This is one of my favorite books this year. I loved every minute of this and the narrator was fantastic. Thank you so much for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this fast paced mystery/thriller. I loved the whole concept of a nanny coming to work with a boy named Teddy. He has some creative drawing talents that far exceed his age and the drawings are also quite disturbing. Contributing to this is a mystery of this home and what occurred there many years ago.

What a creepy wild ride!

This is a perfect example of horror. Great characters, a haunted house, a kid with an imaginary friend, and a main character that others mistrust all make for an unforgettable read.

The author leads the reader on a journey that keeps things on edge and uncertain. Loved it!

This was a great listen. Is there anything creepier? Mallory Quinn is a recovering drug addict with a history of not being able to tell what was real from what wasn’t. She has a lot of baggage and a dead sister. To her credit, she is trying. Definitely picking up a hard copy for my library and also looking forward to reading/listing to more from this author. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley, Flatiron Books, and Jason Rekulak for an ARC audiobook copy to review. As always, an honest review from me.

Like:
- The narrator
- The main character - despite being a flawed character she’s very likeable
- Teddy, the little boy we meet at the beginning of the story

Love:
- The suspense, the twists and turns and all the crazy things that happened that I wouldn’t have expected
- Despite the creepy horrifying things that happened, I still ended the book with a happy warm fuzzy feeling - I love a happily ever after
- All of the “good characters” are very likable and I loved reading about their lives, interests, and life perspectives

Wish that:
- I knew that the ghost parts wouldn’t creep me out too much, so I could have read this book any time of day or night. I avoided reading later in the evening, in case it would give me nightmares.

Dislike:
- Nothing. Some characters were bad people but I didn’t dislike them since they drove the story forward and made it the interesting, exciting, compelling read that it was.

Overall, an very enjoyable satisfying read that I definitely loved way more than I thought I would (I’m a big baby when it comes to creepy scary things). I definitely recommend this read.

What It's About: Recovering addict, Mallory Quinn is thrilled to be the new nanny for five year-old Teddy, whose family lives in the affluent suburb of Spring Brook. Everything seems to go well between Mallory and the family, especially Teddy, until he begins to draw strange and disturbing pictures.


My thoughts: Truth be told, I didn't pay much attention to the synopsis. I really liked the title and words like "nanny", "disturbing" and "sinister" caught my attention, so I've requested the audiobook. Oh boy, I am so glad I did! The audiobook was fantastic and Suzy Jackson narration was amazing!

The story build up was intense which added a lot of creepiness to the overall plot! Teddy's artwork was really disturbing for a five year-old. There were many times I was debating if there was really a supernatural element or was everything made-up like some kind of a cruel prank?! But when the mystery unravels through some sleuthing by Mallory and the charming landscaper she befriended, I was really surprised with what they discovered. I personally think the ending was one of the best ones I've read!

In a nutshell, READ/LISTEN THIS BOOK!


Pub. Date: Out Now


***Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this gifted listening copy. All opinions expressed are my own.***

This one was a miss for me. I thought the main character was okay, a little too perfect for being in rehab recently, but other than that she was a decent character. I did not like any of the other characters though, and I felt like the story just started to fall apart at about the 65% point. I also really don't like politics or religion when I'm reading fiction and the political and religious jabs throughout this book just served to further annoy me.

The only plus about this audiobook was that I did like the narrator and thought she did a great job trying to bring this story to life.

A young track star, Mallory, finds herself trying to rebuild her life after drug rehab. Her sponsor finds her a great nanny job for a seemingly happy family of three. Mom, dad and little Teddy. Little 5 year old Teddy is sweet and lovable and Mallory can’t believe she has landed such an amazing job. A job with a good family who isn’t judging her for her past faults. But Little Teddy has a secret. A secret that Mallory finds herself trying to unravel. And as the threads of the secret start to unravel, Mallory finds out that maybe this family isn’t so perfect after all. The publisher sent me an arc of the book but I was also able to get a copy of the audiobook from NetGalley. I quickly found myself sucked into the story. The narrator’s voice is perfect for Mallory and helps you like this flawed but extremely determined main character. I definitely recommend giving it a listen. However, the book does have pages with drawings on it that would help you understand the story but I didn’t find the audiobook hard to follow without them. I recommend this twisted tale! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for copies of this book for a honest review.

Hidden Pictures

Mallory Quinn is 18 months out of rehab and ready to more forward. She is presented with the perfect summer job, babysit 5 year old Teddy who likes to hang out by the pool and draw. What seems like an easy summer job starts to became something more sinister when Teddy begins to draw detailed pictures in lieu of his previous happy stick figures. The parents brush it off but Mallory can't help but try and dig deeper, especially when she learns there may have been an unsolved murder of a women who lived in her cottage.

I went in to Hidden Pictures expecting a thriller but found myself reading a bit more of a thriller/horror bend.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and thought Reuklak did a great job at describing the scene around you and what the characters were seeing. I felt as if I could smell the flowers and feel the charcoal between my fingers. I listened to this book on audio and was unaware of the pictures that were in the printed/kindle version. After seeing these pictures, I wish I could have seen them while listening, but the audio truly describes the photos.
I felt that the main character had a well defined backstory with her own personal tragedies. There was genuine growth from the main character and a few plot points outside of the over arching plot to keep the story moving.

If you are looking to get into horror novels this is the book for you. Perfect for somebody who likes thrillers that linger on the edge of dark, Hidden Pictures delivers it all.

I loved this book. The characters were well-developed and the narration was top-notch. The author gave the reader bits and pieces of the characters' personalities and stories. Little by little, the puzzle was slowly coming together. There is a twist at the end that really threw me for a loop. I take pride in the fact that I usually figure the story out before the conclusion of the book. Not this one. I really liked the epilogue and finding out that "Teddy" was at last where he should be. I look forward to Rekulak's next book.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

I loved this! Very unexpected twists, and everything came together so perfectly. The narrator did great. I would absolutely recommend giving this a try.

Do you ever finish a book and want to rave about it to anyone who will listen?? This is the best thriller I have read all year, and I'll even go as far as to say it is one of the best thrillers I have ever read. This book is incredible! I found myself hooked to this book immediately. The book is super creepy, incredibly clever, and shocking! This book literally made my jaw drop a few times with some of the twists. I cannot recommend this book enough! Go get yourself a copy now!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I posted an excellent 5 star review on Instagram and for some reason it didn't post on my Reel. I had no idea until I went to post in the link. I wrote a new review for Goodreads my apologies.

I absolutely loved this one! I did both audio and the book format is so fun. There are pictures in this one so as much as I loved the audio I would go back for this one to make sure I didn't miss any of the pictures. The audio does describe the pictures which is also helpful because I didn't always know what the pictures were showing. My husband and I were trying to guess this one, but we were both wrong. If you like horrorish thrillers you will love this one! It's not too scary but does have a few spooky moments. I will absolutely be looking to read more from this author!

Thanks to flatiron and macmillan audio for my copies

4.5⭐
Man this thriller is hard to rate.
Honestly, the first half had me thinking it was a 3 to 3.5 star. I was enjoying the thriller with supernatural elements. Then the last half of the book came about. Man, that twist shook me. I actually got teary eyed at the end. I really enjoyed the writing in this novel. This was my first book from the author, but will not be my last. There was a murder mystery, ghosts, drama, emotion, and found family all wrapped into one novel. I wouldn't consider this a horror novel, but a very well done thriller.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for a copy of this book, in exchange for a honest review.

Listened via audio! Thank You NetGalley. I did not enjoy this horror. I found it boring, most of it was just describing the drawing the little boy drew, no action. Was not really scary.

The narration was ok, however I would have liked a little more suspense in the voice!

This book was a rollercoaster of intrigue and suspense.

This was a really unique book that took a favorite genre of mine, the haunting house/haunted individual type trope and took it to a whole different level. The reasons behind this presence were fantastic and different from the norm.

The writing really gets to you on a psychological level. This story dives deeper and deeper, bringing those gasp moments and those what the hell moments… At no time during this book did I feel the desire to put it down or set it aside.

3.5 ⭐ rounded up

Paranormal is not my jam, but I liked this one ~ I didn't really find it to be very creepy either.

Mallory takes a job caring for the Maxwell's 5 year old child, Teddy. They have a great time together, but then "Teddy" starts drawing pictures that seem well beyond what a 5 year old can do. Teddy has an imaginary friend, Anya. Could Anya somehow be helping Teddy create these drawings to help solve an old murder that happened many years ago?

Since Mallory was recently in rehab, and the Maxwell's knew this, they're having trouble believing what she suspects due to her past. They think she's using again. She seeks the help of Adrian, the landscaper and together they try to figure out who is behind these pictures.

I enjoyed Adrian's character and I like how the ending played out.

This was a very long listen at 12 hours and 30 minutes, but easy to follow along at 2x. Suzy Jackson did a great job narrating. She made Teddy sound so cute.

Toss up between 2 and 3 stars

The story has good bones, but certain aspects of the plot required too much suspended disbelief. I could look past certain overused tropes, ie unreliable narrator, but the supernatural aspects were not to my taste. Best suited for someone new to thriller/supernatural stories.

Audiobook narrator was on point. Print version includes the illustrations, which would be a fine addition, but not necessary to the plot. It would be nice if the audiobook included a PDF with the hidden pictures.

In this thrilling mystery, we have Mallory who is a recovering addict who is looking for a new start and goes to interview for a nanny position for a well to do family with a little boy named Teddy. After she gets the job she is living the dream while being able to call the cute little cottage in the backyard by the pool her home and she meets this cute guy. However, she sees that Teddy is drawing more and more detailed and creepy drawings that have something to do with is imaginary friend who the parents just write off as not important. Mallory then learns that the cottage she is living in has a terrifying past that involves a missing and presumed murdered woman who used to live there. Mallory then begins to wonder if this woman is trying to tell her something from beyond the grave.

This was such a suspenseful and creepy mystery that had a crazy twist that I did not see coming. I really enjoyed getting to know the main character and found her to be extremely likable and by the end when she explains how she got to where she is I like her even more. I love the spine-chilling and spooky vibes that the story had whenever the imaginary friend or the odd things that happened at night in the cottage were mentioned. The build up and big reveal at the end of the book blew my mind because I knew afterwards there were hints he dropped but at the time I was totally thrown off. I finished this audiobook in about a day and a half and Suzy Jackson amazing narration had me engrossed and on the edge of my seat and unable to go to put down my phone until I actually needed to go to work. I really enjoyed this story and was so happy with the extremely satisfying ending. I would totally recommend this story to anyone who likes a thrilling mystery with supernatural elements and creepy vibes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the digital audiobook copy of this book with me in exchange for an honest review.

I went in to this one completely blind and I’m glad I The supernatural/horror feels mixed with a mystery/thriller kept me guessing until the very end. The epilogue kind of ruined it for me which is what bumped it down to a 4 star, but overall, I binged this audiobook in a matter of 24 hours, and will be watching for more books by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.