Meanwhile, as Mallory is trying to work through her suspicions, she is beset by curious noises coming through the walls of the guest cottage she is staying at on the property. She dismisses them as animal noises. Unnecessary fat shaming. So your mom tried to help with your addiction but she was "fat" so she didn't "stand a chance"? Pardon? Apparently you need a BMI under 25 to be able to stop your child from selling ass for some oxy. Cool cool cool. And then mama dearest got her redemption story at the end, not because she repaired her relationship with Mallory, but because she wears lycra and has a fitbit and isn't a big fatty mcfat fat anymore. *major eye roll* I laughed and my eyes rolled because it was so absurd. Along the way the author threw in a kitchen sink full of social issues, and not-as-subtle-as-he-thought political and religious jabs. I wish I could give details (i.e. rant) but no spoilers here. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you so much to the publisher, Flatiron Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review.

I don’t know if I would have stayed with Mallory had I been Adrian. The lies were just too much and made Mallory a distrustful character to many she interacted with in the book, whom it was crucial to her success to win over. Not only is this book painting the LUDICROUS idea that any trans child is being forced to be so by their *woke leftist* parents as legitimate, validating this hateful idea that erases the experiences of trans kids who have healthy and open relationships with their parents and are given the freedom to be themselves, but it's whipping up fear in its target demographic, giving them yet another reason to be openly transphobic. Teddy’s latest drawing is of a man in a forest dragging a woman’s body and Mallory’s cottage has a disturbing past-an artist named Annie Barrett, who had been living in it years ago, disappeared-leaving behind a trail of blood and an unsolved mystery. I won’t bore you with a synopsis of what happens since Cora does it so eloquently below. Though I must you warn that there are pretty big spoilers in her review without revealing the biggest twist.

The middle of the book had a YA feel (perhaps because this was the author's first book for adults?) and Mallory was a bit too perfect for someone with her history, but my reading buddy, Marialyce, and I continued on.

Mallory" explaining why the writing is so YMCA creative writing class is absolutely hilarious. I can see Jason typing this bad boy up thinking he had the mother of all defenses. Someone probably told him the MC sounds mad immature and he was like well instead of rewriting everything what if I say this basic prose was intentional LOL. I see you .. it's like when I submit a blog to stakeholders and say FYI this is a DRAFT to cover my ass knowing damn well this is not a draft

See a Problem?

Not to mention how suspiciously Caroline, Teddy’s mother, reacts to Teddy’s Anya drawings. She appears very nervous and agitated, even though she insists that this imaginary friend thing is just a normal phase that kids Teddy’s age go through. (Again, the terrifying cover of the book hints otherwise.) Did I mention that Caroline is a psychologist working with addicts like Mallory? Her knowledge of psychology I think told her something was off, even though she was consciously trying to shrug it off. I was expecting something different than what I got with this book, but I still really enjoyed the book. I also doubled down on these creepy drawings. Now for the bad. Not all the character inconsistencies were adequately explained, in my opinion, and there were a couple times when I felt frustrated with Mallory. I quite liked aspects of her character-- I was interested in her past and sympathised with her struggles to combat her drug addiction, and her narrative voice was easy to read and compelling --but she does and says some things that were just kinda stupid. And during those scenes I was screaming at her to just open the bloody bedroom door!

Wow...this book is even more of a mess than I anticipated. It's filled with conservative dog whistles, thinly veiled references to anti-trans rhetoric about trans kids, more than one positive reference to Harry Potter and JK Rowling (those two things together in a book released in 2022 alone tells me a lot about the intentions of the author). Plus fatphobia, racist stereotypes, and a whole lot of pointed jabs at leftists and atheists. En cualquier caso, el principal punto a favor (aparte de los dibujos) es que me ha mantenido muy interesado a lo largo de sus alrededor de 400 páginas. Siempre a la expectativa. No siempre he visto venir lo que iba a pasar, cosa que agradezco enormemente en este tipo de novelas. Por lo tanto, cuatro estrellas muy merecidas, porque ha tenido capítulos de cinco, pero también algunos de tres. De hecho, esperaba menos de lo que ofrece. Por lo que os la puedo recomendar. La novela tiene alguna cosilla que sí te provoca levantar las cejas, pero no de espanto, precisamente. Lo del padre de Teddy con Mallory creo que sobra, pero es mi opinión. We adore the Marzollo I Spy hidden picture books. Read the rhyming poem, then look at the accompanying full-color photo filled with objects to find the items listed.Having recently completed a stint in rehab, Mallory takes a job as nanny to 5-year-old Teddy. His parents, Caroline and Ted are Type A overprotective and uptight, but she and Teddy bond and they spend their days happily in each other’s company. Soon after that, a “story” from Anya begins appearing in these drawings, appearing to show a violent crime, involving a man and a woman, presumably Anya. This is where the author effectively deploys various red herrings, which fooled me for most of the book, even if my subconscious was warning me that this simple explanation for Teddy’s drawings wasn’t the whole story. The story grabbed me right away. Everything was easy to visualize with the writing and with the drawings. I feel like only a male author would include something like a young women's boss breaking into her home and masturbating with her bras and then her forgiving him and acting like it was no big deal. Anya drew these. Not me.”I received a free ARC of Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review.