Hidden Pictures

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

I enjoyed this book even though it was not what I thought it was going to be at all. The main character Mallory becomes a nanny to a young family with a five-year-old. Sounds simple right? I thought this was going to be a redemption arc for Mallory who is a recovering addict, but it was actually more than that. I am glad to see a character with a faith-based background and uses it as a basis for their recovery. This really made me root for Mallory that she would come out of the story on her feet. However, since this is classified as a thriller, I knew that there had to be a twisted outline to the story and oh boy was there. What confused me the most was that the twist didn't come from the scene I thought it would come from. Why bring something up to never mention it again? Fast forward to Mallory's time as a nanny: we meet the child Teddy, and we find out he has an imaginary friend named Anya. Most children have imaginary friends, but Anya is strange to the point the parents do not like Teddy mentioning her. Teddy starts drawing pictures as kids might like to do, but Mallory notices that the pictures are very strange and actually quite graphic for someone who is so young. They are part of a story and Mallory makes it her job to figure out what that story is. Teddy is not like other children and because of this he prefers his own company and Mallory's. Once the twist is revealed, my heart just hurt. The reasoning behind it all was sad and made me really dislike the characters involved. So many lies...and everyone pays in some way for them. Even though this book broke my heart I like how the author was vivid about real life situations and did not shy away from the difficult parts. It was because of this and the fast-paced chapters that I read until the end. I am torn about the ending and how I feel about it. I understand it was justified and by all standards the right ending, but the person who was affected most by it, the child, while I got the feeling it was supposed to be the outcome the reader wanted, my heart hurt for them because of the long road we know they have ahead of them. I wish we got to see the aftermath of the story several years down the road. I would definitely recommend this book to other readers, just fair warning that there are a few stereotypes in here that weren't needed. I know they were used as a way to make the story real, but it still rubbed me the wrong way. If you read this book, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Good luck!

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!