Hide ARC Review!! // a horror-thriller hybrid set in an abandoned amusement park???

Yeah, you read that title right. Abandoned amusement park??? I came running as soon as I read that part of the synopsis!

🎡 set in an abandoned amusement park

👻 horror-thriller

🏆 competition

A huge thank you to the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Hide sounded so good on paper. I mean, a competition for fifty-thousand dollars in an abandoned amusement park between people down on their luck…that turns deadly? Tell me you’re not instantly intrigued.

Unfortunately, it didn’t quite pan out that way. We mostly follow Mac, a girl with a traumatic past who needs the money in order to make a life for herself. We also get to see perspectives from the other characters. And I don’t know if it was the writing style, or if there were just way too many people for this short book but I felt like most of them were just paper thin characters. Like, that piece of cheese in Diary of A Wimpy Kid had more personality than some of these people.

ANYWAYS ONTO BRANDON. Brandon was my favorite character throughout the entire book because he’s just genuinely kind! And sweet! And is the ultimate cinnamon roll! I’m pretty neutral on most of this book but Brandon? Nah, he gets a whole paragraph dedicated to him because I love him so much.

One of my major issues with this book is that it didn’t quite seem to know if it was a horror or thriller novel. Sometimes, the story would be exciting because of the complexity that is humanity, and then randomly it felt like a half-baked horror element was thrown in just to shake things up. Like, this somehow managed to not feel scary because the horror elements weren’t fleshed-out* but it also managed to feel like the tension was forced??? So it ended up being a sub-par thriller??? I’m so tilted.

*pun unintended for once

I was definitely entertained by most of this book, but I never really felt gripped by it. I certainly don’t hate it either though? I’m in the dreaded neutrality purgatory that means that this review lacks the passion of a 5 star or a 1 star read. It’s just…meh. Great setting, never really feels boring, but also is pretty forgettable as far as characters and plot are concerned. I don’t even know what my rating is. 2.5/5 stars? I’d definitely suggest this if you enjoyed White’s previous books, such as The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein, because she’s great at writing atmosphere! You can add preorder this, and add it to Goodreads and Storygraph! It comes out on May 24th. Tell me: what’s one of your favorite settings for books?

Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads | Girlfriend Box | The StoryGraph | TikTok