Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

46 reviews

sarahjx's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Racism, Death of parent, and Child death

xtrememonotreme's review against another edition

3.0

I originally rated this book 4.75 stars. I lowered it after 24 hours because I took some time to reflect on certain things in the book. 

The way the author made the atheist characters caricatures of atheist people and the bad guys, while the racist side character is a victim by the end. A lot of the shocking stuff they do sounds a lot like what conservatives claim about drag shows and (other) LGBT communities (seriously who would buy a 5yr old a book that discussed anal and oral sex????). It didn’t really sit well with me considering the other themes in the book

It’s a well written and spooky book with some really good pictures hence my original rating but part of it did read like right wing fear mongering with some light fatphobia sprinkled in.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Kidnapping, Transphobia, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child death, Xenophobia, Racism, Fatphobia, and Drug abuse

throwback682's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

Edited: I initially thought I didn’t know if I liked it or not but after telling my partner about it and reading other reviews… I hate it. The half star is for the audiobook narrator who I thought did a great job. This book is a heavy handed morality tale a la after school specials, disguised as a ghost story. It’s transphobic, for one thing.

The people that turn out to be the bad guys are liberals who force their kid into gender transition against their will???

Gross. Just one example of the right wing propaganda in this novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Child death

There is a content warning that I can’t give without spoiling a major plot point. If you have a marginalized identity or might be sensitive to topics related to marginalized identities, I’ll say which one it’s related to here:

transgender

There’s not a character with that identity exactly… again it’s very complicated without giving total spoilers. I’m kinda squicky about them using it as a twist. I don’t know. Edited: okay I thought of a content warning but THIS COULD ABSOLUTELY SPOIL A MAJOR PLOT POINT VERY VERY EARLY. The extremely spoiling trigger warning is

forced gender transition

madisonjordan5693's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, and Addiction

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Kidnapping, Car accident, and Infertility

kelskekay's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gun violence, Child death, Addiction, Kidnapping, and Car accident

princess_marie's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Addiction, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Car accident, Grief, and Kidnapping

Minor: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Infidelity

wytnie's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I really liked this book and didn't see one specific part of the ending coming! having the pictures that Teddy drew was a super nice touch and I would definitely read more from this author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Grief, Infertility, Kidnapping, Death, Stalking, Addiction, Gaslighting, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Murder

cnannery19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infertility, Addiction, Death, and Confinement

jtlarowe's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Murder

Moderate: Drug use and Drug abuse

Minor: Car accident and Child death

ladypuercoloco's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I got into this one way more than I expected to - not sure why I chose it/how I came by it until I realized it fulfilled a Kindle Challenge requirement for a Goodreads pick.  I read horror/mysteries/thrillers all the time and honestly the blurb sounded a bit familiar to me, but as I got into the book I realized this one really stands out from other nanny horror books I've read.  The supernatural aspects are really well done

"Anya" being the mother was mind-blowing!  I liked the red herring of the mid-century murder plot that wasn't a murder...So many twists and turns came as surprises but even though I marked this spoiler and I seriously doubt anyone cares to read my reviews just in case I won't give more away.

. Having known a few addicts in various stages of use/recovery I really liked the future that was laid out for Mallory and the amount of work she was willing to put in.  This one was a pleasant early January surprise that will be hopefully setting the pace for the year - I LOVE being surprised by plot twists I really don't see coming!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Car accident, Child death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Dysphoria, Addiction, Child abuse, Infertility, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Alcoholism

Overall I don't feel like any particular thing was too graphic but the contents/plot/subplot can be a lot to take in in retrospect. It honestly wasn't until I was looking through the trigger warning list that I realized just how many played a part in this book, but I listed all as mild as none were terribly drawn out. It's a horror book. There are bound to be some horrible things in, especially when it has been an award winner. I rated it just about as high as I ever rate anything - it is excellent at what it does and the elements it is able to work in