。 星４つにしたのは、ストーリーに若干不自然さがあったこと。中盤まで主人公マロリーの優柔不断な行動に共感しにくかったところ。でもよかった。星４．５ぐらいかな。

Definitely a must read. All thriller/horror lovers are gonna love this book. Fast-paced & amazingly written. I wish I ordered the hardcover, paperback had xerox print of the images. But the plot’s worth every penny. Little predictable but interesting enough. Received in good paperback condition. Print & paper quality’s good.