Billed as hide-and-seek in a creepy abandoned amusement park with Hunger Games vibes, this book sounded like a wild ride I was so excited to jump on! The premise was so interesting, it was ripe with possibilities of how it all played out.

Unfortunately, for me the story fell disappointingly flat. The main character, for starters, was so emotionally detached due to previous trauma that she didn't emotionally connect to the other characters, so therefore the reader really couldn't either.

There were also too many characters, and they were all pretty much caricatures. I thought it was funny that even the author alluded to the fact that the names of the first ones to be found in the game would not be remembered.

As for the story itself, the premise was okay, but nothing too mind-bending, and the villians were not really clever or hate-inducing. The action didn't really pick up till the 50% mark, and I wasn't really rooting for any of the characters (except maybe a side character Brandon), which meant that as they were eliminated from the game, I really didn't care.

This was really trying hard to be a horror novel, but it just wasn't. Also, from the Author's note at the end, it was trying to be a larger commentary on socioeconomic issues today, so I think that ideology got in the way of the scary factor. However, Stephen King is my barometer for horror, so maybe that's just me.

All in all, I think my hopes were too high, and this was an okay read.

Don't judge a book by its cover, but we seem to anyway. I was intrgued with this book due to the cover and wanted to see if it was as creepy as the cover made it appear. The world building was done so well but some of the characters and the story line fell a little flat. In the end it was a good book, glad I read it.

The first half of this was very difficult to care about because there were so many characters (most of them sadly quite one-dimensional), but the second half was an absolute delight.

White is one of my favorite authors but this book was a disappointment. It just fell flat for me and was too predictable. The big "twist" was just not a good one. It may have made a better movie than a book because the use of multiple POVs left me confused and I had a hard time keeping the characters straight.

3/3.5

This book was alright. There were some very good things about it and some things that I wasn’t quite a fan of. Still, it’s well written so it was worth reading.
Fourteen people are called together to spend seven days hiding in an abandoned amusement park. The objective is not to get caught, the prize is a whole lot of money to the one remaining contestant.
Everyone is desperate to win in order to serve whatever it is they want to do or escape from. Mack is sure she can beat out all the competitors because if there is one thing she is good at it’s hiding. It’s the only reason she is still alive and the rest of her family is not.
However, as people begin to disappear, Mack begins to realize that this competition isn’t just a fun little game but something far darker and more sinister is at play. In the end, those remaining may need to work together so that any of them survive at all.
This had a really fun idea behind it and it’s nice and dark throughout so that part of it was great. The problem is that I really wasn’t a fan of the whole idea of the story and how and why it proceeded the way it did. It was almost just silly after a bit rather than the scare that it started with. One of the things is that the show “Supernatural” had an episode that followed the very basic part of this story and it was done in a way that was scary and kept you really into it. I won’t say which episode because that would completely ruin the book for you but you may know what I am talking about, to a small degree, once you read this. I know everything has been done before and I’m a big fan of that and seeing where people go with an idea or story but for me this one just fell a little flat.
All that said, would I recommend you read this? Of course! The author is a fantastic writer and you may find that you really love this book. It’s definitely worth reading.

I had a lot of high hopes for this story. This seemed like it would be a darker hunger games story. Overall I just found it boring and read too YA at some parts. I didn’t like any of the characters much so it was hard to root for someone to “win” the game.

This book was a misrepresented book. It sounded more like a YA horror and an adult one. The characters were quite unbearable and there were so many characters. I had such a hard time following along. I ended up dnfing this after trying to push myself through it but I started seeing my friends were having issues with it as well, so I gave up. This was pretty disappointing and not really for the horror audience.

I have been holding onto Kiersten White’s new novel Hide, eagerly awaiting October to read it during spooky season. A survival story set in a dilapidated amusement park sounded like just the book to read during Halloween. Unfortunately, this supernatural horror story was not as gripping or thrilling as I would have expected, and I found myself not enjoying the majority of the book. My main issue is the number of characters introduced in Hide. So many different characters are brought in that I immediately could not keep them and their backstories straight. After working much harder than I should have to when reading a book for entertainment, I was so mentally exhausted that I no longer cared who was who. I just plowed through this story and unfortunately, didn’t get much out of it. Written at surface level without depth or connection, I cannot recommend this book as one that I enjoyed.

Can you spend the week in an abandoned amusement park? Would you do it for money? Would you do it for fame? Would you do it for the greater good? These are the questions the main characters of this YA thriller have to ask themselves in K. White's new novel, Hide. There are some things that White does so well in this novel.. For one, the atmosphere of the abandoned park. The descriptions of the park were so detailed, that I could vividly see every detail in my mind. Another is the cast of amusement park characters. Although initially, I found the characters within the park one-sided, I realized that is often the intention when watching a reality series as well.
If spooky stories about abandoned theme parks are your thing, then Hide is for you!!

Like Squid Game meets The Ritual, <u>Hide</u> is a raucous ride of murder, mayhem, and mass destruction. This was a relatively quick and fast paced thriller and while somewhat predictable and vastly absurd and over the top, it was definitely a fun and entertaining read. Though White admits to trying to put a kind of political message into her writing, I don't think it necessarily translates very well. Rather than reading this to try to glean some deeper meaning, I'd suggest just taking the story at face value and enjoying it for what it is.

This was okay. I spent the first half of HIDE trying to remember/figure out who was who due to the cast of 14. The writing was good, but the constantly changing third person POV made the story confusing for me. The overall set up and twist were kind of interesting, but I didn’t feel enough connection to the characters to care much by the end. The setting was the best part of the novel for sure.

"Hide" is Kiersten White's adult debut, and it is a lean horror story of people trying to survive a week in an abandoned amusement park to win a life-changing prize. It's a simple set-up, and its execution is similarly simple. It just felt a little too insignificant to me. That's not a valid criticism in my book, since some books are truly just here to be fun, but White has written interesting horror/fantasy novels in the YA space for years, and this just felt like a step backwards. It's still a fun time though, and if the premise speaks to you, you may enjoy it!

There is a disconnect between how the book starts and how it ends and it’s disjointed enough to make the entire thing less cohesive and enjoyable. There are too many POVs for a novel this length several of which are so short-lived they are unnecessary.

Like many bibliophiles, I cannot answer who my favorite author is because there are too many authors to limit that answer to just one. Instead, I have a special list of authors who make up my auto-buy list. Jay Kristoff, Samantha Shannon, Holly Black, and Nora Roberts are just a few of the authors who make that list for me. Kiersten White is also on that list, so it was with eagerness I picked up her latest book, Hide, and started reading. What unfolded was something I wasn't expecting but which I enjoyed nonetheless. I wouldn't say Hide is my favorite novel by Ms. White, but it does reiterate how well she can create spooky stories with plenty of eerie twists. Her mash-up of old-school horror, fantasy, and psychological thriller doesn't work as well as I hoped, but I still think her writing is strong. Thanks to Ms. White, after reading Hide, I will never look at amusement parks in quite the same way again, which speaks volumes.

I loved the mythology and set up of this, but wish I’d felt more satisfied by the ending. I won’t be giving anymore of the secrets away though. It’s still worth a read.

An abandoned theme park is just the latest spooky setting for a terrifying ritual that has been continuing in secret for generations. Fourteen challengers take part in a survivor-type game of hide-and-seek. The last person not found will win enough prize money to change their life. Nothing is like it seems in this competition and those who lose are not seen again. In this suspenseful story of desperation, horror, and possible hope, you can travel right along with the players. Be quiet while you read. It's very important to hide.

I honestly didn't know what to expect when I picked this up - Kiersten White has such a wide range of ages, themes, and general "feelings" in her work that an adult horror was new for me. That said, I ended up really enjoying this. It didn't feel as "horror" as I was expecting - I had no problem reading with the lights off or anything like that. But, where I usually don't love monster horror, this one worked pretty well for me. I'd solidly recommend this!

I recommended this to a few students and some family. The audiobook (which I purchased later) was terrific as well. I'll probably keep a physical copy in my office to give out to students that are less interested in my normal science fiction/fantasy offerings.

I really loved the sense of place in the book. The included map really helped visualize the park and made for some interesting discussion as we mapped the travels of the contestants throughout the story.

Well... that was unexpected. I definitely went into Hide expecting something a little different - an abandoned amusement park, 14 contests, and someone (or something) hunting them - and while I got all of that, there was a couple unexpected twists. Surprisingly, I was more invested in the plot, in the 'what' and 'why' and 'what's going to happen', than I was in the characters. I know this was a "me" problem but I really just struggled to connect with the writing style. Although not even remotely written like a script, that's the general vibe I got from the book (and I have to say I do think it would make an incredibly fun Netflix series!).

All in all, though, it was a quick, fun, not quite as spooky as I was hoping for read.

Quick and satisfying little read with a fabulously anti-capitalist message. (As a side note, loved the author's comment about the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" saying at the end of the book!)

Honestly unsure why the rating on this book is rather low. I read this in just over a day and enjoyed the entire ride. It flowed easily, had a creative plot and setting, and even features a lesbian storyline that is a focus but doesn't take over the entire book (LGBTQ+ anything in a horror novel is something I'm always happy to see). It leaves just enough mystery throughout it until the last third when everything is gradually revealed, and those reveals tie nicely into hints dropped earlier in the story. I'd actually really love to see this one made into a movie; I'm an absolute sucker for horror based in and around amusement parks, circuses, and fairs, and this really hit the spot.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!