Member Reviews
Azzurra N, Reviewer
HIDING was a very unique, particular book about a teenage boy who has been figuratively hiding all his life, that he’s capable of going unnoticed in plain sight. The whole book takes place within a twenty hour-time frame and explores the various secrets one keeps, and how sometimes surface truths aren’t always the truth, but merely a cover-up to what is truly hiding beneath the surface. This novel will keep you guessing as you try to unravel the truth about why the protagonist’s girlfriend left him, and how the truth affected the whole relationship. A fast-paced YA that ultimately delivers an important message to teens, how precious life is and what it means to be true to yourself. Check this out if you’re into coming of age YA novels, with a protagonist reminiscent of Holden Caulfield.
Alexandra @, Reviewer
When I think of the greatest example of a book solely focused on the big twist, the first book that comes to mind is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. (I believe it was also the first book I reviewed on my blog!) The kind of twist that you don’t even expect to come, or even if you knew about the twist itself, you have no idea when or WHAT exactly will it bring. These are the thrillers that I love the most.
«Hiding» was supposed to be exactly that kind of book. But from the very first page, you could understand what kind of twist was coming your way. I remember reading just 15-20 pages and talking to my friend about “this new books I started reading” and predicting right then and there what was going to happen later on.
Not to say that I was very disappointed at the fact of how predictable the events were, but I would have loved to see slightly more subtlety and mystery.
Another thing that bothered me a lot was the conversational and simplistic type of writing. I understand that the story is told by a teenage boy and I gave writing some slack because of that. But it can be too much when there are at least three “like” in one paragraph and sentences have up to 3-4 words.
