I went into this expecting a nice friends to lovers romance, and while it was that, it was also so much more.

While there is a romance plot throughout the book, I’d say the bigger focus is on the main character Eliot and her struggles with OCD. Before reading this book I knew hardly anything about OCD. Now, I can definitely say I have a better idea of it. There were so many times while reading that I wished I could reach through the book and give Eliot a hug or help her in some way. I sometimes felt frustrated by her stubbornness to tell anyone or seek help outside of herself, but that also goes to show how mental health can be tricky and hard and imperfect; I think the bold honesty here in showing all the facets to having OCD was incredibly well done.

As for the romance plot, I really liked it! Friends to lovers is always a favorite trope of mine, and having the past/present timeline was a great way of seeing the history between Eliot and Manuel. Their chemistry was good, and I loved seeing how loyal they were to each other.

The big, quirky, dysfunctional family was an interesting backdrop for this story. Seeing all the dynamics between these characters felt a little chaotic at times, which I think helped show how Eliot felt as a member of her family. I liked seeing the growth in the relationships between Eliot and her siblings, especially given the grief aspect to the story. The ending felt kind of abrupt and I wished we got a little more there, but overall this was a layered and intriguing story.

I’ve read everything of Emma’s to date; from her fantasy driven trilogy The Sunken City to Guy’s Girl where she illustrated a realistic depiction of life as a woman with an eating disorder. I knew when I saw that she had written a book about a character with OCD that seemed to resemble mine, I would have to pick this up.

But I’m going to be honest, I was scared. I was scared that by reading this book, it would bring my Worries back to light and start a torrential downpour of swirling dark thoughts and reminders of days I tried to stuff deep into a box in my soul with several layers of duct tape and a “DO NOT ENTER” sign covered in barbed wire.

Once I started though, I could not put this book down. While I was frustrated with Eliot during several moments, I found that I was only frustrated because I had lived the same life for the first 25 years or so of mine. Eliot was incredibly relatable in not only her thought process, but in her reactions to her incessant moth-like worries. Her filling her schedule from sunup to sundown, her excessive use of caffeine to overwhelm her senses to just push forward quickly so as to not stop and start remembering the things she didn’t want to remember, her being present but not feeling included or really present at all because her anxiety told her this was the case; all of it was so damn familiar. But it was also comforting. Comforting to know that the thoughts I thought and the way I’m made are not as unique as I once thought them to be. It was comforting to know that the author may have wrote a book of fiction, but the thoughts and actions of the main character were very much derived from her own experiences in life. Comforting to know that this book will reach a large audience who will come to understand that either 1. If they have OCD, they are not alone, or 2. If they don’t, to have a little extra understanding and hopefully support for those who do.

This is a topic that is incredibly sensitive and difficult to talk about, especially when you are isolated with your own thoughts. Emma did a wonderful job showing exactly what it’s like to be brought down by your thoughts but also that you don’t have to do it all on your own.

This book reminded me a lot of Anxious People by Frederik Backman, in that it wasn’t about an event or a simple plot with targeted outcomes. It was a book about grief, heartache, family, friends, love, death, and, above all, life. A book that will resonate with audiences for a lifetime, rather than until the next book they pick up from their TBR.

In my opinion, this subject, and this book specifically, should be required reading for all.

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Emma Noyes for the opportunity to read a copy of this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest and my own.

4.5 stars!

Describing in a coherent way how much I love this book feels like an impossibility, but I’ll give it my best shot. This was truly a phenomenal read. It certainly won’t be for everybody but it was 100% for me.

Mental health representation is always appreciated by me, particularly when it’s the central theme of the story. Our main character, Eliot, is the youngest in a family of 8. After a traumatic loss of a family member 10 years before the present-day storyline, the family is never the same. Especially for Eliot, who is diagnosed with early-onset OCD when she’s 10-11. Eliot’s form of OCD isn’t the kind where she’s washing her hands every 5 seconds, she battles with very intrusive thoughts and compulsions she coins the ‘Worries.’ Often overlooked in her family, she fights this mental illness in silence, only finding comfort and solace in her best friend, Manuel. Until she hits 18 and abandons everyone who loves her.

Eliot is now 21 and reuniting with her family and childhood best friend for her brother’s wedding after 3 years of radio silence. The slow reveal of the past timeline was my favorite part and one revelation had me SOBBING at the end of the book. Literally inconsolable tears. It was so damn good. Everything and everyone was raw, flawed, and amazing. Between Eliot’s battle with her mind, the crippling tension and mystery with Manuel, and awkwardness with her family there was not one dull moment. I was invested in every single page.

There’s a quote between in Alison Espach’s The Wedding People that cut me deep and really rings true here as well: “How can you love yourself when you know every horrible thing you’ve ever thought?” I mean, that’s literally Eliot in a nutshell. She spends the entire book locked up like a steel vault and it made the ending so beautiful and rewarding. Amazingly done.

I would highly recommend this to fans of contemporary fiction that focuses on mental health. Comparable reads for me were The Wedding People by Alison Espach, Everyone in This Room Will Someday be Dead by Emily Austin, and Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake. All 5 star reads for me, so I clearly have a type.

How to Hide in Plain Sight by Emma Noyes
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On the day she arrived in Canada for her brother’s wedding, Eliot hasn’t seen her family in three years. There is a reason that she has avoided them and she is not ready to share, especially when she has finally got a handle on how to keep control on her OCD.
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Wow. This book was just wow. I loved every minute of it.
This story really took me on a journey. A journey of how much you can love your family, and yet they drive you crazy. How well you can know people, and yet they can still do things that make you feel like you don’t know them. How you can work so hard to hold yourself together but you still NEED people in your life that you can just fall apart in front of.

I loved how Eliot’s OCD was not the typical portrayal of OCD that is seen in entertainment. It was wonderful to have a story help explain that OCD looks different to everyone.

I adored Eliot and I just wanted to hug her tight and tell her that she was loved and wonderful just for being herself. Also her siblings kept cracking me up and I could see how she loved and admired them.
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5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I highly recommend this heartfelt and emotional read. It is such a special book that deserves the attention.

Emma Noyes has written one of the most honest and thought provoking portrayals of OCD that I've read in a long time, possibly ever!


How to Hide In Plain Sight is a genre bender, it's got romance, family drama, a little mystery. I think it could delight fans of all these genres! The plot line was inventive and kept me guessing continually. Just when I think I had the book "figured out" it would surprise me. The writing is beautiful and while there are some beautifully written lines it isn't so literary that you are left scratching your head lost for meaning.

And then you get to the portrayal of OCD. Noyes brings you into the mind of someone with OCD that is above and beyond the stereotypical "hand washing, insanely clean, organized neat freak" we normally see in works of fiction. It is raw and vulnerable, filled with honest truth and hard to talk about perseverating thoughts that often go un noticed, especially in high performing and eager to please female individuals.

I truly enjoyed every page and it will probably end up as one of my favorite books I read this year!

I really loved Emma Noyes’ previous book, Guy’s Girl, so I was excited to read this new one, How To Hide In Plain Sight. Unfortunately, this one didn’t work as well for me. It’s labeled as New Adult Romance. Yes, there’s romance, but I think those labels do the book a disservice.

The main female character is named Eliot, so that was a bit odd to me to start with. Apparently, Eliot is now more of a unisex name; who knew? Anyway, Eliot has OCD, the kind that is invisible to other people. She refers to the thoughts in her head as The Worries. The Worries mainly tell her she’s a terrible person, for various different reasons at different times. She finds that if she keeps really, really busy at work, she can keep The Worries to a low murmur. She also decided that she needed to cut herself off from her whole, messy family (lots of siblings; she’s the youngest) and her best friend, Manuel. So she hasn’t spoken to or seen any of them for three years. But now one of her brothers is getting married and she has to see them all.

The book bounces around from “now” to various points in Eliot’s childhood and teen years.

The middle of the book really dragged and that’s when I started to skim.

I did really appreciate the insights into this form of OCD and applaud Emma Noyes for writing about something so personal to her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the opportunity to read a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Have you ever read a book that lingers in your mind long after you've turned the last page? This book delivers a powerful punch, offering so much to unpack and reflect upon.

Eliot Beck emerges as an inspirational protagonist, and her journey with OCD offers profound insights. The author's vivid portrayal of Eliot's internal struggles, which she keeps hidden while maintaining a facade, is both enlightening and moving. A particularly powerful moment is when Eliot finally opens up to her father, revealing her ongoing inner battle. The scene where her siblings rally around her, and Manuel's unwavering acceptance, underscores the love and support she has, challenging her own perceptions and leaving me deeply emotional.

The slow-burn romance between best friends Eliot and Manuel adds another layer of depth to the story. Their meet-cute—Eliot rescuing Manuel from bullies as children—is pure perfection. The tension between them, with Eliot running away due to her inner struggles and Manuel patiently waiting, creates a compelling dynamic that keeps you rooting for them.

The Beck family's dynamics feel authentic and relatable. As the youngest, Eliot often feels overlooked due to the significant age gap with her siblings. However, as the story unfolds, the nuances of family communication become apparent. The twist involving her brother's death unravels Eliot's distorted memories but also brings the family closer together.

This is a moving, insightful, and unexpectedly deep read that surprises you. I cherish every moment with Eliot and her family, and the book's representation of mental health is both lovely and essential—a must-read for anyone seeking a heartfelt narrative.

“I’ve told you once, and I’ll tell you again… Don’t apologize, Eliot Beck. Don’t you ever apologize for being who you are.” - Manuel


Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley, for the free copy for review.

4.5 ⭐️

Drawing upon her own personal experience with OCD, Noyes tells the story of Eliot Beck, who cannot trust her own brain. She is the youngest in her wacky, large family, who she has been estranged from for years. When her sibling’s wedding brings the family back together, they’re forced to confront dysfunction that’s been swept under the rug. To make matters more complicated, she also comes face to face with Manuel— her childhood best friend who she fell in love with.

This story is really a love letter to OCD. It is also an important OCD story, as it shows a presentation less commonly known— the endless intrusive thoughts. Noyes does a phenmenal job educating the reader on this kind of experience, and the endless exhaustion people with OCD face when they cannot trust their own minds.

I am so bummed that this book just didn’t work for me. I enjoyed this author’s first book so much.

This book has a very heavy subject matter. There is so much internal dialogue, which I understand since this is Eliot’s personal struggle with OCD. I wasn’t a fan of all of the “then” and “now” chapters, too. The story felt very drawn out with an abrupt ending.

I feel bad since this book is very personal to the author. I just wished I enjoyed it more.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This novel strikes a delicate balance between heartbreak and hope, leaving an indelible mark on the reader. Eliot’s inner struggles—her thoughts spiraling endlessly and worries that consume her—create an emotional ache. Her raw and desperate confessions reveal a mind that isn’t always a safe haven.

Yet, amidst this darkness, there’s light. Eliot’s unconventional, meddling family—dysfunctional yet fiercely loyal—provides a counterbalance. And then there’s Manny, her best friend who knows her soul’s every nook and cranny.

How to Hide in Plain Sight not only delves into the complexities of living with a mental health condition but also celebrates unbreakable family bonds and the enduring power of true love.

“Family isn’t about telling the truth. It’s not about starting from the real beginning. To your family, you tell the story they need to hear.”

“We addicts don’t just lie; we believe, too. If you aim to deceive others, the first person you convince is yourself.”

Eliot Beck really doesn’t want to go home. The self described black sheep of her large family, youngest child Eliot has purposely distanced herself from the brood for a few years. But with her older brother getting married and the group chat buzzing, she reluctantly returns.

Upon her arrival Eliot quickly realizes not much has changed. Her family is still full of loud personalities with even louder voices, most of which predictably drowning out their youngest sister. What they can’t drown out, however, are the voices that have haunted Eliot for as long as she can remember.

In addition to dealing with her overstimulating family she’s also reunited with her childhood best friend, Manuel. The one person who always got her, Eliot and Manuel had a falling out that tore Eliot apart. Now Manuel wants answers to what happened, but Eliot doesn’t know how explain when she barely understands herself.

How to Hide in Plain Sight is the sophomore release from author Emma Noyes. Her debut, Guy’s Girl, was one of my favorites of last year. This time around, Noyes delivers another gut wrenching romance with a flawed main character front and center. Not one to shy away from difficult topics, Noyes draws upon personal experience, highlighting her own struggle with thought induced OCD through Eliot’s eyes. It’s a raw depiction, and one that is quickly becoming a signature style of the author. But beyond this, How to Hide in Plain Sight serves as a reminder that not all wounds are visible. It’s also a reminder that Noyes has a strong voice, one that will hopefully be telling stories for many more years to come.

I knew this book was heavy going into it but I didn't expect it to be so heavy. There was some scenes that were out of nowhere and not exactly explained that left me in a weird headspace. I really enjoy books that dive into family dynamics, especially when they are chaotic and dysfunctional. The family aspects were really interesting. But the overall pacing of the book was slow which is always a struggle for me. I recognize that this is a good book but it's unfortunately just not a good book for me.

How to Hide in Plain Sight is a powerful story about a young woman's struggle to come to terms with her mental illness, her family, and the boy she once ran far away from to save him from herself. OCD is a disorder of obsession. It's not always something you can see - endlessly washing your hands, locking locks, or counting things - but patterns of thinking. Often invisible. Constant. Torturous. This novel brings thoughtful clarity to a disorder that can be largely misunderstood, filtering it through the lens of a young woman plagued by her endless Worries.

Eliot is the youngest of her large, ungodly rich family. Her oldest brother is thirty years older than her and she often felt like the odd man out. Henry, on the other hand, was her Irish twin, only a year older than her. They were inseparable - until he died. His death sent a shockwave through their family, and left Eliot even more disconnected than ever before. Not long after, she developed obsessive compulsive disorder which manifested in intrusive thought patterns she could not escape from. The story begins with Eliot returning to the family's private island at Lake Huron for her brother's wedding. She hasn't seen and has barely spoken to any of them for the three years she's been off in New York, developing routines to keep her Worries at bay. She's terrified to see them again, afraid that they'll trigger the Worries. She was prepared to see them, she had a spiel to placate them and everything (mostly the truth), but then she sees Manual, her childhood best friend - another someone she pushed away three years ago and hadn't spoken to since.

This book is incredible. The kind of book I know I'll be thinking about for years to come. It is a stunning representation of what OCD might look like for someone who manifests the disorder mostly through thoughts, trapped in their own brain by thought spirals Emma Noyes illustrates in a way that makes perfect sense. The author herself has the same disorder and wanted to write a story that captured her experience.

Eliot is constantly caught up in her thoughts, which are mostly horrifying, terrible, and untrue, but outside of that struggle, life is happening around her. I thought making her the youngest child of a family with children spaced out so much was another unique aspect of humanity to include. How strange it must be to have siblings you never lived in the same home with because they were grown adults, even married, by the time you were born. Eliot has many thoughts about that dynamic, and her voice is so strong and the prose so beautiful that I found myself highlighting passages everywhere.

Manny and Eliot were the kind of best friends everyone dreams of having. Bosom buddies, practically siblings. She latched onto him in the absence of Henry, and so did her mother Wendy, allowing him to sleep over and come on vacations with them when the other siblings never had that option with their friends. His own parents were distant and often absent, and it worked for them. They know each other better than any other souls on Earth. He even knows her Worries. Through the narrative, we're shown snapshots of their relationship through the years, right up until the moment she makes her decision to leave everything she's known behind and strike out to New York alone.

I liked Manual. He didn't coddle her. He showed anger and frustration when he wasn't heard or given a chance, which felt authentic to the kind of relationship they had. A shorthand sort of connection, where they didn't always have to say things out loud to understand one another. He always told her to never lie to him about her disorder - a true friend. He's wonderful, and their relationship was handled so well and with great care by the author.

By the end, I was in tears. Realizations Eliot had, the long-overdue conversations, and the things she allowed herself to feel...it was a beautiful ending to a tension ridden story that was so skillfully and wonderfully written. I was lucky enough to receive this book as an advanced reader's copy from Netgalley & the publisher, but I've also preordered a paperback copy. I already know this is going to become a well-weathered volume in my home library. Please read it.

This book was so heavy but in such a beautiful way. It makes you feel the full range of emotions and deals with so many sensitive topics, and was so delightfully well-written. I love the way the family dynamics were handled and the mental health awareness was represented. It was profound and touching, and I can’t wait to see what Emma comes up with next.

You need to read the "Dear Reader" note at the beginning of this book before you read it. I found it touching and interesting. It added a layer of appreciation for the character, Eliot, and her mental health issues.

Eliot is part of a huge, dysfunctional but seemingly pretty happy family. She however is different. After her brother is killed the family all deal or don't deal in different ways. Eliot haas never cried. She's not sure why. She does however now suffer from OCD. Her version of OCD is different from anything I had heard of and I was so interested in learning about it. The story was deep, with lots of interesting aspects among the many characters. I really hurt for Manuel. He's obviously such a good guy and is so perfect for Eliot. She's doing her best to drive him away though. Why? Well you have to wade through her history to the present. And the journey is very interesting.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

⭐️: 4/5

I went in to this one not really knowing what genre it was going to be, and came out equally unsure. Was it a romance? Contemporary fiction? Family drama? Coming of age story? Maybe a little bit of all of the above? Definitely the last one.

I want to start out with what I really liked about this book before diving into what irked me about it. The writing style was really easily readable and followable, and the voice made me care about the main character of Eliot. The representation of OCD, especially in a form that isn’t what the general public thinks of when they hear the term OCD, was well done and provided good representation of a neurodivergent MC, which I always laud. For the most part, the rest of the cast of characters were also interesting, and I felt myself wanting to know more about them and their relationships with Eliot, and I was definitely rooting for them to find a way to support her and see her.

Now for what stopped this book from being a hit for me. 21 feels young for a protagonist of a book like this. This wasn’t a YA book so for Eliot to be 21, having left home at 18, was just a little bit of an odd choice to me. I think back to how much I didn’t have figured out at 21 and it’s just…difficult to believe I guess. The plot itself relied on some big ~event~ that happened to drive Eliot and Manny apart three years ago, and books that take this form almost inevitably are a let down because the big fight/misunderstanding/secret is never as big as it’s hyped up to be, or it’s just so predictable that it feels unnecessary to make such a big thing of it. I also found Manny’s behavior a little inconsistent with where the story eventually goes, which bugged me. The story through the middle felt long winded and unfocused, with little plot to drive it forward or keep the reader invested and eager to come back to read more.

I did like the structure of the book with the current time period and the past time period working its way to meet up with the present. I struggled to rate this one too, because while some things were done really well, it’s ultimately a bit of a forgettable book.

Thank you to @netgalley and @berkleypub for this free eARC in exchange for my review!!

This is a tough one to rate because I think so many people will love this book, but it just wasn't for me. I was expecting a second chance romance with some family wedding drama from the description, but this book is very heavy. It was slow and hard to follow at times. The main character has OCD and it was exhausting being in her head.. which is probably the point. I have a whole new understanding of people dealing with OCD. I really appreciate that the author shared her experience through Eliot and represented some tough topics in such a real way. Thank you to Berkley Publishing & Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Eliot suffers from OCD, but it doesn't look the way it's usually portrayed in the media. For her it's extremely disturbing thoughts. They begin when she's ten and her beloved brother, Henry, has just died. Her family is consumed with grief so they don't notice her needs.

When there is a physical health problem it's easy to see and get treatment. When it's a mental health issue it's harder to notice and difficult for people to notice. The thoughts Eliot experiences are frightening and she doesn't know how to tell anyone about them. I think a lot of people will relate to this story. Hopefully it will allow readers who experience thoughts like Eliot's to see they're not alone.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

When I received my monthly Berkley offering and saw this story about a big family reuniting for a wedding my instant reaction was I WOULD LIKE TO DO THAT PLEASE!

I am always down for some "maybe you can go home again" family drama which is totally what I was expecting to receive here. What I got instead was a pretty comprehensive explanation of OCD that presents itself in the form of intrusive thoughts, along with the story of the Beck family who were always fairly dysfunctional, but who truly haven’t been the same in over a decade when Henry died. Told through the voice of youngest daughter Eliot, this is a story of first love, of family, of grieving, and of The Worries that plague her mind.

I don’t know that this will be for everyone. I understand “Boose’s” brain could be triggering for some and potentially exhausting for others. But I hope people give it a chance.

4 Stars

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Berkley for an advanced copy of How to Hide in Plain Sight by Emma Noyes.

I'm struggling to put into words my thoughts on this book - this was so different and not quite what I expected from the synopsis. Emma Noyes writing is extremely real, raw and vulnerable. I feet the same way after reading Guy's Girl with her powerful writing and not shying away from her experiences.

The main character Eliot has OCD and that and her dysfunctional family can be a little hard to read. This book is heavy and lots of spiraling of Eliot's thoughts both currently and going back to different points in her childhood.

I liked this book a lot, but it dragged at the same time. I feel like I learned a lot about OCD.

I do recommend reading it, just know that it is a lot. And I appreciate the author sharing her own experiences with OCD.