Hidden Pictures

I couldn’t put this down, it had my jaw dropping!

Underrated! Easy run. Give you goosebumps. Keeps you rooting for the main character.

This book was so good I accidentally finished it in like two days bc I couldn’t put it down.

As someone who works in addiction, I love that a big part of the main character’s story is her recovery. It was the first part of this book that made me happy I picked it up. The other thing I really loved was the mixed media. I LOVED seeing the drawings throughout the book and it really added a fun element to the story.

In this book, we follow Mallory, who is in recovery from prescription opiates & heroin addiction. We pick up details about how her addiction started and the events that caused her using to progress. Mallory gets the opportunity to become a nanny for a 5-year-old named Teddy, who spends a lot of time drawing. Teddy’s pictures start getting a little creepy and Mallory is worried he is possessed by his imaginary friend, Anya. The story gets better as it goes on so I won’t say anything else, but I highly recommend it!

First, thank you FlatIron Books and Goodreads for sending me this advanced reader copy to read and review! I was so excited to receive this horror/thriller/mystery and was not disappointed! This book was everything I love, mystery, thriller, ghosts, murder, cute genuine boys next door, and a main character down on her luck you really want to succeed. Also, this book had amazing illustrations that not only went along with the story but were actually a part of it!! Hidden Pictures is about a recovering addict, Mallory, that lands a perfect babysitting job where she gets to live in her own renovated cottage on site and watch the sweetest little boy, all while being paid well and doted on by the family. Mallory’s second chance is going so well that when Teddy starts drawing gruesome pictures she wants to look the other way. But soon the pictures are getting more detailed, and as the haunting at this maybe not so perfect home starts to become more and more dangerous, Mallory starts to realize there is a lot more than just her job at stake. I don’t want to give away any of the twists in this one, because they are so well done! If you love horror, thrillers, or just want a unique read, I would say pick this one up!! With that said, I did read some of the lower reviews for this book and some things I can understand. For instance, yes this story isn’t necessarily realistic, but I don’t look for realism in my horror or thrillers and if you’re willing to just enjoy the story and not get hung up on some of Mallory’s less intelligent decisions, this novel is great. There are also some dumb comments about weight, for example Caroline the mom talks about “ballooning up to a size 8” but it’s mentioned sarcastically and I don’t believe the author was trying to make any statements. I also saw a review on here claiming this book was transphobic and I have no idea how they came to that conclusion because the topic is addressed respectfully in the book and to be vague the character in question wasn’t even actually transgender and to explain what I mean would be spoilers. I just wanted to touch upon these because I really don’t want anyone to avoid this book because they read reviews claiming this book is problematic, because it isn’t in that regard. Personally I really loved Hidden Pictures and cannot wait to read more by Jason Rekulak.