Absolutely gripping. I love an amusement park thriller and this didn't disappoint. Could definitely see it being made for the big screen.

This book got me out of a long reading slump. I read the literal first half of it on one sitting, and only stopped because I was exhausted and my brain stopped comprehending sentences.

I loved the concept, the reveal of the characters that allowed me to care about them but by bit, and the realistic way the protagonist was driven by her trauma and eventual hope. I will say the foreshadowing made what was actually happening very obvious, but even that did didn’t take away from my enjoyment of watching it all unfold.

I may be recommending this one for my library’s 2023 Library Picks.

This story starts off with 14 competitors, who think they are going to be playing an innocent game of hide-and-seek for a grand prize of $50,000. Seems easy enough. Too bad they aren't hiding from each other.

I really enjoyed this book! I did not want to put it down. It did take a bit to figure out the characters at first, but not to fear, they all won't be there long. I liked our main character, Mack, and what we get of her back story. She seems to have already played a deadly game of hide-and-seek before.

I was really liking the book until the last.....85%? <spoiler> I kinda wished everyone would have just succumbed to the monster? I know that not the right thing to want....but....that's what I wanted.</spoiler> It Just seemed to almost be a different story. It wasn't what I was expecting to happen.

Overall, I did enjoy the story and would recommend it!

Thank you to Kiersten White, Del Rey Books, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Didn’t really build to much. Slow in quite a lot of parts. I felt like this had so much potential but felt it didn’t leave up to it.

Combining an abandoned theme park, reality show contestants, and an ancient curse is an unusual combination that works for Kiersten White in Hide. There is a wide cast of characters that are entertainingly relatable, but the setting itself shines as the brightest star, providing a haunting backdrop for the ghastly game within the game. Hide is a fast-paced ride on the bumpiest thrill coaster in the park.

Creepy story, not what I thought it would be, but I enjoyed reading this book! Once you realise that the story would progress like a regular monster story, Kiersten throws in a twist with a great concept. It didn’t grab me from page 1 like some reviews said tho, took me a few chapters to get hooked. If you are expecting scary, you’ll be disappointed. The story has some creepy moments kind of like a combination of supernatural mystery and thriller but its an exciting story regardless.

Thank you Delrey via Netgalley for the arc.

Lost interest early and not as into it as expected. Good concept, just wasn't my cup of tea.

Thanks to Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC.

Oh dear. This one was a miss for me. The development of the characters was not enough to keep me invested. I was excited for the premise of the story, but just couldn't seem to get into this one, it was just so slow for me. It is a dnf unfortunately. I am sorry.

Thank you to NetGalley and Publishers for the arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I would check out my review on Youtube for all the details on my ooinions of this book as there is so much to say. The beginning of this book was a struggle to get into. There are a ton of characters and it just feels dry. Then they are at the park hiding and the adventures and weird things begin to happen and although I would've liked more details and creep factor I was enjoying this part. There is also an interesting back story as to how the game came to bestarted. And then the ending happened which I am still a bit confused about and a bit bummed over.

3.5 Stars

This was the Cabin in the Woods/ Black Mirror combination that I never knew I needed! I had so much fun reading Hide! The characters were interesting, the settings were immaculately written, and I loved the twists and turns. Some parts felt a little long winded and discombobulated, but I enjoyed the story overall!

Hide had a premise I was beyond excited for. Abandoned amusement park? Deadly hide and seek competition? Sign me up.

While I do think that premise, and its twists, were entertaining, I found the writing style of this book to be a little difficult for me to get into. I found the POV switches jarring, and while I do see the purpose for alternate POVs in this story I really only cared about Mack's until about 50% through the book. I think having specific POV chapters would have worked better than switching multiple times in a chapter–at least for me. Also, having two characters in an ensemble piece named Ava was...a little confusing at first.

That being said, I do think this was a fun read. The characters did grow on me overtime, and it reminded me of a campy horror romp akin to the video game Until Dawn. I think this story in particular would also be a great TV or movie adaption, and it's one I would gladly watch.

Overall, it was a good time!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for my honest review.

In this thriller with a slight paranormal/horror edge, a young woman who's been forced to hide her whole life is presented with an opportunity to turn her finely honed skill into a pile of prize money. Reluctant to participate in a weird, sponsored hide-and-seek competition, Mack agrees to participate because she has nowhere else to go. She intends to focus on the prize and ignore the thirteen others, outlasting them all as seekers hunt them down in an abandoned mid-century amusement park. Her strategy shifts as things go from odd to downright chilling in the park. The contestants are trapped, and those who are found and removed from the competition leave bloody trails in their wake.

There were several things I liked about this standalone. The spooky ambience worked on me 100%. The story is always in motion, and quick cycles through contestant POVs add tension rather than confusion. Though most characters' perspectives are brief and eventually cut short by a seeker, I felt that the author both used and subverted archetypes to make these windows into their minds meaningful and intriguing. I became attached to our protagonist, Mack, and particularly rooted for her sapphic side plot.

In terms of thriller/horror elements, this isn't the sort of book with a big buildup to a twist that leaves you shocked. I still found each reveal inching towards a full explanation compelling. It's geared toward social commentary veering from biting remarks to frustrated screams depending on the moment. And that worked for me. It's clear and upfront without straying into heavy-handed and annoying territory. The horror elements can be violent, but the suspense reigns, only intermittently interrupted with grisly moments.

I enjoyed this venture into a genre I rarely visit. I have previously enjoyed White's writing, and that held true in her adult debut. I'm curious to see what else she has in store for us even though this story is complete (a bit open-ended but also resolved). Thanks to Del Rey for my copy to read and review!

Kiersten White knows how to write a premise. But more than that, she knows how to deliver on said premise. A deadly hide and seek game for money, without the participants knowing it'll be deadly, has the possibility of falling flat. However, White understands the types of characters that will make your heart hurt while she puts them through hell. As her first adult novel, I'm excited to see what her adult writing career will be after this one, what kinds of plots, characters, and twists and turns she'll give us. Because no matter what the concept, I'll be there with bells on, waiting to see how she surprises me, breaks my heart, and fills me with love.

Yeah no. I’m DNFing this. While I’ve previously enjoyed this author immensely, I am not vibing with this writing style at all. It’s getting on my nerves

An interesting premise, but the execution was a miss for me. POV changes in a weird way and most of the plot is moved forward by info dumps. I rarely read authors who can do the hide/chase scenes this book full of in an interesting way, and this book struggled there as well.

I was a little worried going into this book because I keep seeing very polarizing reviews but I really enjoyed it! I definitely wouldn't consider this story to be adult, except for a few of the more graphic scenes. Kiersten White has been an auto-read author of mine for a few years so it was nice to read some of her writing again. The setting in this was super creepy but the deadly game storyline fell a little flat for me. It was cool that the author included normal every day things like going to the bathroom and menstration. I'm absolutely hoping to get a physical copy ASAP!

When I first heard that Kiersten White was not only writing a horror novel but an ADULT horror novel, I was like, “YES! I’m all in!” And you know what, I really enjoyed Hide! Right from the start, I was really into it. The book was just really well written, which should come as no surprise as Kiersten White is a great writer 😆 I was really loving the ambiance of the book. One of my favorite things about it was definitely the setting. I mean, you have a bunch of characters playing hide and seek in an abandoned amusement park where the winner gets $50k? Um, yes, please! I mean, it’s super weird, but I’m into it 😆

You know who else is into it? 14 competitors. Lol. So they have 7 days of hide and seek, and every day, competitors will be disqualified until the last remaining gets the money. Maybe. The competitors start disappearing, and not in the “disqualified” sort of way...

And it might have to do with the history of the park. Not long after the park first opened, a little girl went missing, and the park was soon shut down. And let me tell you, the history of the park? INSANE! The way everything unraveled and things came together was SO GOOD! Kiersten added this element to the story that I don’t want to give away, but it’s one of my favorite things to read about!

Greek mythology, guys. It had Greek mythology!! The freaking park is a maze and the reason behind why people are disappearing is the freaking minotaur!!! 😱 I was SO pleasantly surprised when I put the pieces together! First of all, 14 competitors, 7 men and 7 women, just like in the myth. AND I believe the name of the town is Asterion, which is the minotaur's name! Basically, there are a bunch of rich families that made a deal with a minotaur years ago, and in exchange for sacrifices, they get prosperity and protection for all the future generations. It was so fucked up... and I enjoyed every minute of it! 😆

The setting was great, and the story was compelling, but let me tell you, keeping all the characters straight was ROUGH 😅 To be fair, it didn’t matter too much because like I said, they started disappearing. But it was a large cast of characters. I liked quite a few of them though! And a lot of them had some pretty sad pasts.

But overall, I really enjoyed this book! It was a great adult debut from Kiersten White. I loved the concept and the setting in an abandoned amusement park—it was nice and spooky. It wasn’t very gory, in my opinion, or that scary, for that matter. But take this with a grain of salt because horror novels hardly ever scare me 😅 I liked the vibe though. GO KIERSTEN! We definitely need more adult stuff from her, of the horror variety preferably 😉

It won't be every horror readers' cup of tea, but I enjoyed Hide very much. There was a palpable sense of dread from page one. The book is a quick, easy read, with just enough gore to satisfy. This is my first book by Kiersten White, but I think I'll go look for some more.

Absolutely brutal from beginning to end! I really loved the exploration of different relationships in Hide! Kiersten did an excellent job of writing compelling characters and exploring the complexities of a large cast…before they're killed off. Very cinematic as well, especially as you get into the end game I could really picture the dramatic down-to-the-wire sequences.

Very interesting tie-in revealed as well, that fit so neatly with established clues but still managed to take me by surprise.

3.5 I really wanted to love this story but the further I got the more disappointed I was. This story follows Mack as she joins a hide and go seek completion that took place over a week in an abandoned amusement park. We follow Mack as she meets her 13 other contestants and deals with surprises and twists over the next week. I started out really enjoying this and liked being introduced to all the characters and the sense of dread that hung over the story. Once I got about half way through this story went completely of the rails there were twist that defies logic and the ending really just didn’t do it for me so that really dropped the score down . Overall if you don’t mind things that don’t seem logical you may enjoy this story as it was pretty entertaining. I feel like this story is not for me but others might enjoy. I would like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for a chance to read this story for an honest review