10/20/2023 0 Comments Hidden pictures![]() One of the list of rules Mallory receives when starting to take care of Flora is “No religion or superstitions. I’ll also mention that Mallory being religious really isn’t mentioned aside from the fact that as a recovery addict Mallory has “worked the Twelve Steps and I have surrendered my life to my lord and savior Jesus Christ” and that she wears a cross necklace (Rekulak 5). Near the end when “the big reveal” happens, Mallory tells Caroline that she knows Teddy is a girl to which Caroline lies that Teddy is trans: “Obviously, Teddy was born a girl…We knew about your religious convictions–” (Rekulak 319-320). They called her Teddy and introduced her to the world as their son. In order to escape authorities they cut Flora’s hair, dressed and presented her as a boy to the public, and kidnapped her. ![]() Rekulak reveals that Teddy is actually a cisgender girl named Flora (and for the rest of the review I will be calling her Flora) who was kidnapped at a very young age by Ted and Caroline Maxwell after they accidentally killed and buried her mother, Margit. The last third of the book turns everything you were expecting on it’s head. Last chance to leave, otherwise, WELCOME TO SPOILER CENTRAL! I was so into the story, I thought Hidden Pictures might be a new favourite horror for me. They’re beautiful, they’re sickening, they’re terrifying and really enhanced the overall creep factor of the book. Doogie Horner and Will Staehl do an excellent job creating perfectly creepy childish illustrations that I wouldn’t keep or put on my fridge if a kid gave them to me and seamlessly transitions into the gorgeous professional illustrations that come later in the book. And the drawings are easily the best part of this book. ![]() I wanted to know what happened to Annie Barret, the artist who had died in Mallory’s cottage, I wanted to know what Teddy was doing during Quiet Time and what his drawings meant. The story was creepy, the writing was easy to follow, I was hooked. He made Mallory suspicious and flawed, a character that I was truly rooting for. I loved how he wrote Mallory’s voice, it was simple and vague, hinting at a darker, tragic past without actually giving anything away. I’ll admit, I hadn’t heard of the book until I was reading the Goodreads Reader’s Choice Winners, but it won and I was intrigued, that had to count for something.Īnd honestly, Rekulak pulled me in. I mean, it was literally Goodreads Reader’s Choice for Horror for 2022. And it’s really disappointing, because Hidden Pictures started off as a really good horror. It’s honestly impressive how the story changed at almost exactly the three-hundred-page mark. I have to say, this is the first time I’ve read a book that jumped the shark in it’s last third. I have a lot to say about this book, so spoilers ahead! Mallory sets out to find out what the spirit wants from her and Teddy before it’s too late. But when Mallory finds out that a young artist was murdered in the cottage she now calls home years before, she wonders if Teddy’s drawings may be a message from the young woman. But then one day Teddy gives her a picture of a woman’s body being dragged through the woods, and then the pictures get more disturbing and far more detailed than a five-year-old is capable of drawing. They’re the sweet sort of drawings one expects from a kid: a rabbit, a balloon, of Mallory herself. The neighbourhood is safe for her nightly runs, she enjoys the cottage pool house that she lives in, and she loves looking after Teddy, and Teddy loves showing Mallory the pictures he draws. Ted and Caroline Maxwell seem like kind and doting parents who will do anything for their five-year-old son Teddy, who takes an immediate shine to Mallory, and she loves her job. Mallory Quinn is eighteen-months sober and finds herself a babysitting job in the privileged neighbourhood on Spring Brook, New Jersey. ![]() It will steer you toward bad choices, override logic and common sense, and warp your most cherished memories into impossible fantasies,” (Rekulak 5). In fact, you need to understand that your brain has become your own worst enemy. “One of the hardest things about recovery is coming to terms with the fact that you can’t trust your brain anymore.
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