Unfortunately, this was not it for me. I felt misled by the synopsis and I think I was just expecting something completely different than what was delivered.

Having read from Kiersten White in the past, I was so excited to see she was coming out with an adult, hide-and-seek thriller. Unfortunately, Hide didn’t quite live up to what I was expecting.

We’re following a group of about 14 people who are entered in a hide-and-seek competition taking place in an abandoned amusement park. As the days progress, the stakes get higher and by the end of the game, it may become a life or death situation.

Hide had a promising premise but I thought the execution could’ve used a little work. Although the characters are described as being older and the book is marketed as adult, i felt they behaved more like teenagers? Something about the writing just made the book feel more like a young adult novel. Also, I thought the characters could’ve used a bit more development. That being said, I did enjoy how fast paced and quick the story went by.
All and all, not a new favorite, but still fun!

This is not my typical type of read but I freaking LOVED this story. I inhaled it.

There are seemingly a lot of characters to keep track of in the beginning, but (mild spoiler but not really) the hilarious thing is that not even the MCs kept track so don't kill yourself trying to keep everyone sorted. Just keep reading. Don't be intimidated. You'll be okay.

I think most of the reader quibbles I've read about this book are valid- there are plot holes, elements of the story are ridiculous (OF COURSE THEY ARE! It's a reality-competition-ish set in an abandoned theme park with a maze and some weird supernatural stuff WHAT DID ANY OF US EXPECT?! Dickens?!?!), and the social commentary can be a bit heavy-handed. I didn't mind any of that.

What can I say? This book got to me at the exact right moment. I loved it. It's cuckoo in the most entertaining way. I even loved the absurd ending.

Maybe brush up on Minotaur mythology before reading? IDK you'll probably either love or hate this book but I'll recommend it for sure,

Thanks to Del Rey and NetGalley for the review copy!

*3.5 Stars*


I’m a huge fan of a few of White’s books, specifically The Conqueror’s Saga and The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein, so I was very excited to see that she was coming out with an adult horror book. The creepy cover paired with the book description, a hide-and-seek contest in an abandoned amusement park, instantly piqued my interest.

Hide gave me screenplay vibes, the story played out in my mind like a teen horror movie. Actually, if this book were turned into a movie, I’d choose M. Night Shyamalan as the director. The way in which White draws out the suspense and tension reminded me of Shyamalan’s films.

Hide is quick paced and action packed, making for a compulsively readable book. As White slowly reveals the sinister details, I kept turning the pages to find out what was really going on.
Hide felt more YA than adult, which isn’t a criticism. I feel like this will appeal to a YA or new adult audience.

A common criticism of Hide is the large cast of characters, however this did not bother me in the slightest. Actually, I thought White did a good job juggling all the characters. While only a handful of characters are significant, I didn’t have issues keeping the other characters straight. These side characters are not central to the story, so I didn’t mind the fact that we only get glimpses of who they are.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this story. I do think the story was a bit surface level, which is disappointing as I know what White is capable of. I was left wanting more.

I highly encourage you to read the author’s note at the end of this story. White goes into her inspiration for this book and the timely social message of Hide.

Big thanks to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Have been unable to review due to illness. Review coming soon! This novel looks fantastic and I highly recommend this author to everyone!

I had higher than high hopes for this book. I have immensely enjoyed Kiersten White’s writing before and I’m a sucker for a horror novel, especially one involving an amusement park. This book unfortunately fell a little flat for me and didn’t give me the thrills and chills I was hoping for.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are…”
Fourteen competitors are playing the ultimate game of hide and seek, spending a week in an abandoned amusement park and hoping they’re not the first one to be found. They have no idea who or how many are seeking them, they just need to be hidden everyday from sun up to sun down. But then the game starts to become more sinister, people are disappearing everyday and the competitors start to wonder WHAT it is they’re actually hiding from.

If anyone knows me, you know I love me an unreliable narrator. Or in the case of this book, multiple unreliable narrators as the book was told from multiple perspectives and was also written in third-person. And maybe that’s what was throwing me off with this book a little was not reading directly from those perspectives themselves, instead it was told to me from their perspective. Granted that did help me not get confused on who was speaking but I think I would have preferred to view it through their eyes instead of like a commentary.

Another thing that I didn’t really like about this book was it wasn’t THAT scary. I know that opinion is to each their own but if you’re going to hand me something marketed as a supernatural thriller I would like to be spooked, and I wasn’t. There were a few times things got a little chilling especially up to the reveal of who the monster really is that had me waiting with bated breath but then I lost interest about halfway through the book.

I will say, the ending is what tied the book up for me and is the reason I’m not giving this book a lower rating. I was flying through the end of it and it was exactly the type of revenge story I wanted to happen.

All in all, not a bad book but I feel it could have been a little more scary (again, to each their own) but overall still a decent read. I have always enjoyed the author’s works and will continue to read them in the future.

*Many thanks to Random House Publishing-Ballantine for the gifted copy for my honest review*

Unfortunately, this was a miss for me. I was expecting a horror/thriller and think this missed the mark. I was bored by most of it and found each “day” to be repetitive. The ending was a little too far out there for me.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

// Content warnings: child abuse, suicide, murder, murder of a child, attempted murder, gore //

Please educate yourself on the content warnings for this novel before reading, as I may have missed some in my review.

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// Quick Statistics //
Overall: 5/5 Stars
Characters: 5/5 Stars
Writing: 5/5 Stars
Setting: 5/5 Stars
Plot: 5/5 Stars
Memorability: 5/5 Stars

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// Quick Review //
A brilliantly written horror novel that kept me interested from start to finish. Hide exhibits a broad and unique cast of characters, each trying their best to survive the horrifying circumstances they unknowingly introduced themselves to.

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// Other Information //
Publisher: Del Rey
Page Count: 256 pages
Release Date: May 24, 2022
Series: None (that I am aware of)
Tags: Fiction, Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy, Suspense, Horror, Paranormal

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// Review //
Wow.

I don’t even know where to start with this novel. It has been so long since I was so involved in a book that I was sad to see it end, and even longer since I have read a breathtaking yet horrifying book. Hide is a truly excellent and distinctive book, one that I’m sure will stick with me for the near future.

I had hardly any issues with Hide and flew through the book at an amazing speed (for me, anyway). The plot was fast-moving but filled with mystery and terror. I spent the novel wondering about the new discoveries being made by the characters throughout the story. The plot came together beautifully and is truly a masterpiece. Hide was reminiscent of The Hunger Games and Winterset Hollow in its game of survival. However, it stands out when it comes to its memorable and lovable characters, chilling setting, and horror.

The story takes place in an abandoned amusement park where 14 characters are meant to hide for 7 days in order to win 50,000 dollars. Run down, haunted, and hiding deadly secrets, the amusement park seems like a hopeful opportunity until day by day Mack, Ava, LeGrand, and Brandon notice something is amiss. Their discovery of secrets reveals that they were not brought to Asterion—the home of this twisted game—to get a second chance. Rather, they were brought here to die at the hands of a devilish monster summoned here in generations past to protect Asterion.

I felt like I could truly connect to the vibrant cast of characters that Kiersten White created. Despite having 14+ characters introduced almost all at once, it was not hard for me to recognize them all through the frequent POV changes in the novel. The evolution of relationships in Hide added so much to the plot; it raised the stakes. With realistic characters in an unfamiliar landscape and situation, White created an absolutely genius progression of fear.

I have never wanted to see a book as a movie as much as I want this one to be. I can just imagine how terrified I would be while seeing Hide on a screen. Kiersten White’s writing style, too, is beautiful and perfectly fits the feel of this book. The way the author explores the character’s trauma while incorporating it into the plot was fascinating and made me admire the characters even more. ‘

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and cannot wait to check out more of White’s works.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC copy.. DNFed. This read like YA even though it's an adult book. Just wasn't enjoying it.

Super creepy. Loved the whole locked Room but in an old derelict amusement park setting. I had a little trouble keeping track of who's who with the huge cast of characters in the beginning, but as the story progressed, that became less and less of an issue. Well developed plot with good character development and excellent tension building throughout. Strong foreshadowing that didn't give up the mystery, but gave you just enough clues to keep you reading straight through. Headed for a strong 4+ stars, but I was disappointed in the very end - this might just be my personal preference though and some people will probably love the ending. Strong 3.5 stars from me.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book never gets to the point. There were way too many characters. Then a love story got thrown in for no reason. I got confused a lot of times about what was happening. Just because it cussses, doesn't make it interesting. And the ending was weak and dumb.

**3.5 Stars**
This was not horror, in my opinion. It had action, and some gore, and a few stressful encounters, but I would not call it horror. I am sure there are a lot of types of horror, but to me, it is something that elevated your heart rate, you feel scared or jumpy, you are terrified of what the next page will reveal... none of that happened here. Instead this was a little bit drama, a little bit science fiction and a little bit action.

The plot of the book is a Hide & Seek tournament with 14 players in an abandoned amusement park and 2 contestants get eliminated per day for 1 week. The book is narrated by pretty much every single character in the Hide & Seek tournament (which if someone invited me to participate in the answer will always be no, just saying). The author switches point of view rapidly with sometimes no transitions which at times was a little off putting since I had to sit and think as to who I was shadowing and what was going on. The ending was the absolute best part of the book and that is all I will say about that since no spoilers here, but just you wait for the last few chapters!

The only reason that this is getting 2 stars instead of 1 is because I could see the symbolism without knowing this book was a commentary on the current state of the world. There were a few times I wondered "Hmmm... I wonder if this author is trying to say that or if I'm just reading too deep?" It wasn't until I got to the acknowledgments that I realized that those things were intentional. I liked that.

Unfortunately, as for the book itself, it's a major miss for me. The characters weren't developed at all so you don't feel anything for a single one of them, how the beast was formed remains a mystery, and the overall book felt like a giant lead up to nothing. I suppose in a way that's the point - the world we live in just continues on the way it always has with others paying the cost for the few to live well. However, allegory or not, I personally need a fictional human-eating circus-dwelling beast to have a bit of an explanation.

It's a shame because this really could have been something special. There's potential in here for an impactful story, but it unfortunately felt rushed and underdeveloped.

Fourteen people are thrown into a seven-day game in an abandoned amusement park that turns deadly in a way that the players never imagined possible.

I am kind of obsessed with this book, which is not exactly what I expected to happen when I picked it up. I flew through it in one sitting, and there was never a moment when I wanted to put it down! From the first chapter, I was hooked, and the further into the story I got, the more I was addicted to the atmospheric writing and plot. I’ve seen some not-great reviews for this one, so I was hesitant to get to it, but I am so very glad I did! Watching horror movies is one of my favorite things to do, and reading Hide felt like I was in one of those movies that I can watch over and over again. I thought this book was absolutely amazing, and I’m excited to see what Kiersten White writes next!

CW for murder, violence, abuse in past, blood, racism, cults, human sacrifices, loss of loved ones.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the ARC of Hide by Kiersten White!

Hide by Kiersten White

🎡 I am a big fan of The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by this author, so I was really excited to read and review her latest book. However, I’m very sad to say I was disappointed in this one. I’ll try to explain why.

🎡 The story starts off really slowly… too slowly. Absolutely nothing interesting happens until about 42% in. Yes, that is a very specific number because I was so excited something interesting was finally happening that I noted where I was in the book.

🎡 It is slow because there was a lot of backstory for the characters; however, there were so many characters that the backstories were still quite minimal despite the time spent on it. I didn’t really engage with anyone.

🎡 I was amazed at how little I pictured the abandoned amusement park. For me, the world-building was lacking. I got no creepy sensations at all about the location, and honestly… an abandoned amusement park is like my scariest worst nightmare. The creep-factor from the location was non-existent.

🎡 Even when the action started I was pretty underwhelmed.

🎡 There was a lot of repetitiveness. I fully admit that I started scanning some of the pages to get past some of it and move the story along.

🎡 The characters were stereotypes. There was clearly a political statement being made in the story, and even that ended up being flat and incredulous IMO.

🎡 The ending was too abrupt and very unsatisfying.

🎡 Biggest pet peeve of all … why in the world were two characters given the same name? 🤯

🎡 The premise was intriguing and I was all geared up for a fantastic horror story, set in a scary place, from an author I’ve read and loved before. But I didn’t get any of that. I wasn’t scared and I wasn’t engaged. I was disappointed.

🎡 As always, this is entirely my opinion. You may love the book and should definitely read it for yourself if the premise intrigues you.

Thank you @netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for a free eARC of this book, which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Like many popular young adult authors, White is crossing over into the adult market this year, but her contemporary debut is perhaps one of the furthest from the work we’ve seen from her before. (And that’s a compliment, by the way). Hide is a dark horror story that’s full of blood, gore, and a secret society of elites murdering the young, marginalized, and poor in order to secure the success of their own families.

But though her adult debut is very much a grisly tale of horror, it also features many of the same elements that make White’s other worlds so appealing, from its fast-paced, page-turning plot to its diverse cast of memorable characters and the complex, often unlikeable heroine at its center, who is wrestling with a dark past of her own.

Thank you to Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, I had to DNF this one. There were a lot of POV and kind of hard to keep up with. It read more of a YA book than adult. And it took me forever to get as far as I did. It just couldn’t keep my attention. This one just wasn’t for me.

This book was amazing. I coudn't put it down. It was magical. Higly recommended! The characters, the plots, the writting: wonderful and perfect.

I thought this book was great until I got to about 86% and the author started talking about white privilege, of course rich white people are racist and of course the events were happening cuz crazy white people. Eye roll.

4.5/5 (rounded up)

Hide may be Kiersten White's adult debut, but it still had some young adult elements to it, not that I minded at all. I wasn't really sure what to expect because I had held off reading reviews, so I was pretty excited that I ended up absolutely loving it. I like the idea of going into this as blind as possible, but it is also important that you know it is a supernatural thriller. I don't know if I would have expected what the supernatural part was going to be, and I was really surprised to learn what it was. I did wish it had been described a bit more, as while I did get an idea of what was going on, I couldn't really fully picture it in my head. I didn’t, however, have ANY issue picturing the dilapidated amusement park although I could have taken even more detail on that as well. I think this would make a terrific movie, and even though I don't like to watch anything scary, I would definitely make an exception for this.

We don't get to learn *too* much about the characters, but White did include some backstory which was nice. A lot of the book is told through Mack's viewpoint, but she certainly isn't the exclusive POV, and I thought that helped keep things interesting. Some readers ended up getting confused with all the viewpoints and changes, but luckily, I didn't have this issue and was able to keep them straight. This is a short book, and the audio is just over 8 hours, so thanks in part to that plus the nonstop action, I flew through Hide and I loved all of the tension in the story. I basically didn't want to put it down and I was addicted even though I ended up having to finish in 2 sittings instead of the 1 like I wanted. I really enjoyed the audiobook, and the narrator Emma Galvin was a bit of a fast talker, so I ended up having to slow it down a bit. I actually almost preferred this since I didn't want to miss a single thing. So, who should read this? Fans of anything supernatural or horror, especially if you are partial to things in those genres that aren't particularly scary. This is dark to be sure, but it wasn't as brutal or descriptive as I was expecting, and can easily be read at night.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.