Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey Books for this free ARC in exchange for a review.

Kiersten White’s newest novel is marketed as an adult thriller about a hide and seek competition worth $50,000. This premise instantly hooked me. I was ready for some Battle Royale type s***. However the book didn’t go in the direction I was hoping. The supernatural sacrifice plot was contrived and had some plot holes. (Isn’t Mack worried about what the monster will do if it leaves the town after she sets it free??) Hide and Seek PLUS a Minotaur maze PLUS the backstory with the 7 families (which I didn’t understand) was a little much to comprehend. Not to mention the 14 characters whose POVs we are switching between. (Note to the editor/publisher: please use some kind of formatting- asterisks, paragraph breaks, something- to signal a POV change to the reader.) As I usually complain about with books that have 2+ POVs, the characters and their backstories were not fleshed out enough to make me feel attached.

Additionally, this is labeled as “adult”, and that made me expect more … not gore, but even more terrifying scenes. I wanted Mack to feel the monster’s warm, moist breath on her cheek as it searched for her around the corner. I wanted to feel that monster behind me, searching for me while I read. Needless to say, I was “thrilled”, but I didn’t feel horrified.

Something I really liked that I wanted more of were the mentions of racism, classism, and sexism from the 7 families. We really only got flashes of these on the last quarter of the book, but if the whole story has been more centered around prejudice, it would have been a great combination of The Hunger Games and Get Out. Someone write that book please!

Edit to add: I had another thought. There is a lesbian romance which we do not see often in ya, new adult, or adult novels. However I don’t know if this can be appreciated since both lesbian characters seem to follow a trope of coming from a traumatic background. And neither character is especially deep, although I did like Ava more than the MC Mack. I guess I just feel that White didn’t do their relationship justice in order for the book to really be appreciated as diverse.

Been a huge fan of White going all the way back to Paranormalcy back in 2010 and was anxious to read this one. It was a step away from other books from her that I have read...more of a horror feel to it but it still was very hard to put down! I've always thought it might be fun to be locked into an amusement park after it closed, not so much anymore. LOL. The pacing was great, like I said, hard to put down. The characters were not as fleshed out as I think they could have been but it was sufficient to tell the story. Overall I really enjoyed this one!

I had really high hopes with this one because I loved the idea of a horror competition-style book that takes place in an abandoned amusement park…but unfortunately this one just fell really flat for me. It got so confusing with so many characters and POV changes that I just couldn’t keep track of them all since it would change mid page with no warning. I also didn’t realize that this was a Greek myth retelling- which again, I love the idea of a horror tale on a Greek myth, but this just felt a little forced and not fully explained. And while I appreciated the social commentary that this story takes on, and can understand where it was coming from, I think because some of the confusion I mentioned, the intended message just didn’t come through the way I had hoped it would.

Fourteen contestants. Seven days. An abandoned amusement park. One epic game of hide-and-seek.

I’m not a huge horror fan, but this premise really got me and I’m glad it did because this was a fun, thrilling read I devoured in one day. Was it a great idea to read this when I was home alone for the weekend? Definitely, no, but I have no regrets. Who needs sleep, anyway?

For me, horror is really reliant on the underlying metaphor and I really loved what this book said about the class structure of our country. The characters were a bit one-dimensional and fourteen was a lot to try and keep track of (I really struggled to remember who was who in the beginning), but that doesn’t bother me when the plot is this propulsive.

In a reading slump? This will get you out of it.

Hi, I loved this book and shall be throwing it not only at my IG followers but also at customers who come into my bookstore. Ok, I won't *throw* it but you know what I mean.

HIDE aka Kiersten White's debut adult horror is a dark and twisty tale of 14 contestants who are to star on a Hide and Seek reality show that takes place in an abandoned amusement park. Yeah. Sounds like a terrible idea. And not at all what any of the contestants bargained for.

Things I really loved: fast pace, so many characters to love (and hate), lesbian and bi characters with a light romantic zed plot (it's a thing but not a thing). Oh yeah, and there's the gory murders. Love this for me.

Thanks for the access to the advanced copy. Can't wait to shout about it!

Yes! This book gave me chills. The setting reminded me of the abandoned amusement park in the movie Zombieland. It was creepy and derelict, with enough reminders of what it once was to give it this weird sense of nostalgia. I really enjoyed the level of suspense in this book. It built up slowly and then it just kept at it until I knew something horrible was coming but was so engrossed in the book that I was looking forward to it. And boy did this author deliver it! A verifiable monster hunting down its prey and devouring them to the point there is nothing left was creepy AF! The Nicely family journal was mind-boggling and left the reader with this awful sense of dread and sick to my stomach. I really enjoyed this one.

I'm not one that usually reads YA novels, but most of the latest horror novels seem to fall into that category.
Hide takes place (for the most part) in an abandoned, rusted out amusement park. I love that. Fantasticland was one of my favorite reads from last year, but I digress.
When Mack applies for a Hide and Seek championship that promises fifty grand to the winner, she thinks she has a great shot. After all, she spent her childhood hiding from an abusive father.
But she and the other contestants are not really participating in a championship. Something far more sinister is afoot.
And from there, horror fans will not be disappointed.
I highly recommend this exciting novel!

This is a story about things that are too good to be true.

I’m struggling to review this book without spoilers, because my thoughts are directly connected to the elements the reader should discover for themselves. So in an effort not to spoil the fun, I’ll just say that I appreciate what the author did here & I think it accurately identified the real monster. I would love to see this in film!

Thank you so much netgalley, Random House & Del Rey for the eArc!

This read like a young adult novel to me and took far too long (like 40% in) to get going and grip my interest, but then the plot was fast and furious!

The end left me wanting more, but might be open for a sequel,?! I hope!!

I was expecting a little more amusement park hijinks and clowns, but once I read the author's note the story kinda clicked in place for me and I really appreciated it.

[thank you to netgalley for the arc!]

okay wow. what a departure from kiersten white's normal writing.

i finished this book in one day. ONE DAY!

the plot was there, and it was thick. the setting was haunting. the tone was always slightly dark. the characters were well fleshed out; although there were 14+, you get to know them intimately in their own ways and learn their stories. the whole book was full of suspense right to the very end. i think this could have a sequel, but also, i hope it doesn't.

i would like to compare this to something (like the hunger games meets squid games), but i will say this is a dash of horror. not much, but enough to make one feel icky if they don't like scary things.

i give it 4.5 stars. i always like kiersten white's books, and this is no exception.

What a fantastic different book! Loved it!
An abandoned amusement park, old school style which is kinda creepy in and of itself, a missing girl, and a new "reality show" with teenagers playing a game of hide and seek in said park - last one that remains wins 50K!
Turns out it's not quite that simple. We have families that made pacts with evil forces long ago, and they are still paying their debts with those forces through this game.
A wild ride and decently paced - I really enjoyed this one!
Thankful for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for the digital advanced reader's copy.

This book was right up my alley: a hide-and-seek competitive reality TV show set inside an abandoned and decrepit amusement park goes horribly wrong.

Excellent.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The fourteen contestants have no idea what they are in for, and White does a good job giving each of them a believable backstory as we wait to see who survives and who doesn't.

While some of the plot points are predictable, I honestly didn't mind.

It all kept me happily turning the pages.

I enjoyed the hunting and the hiding. I was willing to go along with nefarious reason behind the game itself and appreciated the pointed tone and subtext.

And, I loved the ending. So well-deserved.

If you like action-packed horror, pick this one up. It may not surprise you, but it'll keep you reading.

*language, violence

Hide is so. much. fun. I loved everything about this book. The setting is unique - an abandoned amusement park where fourteen competitors are attempting to win a cash prize. But one by one, they start to disappear. It's the Hunger Games in an escape room, and it's a thrill ride that shouldn't be missed. Highly recommended.

Mack is running out of options when a bizarre deus ex machina drops into her lap: an invitation to participate in a large-scale game of hide and seek, in which the winner will receive $50,000. Mack knows that she's more than up to the challenge: she is, after all, the sole survivor of the Hide and Seek Massacre, a bloody nightmare that left her with no family and buckets of trauma. She and thirteen other contestants are led to a labyrinthine amusement park that has been out of operation for decades. The game is easy: check in to camp at night, hide in the park all day. Two contestants will be 'found' and eliminated each day. But, as you might have guessed, things are not quite what they seem...

This was my first Kiersten White novel, and I do think I'll pick up more! The novel was certainly thrilling, and I was impressed with the level of depth she managed to imbue in such a large cast of characters. I suspect that many readers will be frustrated with the ending, but I quite liked it -- the allegory is a bit on the nose, but hey, I'll never be mad at an eat-the-rich narrative. The formatting of the e-ARC was a bit wonky, which often made the shifts in character perspective hard to follow -- I don't hold this against the novel, as I suspect in the print edition there are clearer line breaks, but I did have to backtrack a few times to make sure I was tracking the right characters. I'm not the hugest fan of supernatural twists, so certain aspects of the plot weren't quite for me, but they were effective -- the book is definitely scary!

I didn't know this was inspired by the mythology of the Minotaur until partly into the story, but I was excited when I realized it. I love a mythological or Fairytale retelling, or a story that uses folklore heavily for inspiration. Hide did that without making the outcomes obvious. White did a good job of combining the ancient myth with commentary on today's society, while still keeping me on the edge of my seat.

This is not my first Kiersten White book. I have read The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein and the And I Darken series and I really like both! Hide as the first foray into adult thriller or horror fell a bit short for me. I struggled in the beginning with the abrupt POV switching between what felt like 14 characters and actually might have been. I think I would have preferred to limit the amount of POVs to maybe 4 or 5 characters like Mack, Ava, LeGrand, Brandon, and the "other" Ava. With the reduced number of POVs I feel there might have been more room to dive deeper into those characters we are actually interested in and it wouldn't feel so rushed. I also think the pacing was a bit slow in the middle of the book. Overall, I think the premise of this story was very good... but execution was just a bit lacking. I would recommend for those who like, paranormal horror, survival games, multiple POV, thrillers, and mild horror.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hide
Kiersten White

Abandon Amusement park, hide and seek competition, 14 people, seven days and $50,000. Suspense, horror and real world issues. That is all this book!

This is the first book I’ve read by Kiersten White and I was not disappointed. This book was very well written. I loved the way the author manage to bring up real world issues in a horror book. The dialog in the diner scene was great. I loved Ava from this point on. How could you not?

Mack, Ava, Brandon and LeGrand I just connected with from the beginning, and the more I learned about their back stories the better it got. I do not want to give away any spoilers. This is a book you should read if you like horror. I liked how the pov were told from each character, and we got a chance to learn about each of them, some more than others. I did find myself wondering what was really going on in this competition, even though you could feel it was something sinister. The back story for the premise of the game was really interesting.

The end did leave me wanting more. But I am a what next kinda person. This book is ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC.

An interesting and unique read for horror/thriller/paranormal fans!

Here is why I am giving this 3 stars:
I have never read a Kiersten White book before, so I am not familiar with her writing style but I did struggle a bit with it. The book is written from multiple POV's, which I don't mind, but it didn't work for me in this case. The POV's shift with no warning! In the beginning, there are 14 characters in the 'game', along with the hosts, etc. So, 14+ POV's that shift between sentences and paragraphs - this is confusing and complicates the story; character development was messy. It almost felt like a chore having to read this after a while. I also had a hard time remembering who had what backstory due to this. It took me a while to get through this book because this style of writing just was not appealing to me, personally.

All that aside, I thought the 2nd half did pick up and get a little easier to read. The story also does get more interesting and engaging.

Reading the afterword, it becomes apparent that this book is the Authors response to rich/poor class systems among other world issues. It begs the question: who is the REAL monster?
Unfortunately, I really think this commentary was lost, here. It is only looking back, after reading the Authors note, that this becomes apparent - never during the reading did I gather this.


Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

1,2,3,4.....


"So now she's seen it. She knows what's out there. It doesn't make anymore sense than it did before, but at least she can move from horror - the fear of the unknown - to terror - the fear of the known. Terror is almost a comfort at this point, a familiar friend."

Come, come out wherever you are.....

Fourteen people are selected to take part in a hide and seek competition in an abandoned amusement park. For seven days they can't be found. The payout: $50,000.00. All that were chosen are in desperate need of this money but there can be only one winner. How well can you hide if you need to survive?

This was a wild little book that's being compared to Fantasticland and Hunger Games. I've not read Hunger Games but, for me, this is no Fantasticland. It just can't compare with Fantasticland's brutality. If I had to compare this to another book I would say it reminded me a bit of Reprieve by James Han Mattson due to the social commentary and the fact that while both are marketed as horror novels they aren't actually overtly frightening. They seem to be making you think more about the characters than the actual jump scares. Personally, I don't mind it. I don't need to be splashed with guts and gore to gain enjoyment from a horror novel. I'm not so much into creature features anymore but this was exceptionally well written and I cared enough about some of the characters that I enjoyed the ride from beginning to end. If this sounds appealing then I strongly suggest giving it a try because you could do a whole lot worse in this genre. 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for my complimentary copy.

I really enjoyed Kiersten White's foray into adult horror/paranormal/thriller. I was invested in the story and several of the main characters. The opening chapter is pure perfection. However, at times the pacing can be a bit slow and there's a lot of characters to remember and a lot of shifting POVs. Overall, I enjoyed it and hope she writes more like it.