I LOVED Hide. It was the exact right amount of build up, suspense, eeriness and heart that makes for the best haunted house/camping/etc. horror stories. The politics of it became a little much in the second half, but none of that took away from how engrossed I was in Mack, Ava, LeGrand and the park. It was truly immersive and impossible to put down. I also tend to get overwhelmed when there are too many characters or too much point of view jumping, but it worked so well here in making you feel surrounded, claustrophobic and isolated all at the same time in this immense abandoned theme park. And there were enough reminders of who people were that it wasn't like you were forced to make a cheat sheet while reading. I loved loved loved the commentary on wealth and class and privilege, which could have been a little subtler, but was still genius. We're just not going to talk about how deeply attached I became to Mack and Ava and the hope they were building together, because I don't have the emotional capacity to do so. 10/10 would recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Oh boy was I excited to get this e-ARC! I adored FantasticLand, so I was super excited for another scary amusement park situation.

It’s hard to talk too much about this book without giving spoilers, so I’ll just say: 14 young people get a once in a lifetime opportunity to compete in an epic game of hide and seek for a prize of $50K in an abandoned amusement park. It does not go according to plan for these youngsters. The imagery of the abandoned attractions is creepy and I liked the characters. The only negative I have is that I thought I knew the general direction of the plot (i.e. the general source of the badness) but when it didn’t go that way, I was a bit disappointed. But everything gets tied up nicely at the end and it really was good. Thanks to netgalley, kiersten white, and Del Rey Books for the advanced copy. This book is out May 24.

Finally, more scary theme park books please. There’s not nearly enough of them. If you have any good recs, please comment! ❤️

3.5 stars - I'm bummed because I think if I could have changed a couple of things around in this, it could have been a 5 star. The ingredients are all there: isolated thriller; high premise; serial killer backstory; creepy setting; themes on point. But I think this just has too many characters and I wish it had spent more time on the actual hiding/seeking component.
That said... this is still really fun! I think it's definitely worth picking up for those wanting a more mystery based version of horror and it kept me turning the pages. Excited for more adult books from this author- would definitely read more!

If you are a fan of suspense/thrilling/horror books, you will really enjoy this book. I thought I would have problems with all the characters, but they were so real and very well imagined, I had no problems at all.
The writer writes with so much imagery you feel like you are in this old abandoned amusement park.
The game has 14 characters and the goal is to hide and not be found from dawn to dusk. Two contestants will be eliminated every day. The last contestant will win $50,000.
As each day goes by, the remaining contestants find more shocking things that make them wonder what they will have to do to be the last one.
Very fast paced and edge of your seat thriller!
I would recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The one thing Mack’s always been good at is hiding, so when the opportunity arises for her to go on a reality tv show where all she has to do is spend a week in an abandoned amusement park without getting caught, she thinks there’s a real chance of her winning and taking home the prize money. But as the days pass on it because clear that not everything is as it seems.

I really enjoyed White’s horror debut. It did a great job of building tension. I didn’t realize this was a reimagining of the labyrinth and the Minotaur until about half through, but once I made the connection it was easy to see the inspiration.

Over all I would recommend Hide if you are looking for an interest horror.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for a honest review.

"A high-stakes hide-and-seek competition turns deadly in this dark supernatural thriller from New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White.

The challenge: Spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park and don’t get caught.

The prize: enough money to change everything.

Even though everyone is desperate to win - to seize a dream future or escape a haunting past - Mack is sure she can beat her competitors. All she has to do is hide, and she’s an expert at that.

It’s the reason she’s alive and her family isn’t.

But as the people around her begin disappearing one by one, Mack realizes that this competition is even more sinister than she imagined, and that together might be the only way to survive.

Fourteen competitors. Seven days. Everywhere to hide but nowhere to run.

Come out, come out, wherever you are."

Sold at "abandoned amusement park."

The premise of Hide is really fun—a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek in an abandoned amusement park for a cash prize of $50,000 and reality tv stardom. A slapdash group of characters is assembled and the games begin. But who is seeking the competitors? And where do they go once they’re found? And what about those screams…?

Hide is a very fun and campy thriller, a fantastic summer read. The writing is zippy and the story bounces along bloodily until the end. The story itself is absolutely ridiculous. Despite how far-fetched the motives ultimately were, I still thought it was a good time overall. I do wish that the story focused on one or two perspectives rather than trying to peek into every single character’s brain.

This is a fun but ultimately forgettable retread of common horror plotlines. The premise was a big draw for me, and I imagine it will be for a lot of other people as well, but the story drags for a long time in the middle.

I'll start by saying I'm not sure how I feel about Hide. It started out interesting; the idea of a game of Hide & Seek in an abandoned amusement and one person would win $50,0000. Much like the characters thought, it sounded like the start of a reality show. The characters all come from different backgrounds, and it seems that they are all outcasts in some way.

I would say the first 40% was engaging as we get to know the various characters, including the main character Mack and her backstory (hers was definitely the most interesting and the most related to the story). As the characters disappear two by two, just as promised, Mack starts to suspect something more sinister. After that, I felt that the story just got weird and a bit discombobulated.

Through the middle part of the book, the characters started to get muddled together and I got lost between all of their POV's and storylines. The reason why the need for the park comes out around the 60-65% mark, and I realized as I finished the book, how the being came to be was never really fully explained and it didn't really seem flushed out. I also found the ending unfinished. I wanted to know what happened after the park, but it ended very abruptly.

I feel like Hide had a lot of potential, but missed the mark for me.

3/5 stars because I liked the premise and it started strong.

Thank you to Random House - Ballantine, Del Ray, and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a no for me pretty early on and I wanted to like it so bad! When I thought it was basically going to be a slasher style And Then There Were None, I was thrilled. I was a bit disappointed but still pretty enthused when I learned it was a minotaur reimagining. But does every freaking book these days need to be social commentary? And so heavy handed at that? Let me just enjoy some murdery goodness, I beg you!!!

On the more technical side of things, I also found the constant POV shifts to be really jarring. It seemed like White couldn't decide if she wanted to use a 3rd person limited or 3rd person omniscient POV and kind of just went with both. It didn't really work and I'm surprised no editor helped smooth out that rough edge.

This was a pretty creepy book that had me pulled in right at the beginning.. 14 people all coming together to play an epic game of Hide-N-Seek at an abandon amusement park, you know some weird things are about to happen!

Following around our group of people as they spilt up and are exploring this old, decrepit, spooky place as they are trying to find a good spot to hide for they day really set the tone for the rest of the story.. Especially as we get some members teaming up, and others are eliminated.

Throughout the story we do get perspectives from all 14 participants, which at first seemed like alot to keep track of, especially in such a short book. However I did end up enjoying it especially as people are eliminated and were getting to concentrate on the people that are left.

When we finally get the down and dirty about whats going on in the town, and the park I was definitely surprised by the depth of it.. I think the only complaint I would really have is that I wanted it to be longer!.. I would love a sequel, and for it to continue right where Hide left off..

9 / 10 ✪

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2022/05/22/hide-by-kiersten-white-review/

<i>They took a cow with them. Why did they take a cow?</i>

The challenge: spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park. Fourteen contestants enter; only one leaves a victor. But that winner takes home $50,000. Two contestants are removed per day until the last remains.

Say nothing else about Mack—there’s not much to say, after all—say that she is a survivor. When her father stalked the halls of their family home with a bloody knife, Mack hid. She hid; he didn’t find her. This competition is no different—don’t get caught. It’s why she’s alive, after all. Why she’s alive and her family isn’t.

Brandon doesn’t have much of a family either—less, ever since his Grandmother died. But he’s always tried to stay optimistic. He has a great job, working as a gas station attendant in Pocatello. This competition isn’t about the money for him; it’s about the experience. He doesn’t care if he wins or not, the draw for him is the adventure, and the friends he makes along the way.

Ava is an Instagram fitness model. Constantly glued to her social media accounts, she’s only in the competition to build her following. She’ll last a few days, she’s sure—make a name for herself, maybe hook up with a hot guy—but when she goes, it’ll be a spectacle, something that everyone will be talking about for years to come.

Jaden is in it to win it. He has a solid plan, and the skills to make it happen. Nothing’s going to get in the way of his dream of owning a gym—and that 50k is going to make it happen. He’ll use anyone and anything he has to to be the last one standing—after all, it’s only a game.

A veteran. An up and coming actress. An author with nothing to write. A perpetual intern. A YouTuber. An app designer. A silversmith. A graffiti artist. A solar-panel salesman. And one who is lost, in every sense of the word.

But only one of them is going to win. Or are they?

—

So, I quite liked this. I mean, it wasn’t perfect, but as a quick thriller, with growing horror elements that eventually transform into a full-blown nightmare. All in all, it was quite good.

Hide starts out as a competition. Fourteen enter; but only one leaves. Victorious, at least. There’s $50,000—not a ton, but nothing to scoff at either. Enough prize money to keep everyone motivated. Enough to keep everyone’s attention off the fine print.

Then it starts to read like Survivor meets Supernatural. The sense of unease gradually growing until it all spirals out of control. A few twists thrown in—including one that I got particularly excited about—help keep it quick and easy to read even when the two for the day are gone, and I was worried the pace might lag. Which it never seems to.

There’s a little lore to go around. The barest amount of backstory on the park, on all the contestants. Both expand the further we move into the competition. Of course, with the survivors of the early days enjoying more and more screen time. That’s pretty much how I expected it to go, and didn’t have a problem with the way the information came out. Instead of big info-dumps to slow down the pace, there are just little bits here and there. Glimpses of lives lived. Of the amusement park itself. Thought it all worked pretty well that way.

It’s a quick read, and took me a couple days once I really got into it. As usual, it’s the conclusion that was a bit off for me. But horror tends to work like that for me. Some of the decisions here just boggle the mind (but then, that’s horror for you; far be it from me to judge someone’s decision-making when the blood is pumping and the bodies dropping)—but there’s one in particular seemed to be made simply for the reason that the author needed the story to head in the direction they’d set the ending. For the most part the ending was pleasing. There were a few minor loose ends left open, but I figured they weren’t getting tied-off anyhow, so it didn’t disappoint me too much.

TL;DR

Hide is quite the horror show, a thrill ride that gets going quick and then doesn’t let up. Reading like Survivor meets Supernatural, there’s little enough horror to begin with, but once the competition gets rolling there are more than enough questions to go around. They start small, but soon spiral, until everything is out of control. I really don’t have much to say about this. I thought it all worked quite well together: the growing backstory blending with the present; the characters are wild cards—some believe what they’ve been told, others question everything, some just don’t care. There wasn’t a whole lot of character development or growth, but with such a large cast, in a world where knowledge comes piecemeal and commands a high price—it didn’t really bother me. I came in expecting a quick thrill ride with some horrory bits. And I was not disappointed. My advice is as follows: don’t read too much into it, you’ll be fine.

Fourteen young and very lucky contestants are selected to vie for the ultimate prize of fifty thousand dollars. All they have to do is play the game of "Hide and Seek" for seven full days at an old one-time famous, now abandoned and decrepit amusement park and the last person "not found" will obviously be the big winner. What an exciting and fun opportunity for all the players chosen to participate in this game where several contestants are hoping to jumpstart their social media careers and others just want to win the big money. Winning is the name of the game for everyone. There will be rules to follow and they will hide from sunrise to sunset although they will not be told who the seeker will be and by the time they find out who or what is doing the seeking it will be too late to quit the game and they will wish they never heard of the game of "Hide and Seek" because it is now GAME OVER!

This was a very creepy and disturbing horror story taking place in a spooky old, broken down and desolate amusement park located far from any nearby towns or help if needed. I found all the characters wonderfully developed whether they were likeable or despicable. The dark storytelling and writing was great as it had myself feeling many emotions throughout the book. This was a horror story blended with the supernatural yet it touched upon many current social issues that all of society is dealing with today as in violence, domestic abuse, murder, racism, physical appearance, bigotry, PTSD, economic class etc which were wonderful assets brought into a horror story. The reader may think as they're reading that there will be a predictable outcome but they couldn't be more wrong. Kirsten White has written an entertaining and terrific book that encompasses all sorts of dark, nightmarish settings and I highly recommend it to all avid horror readers.

I want to thank The publisher "Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!I

I have given this book of nightmares a rating of 4 DARK AND HORRIFYING 🌟🌟🌟🌟!!


Title: Hide
Author: Kirsten White
Publisher: Ballantine Publishing Group - Ballantine
Publication Date: May 24, 2022

I

According to one of the characters in this book, horror is the fear of the unknown while terror is when you know what’s coming to get you. The whole plot requires a considerable suspension of disbelief but the dread increases so slowly that, when the horror is revealed, you just believe it completely. Well done! I was also surprised at how much I grew to care about the characters. I hate to sound like the geezer in the diner at the beginning, but what good are these kids doing in the world? Influencers, creators of internet content and just useless snowflakes with no discernible source of income but hoping to get rich by becoming stars on the web. Most of the cast was unredeemable (seriously, get a temp job at an office, snowflake!) but the main characters were not useless, they were damaged. A veteran, a former cult member, the survivor of a massacre and just a nice guy… how could you not root for them? I won’t say anything about the story because I think it’s more enjoyable the less you know. The plot is tight and engrossing; the book impossible to put down and the ending just perfect.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey!

This supernatural thriller hooked me immediately and I binged it in less than 24 hours. I loved the abandoned amusement park setting, the characters, and I think this book would make an excellent movie. It touches upon race and LBGTQIA+ topics more than horror or thriller books typically do. Overall this is a fast-paced story perfect for binging in a day or weekend. It's fun, a little campy, and a lot creepy. I hope it gets the attention it deserves!

This is just a ‘me’ kind of book.

You’ve got the reality show style comp, a diverse group of characters vying for the prize, and a sinister secret that makes it clear this is so much more than just a game!

I enjoyed our characters so much! You have the ones you love and the ones you love to hate. The reason behind everything was surprising the book is simply a fast-paced adventure. While there’s a bit of messaging in it (particularly about social media), it’s not the hit-you-over-the-head kind of messaging and worked with the plot.

The only thing I wanted from this was a bit more of an edge.

Definitely a fun read!

• ARC via Publisher

I love Kiersten's writing and personality. She is an auto buy author for me ever since the beginning with Paranormalcy. Therefore, when I heard she had a new adult horror book coming out, I knew I wanted to read it. I needed it, before I even knew the premise. After, I wanted it even more! A deadly competition game of hide and seek inside an abandoned amusement park?!?! Ugh count me in!!

Now don't let my rating fool you. I did enjoy this book. A few of the characters, I enjoyed, including the MC. A few I wanted to die, and a few actually did die. But I think I went in expecting more of a slasher-esque story, that it is not. I can't say what/how it is deadly if it isn't a slasher without giving away spoilers, but it wasn't one I was expecting until I started reading. And then the cliffhanger! And its a standalone! That alone leaves the linger of dread. Definitely worth a read. Its a different kind of horror, full of character growth, but will keep you wondering what is happening until about the very end.

**Trigger Warnings: Death, PTSD**

Thank you to Del Rey Books/Random House via Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I've been a fan of White's writing for a while, but I think this might just be my favorite. It sucked me in with the cover and the initial premise and didn't let go until the end. Creepy abandoned amusement park combined with dwindling characters...yes please! Have ordered a couple copies for my patrons. They're going to love it.

This book was weird , but I'm pretty sure I was into it. It was one of those books where the premise made me think one thing was likely to happen, but in reality, it was completely more fantastical than that. I'll let those interested in horror, fantasy, spooky amusement parks, and really twisted family secrets find out for themselves what's inside the "Amazement Park"...

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

<b>Trigger Warning:</b> homophobia, racism

Intriguing beginning that pulls you in immediately. I started to enjoy it early on and that kept up all the way to the end.

The writing was a lot of fun to read and I loved how it was done (example: <i>”while they sleep, a tour”</i>). The book is divided into Day 1, Day 2, etc. which I love it since it helps with the passage of time that could easily get lost.

There are numerous POV jumps where you have to stop yourself to figure out where you are. It reminded me of <I>Mrs. Dalloway</i> and how Virginia Woolf was constantly jumping around.

An abrupt ending that the more I think about needed to happen. The author brought these characters together for one event and we get an idea of who they are, but ultimately, they exist for this event and that’s it.

Vibes of THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

I would definitely re-read this since it feels like I would catch onto the foreshadowing more instead of trying to figure out what’s happening as I’m reading.

Acknowledgment shout-out telling people to look up the origin of “pulled up by the bootstraps.” I want to talk about this SO BADLY because the author does such a great job with this theme in the book. There's a spoiler I want to talk about here, but I ended up putting it in my GoodReads review since I could hide it.

<b>Things I Hope For in the Released Version:</b>
- a map. I would love to see a map of the park and follow it along as I read.
- a better idea of the formatting. The ebook version I got had a similar format to K. Ancrum’s “The Weight of the Stars.” It’s a style I love so that was cool to see. However, as the book continued, it was less of Ancrum’s style and I had a harder time distinguishing between paragraphs. This may be intentional and I like to think it is because of the way the story goes.