Hide

A group of fourteen contestants enters a competition with a substantial cash prize, held at an abandoned amusement park in rural Vermont. The game appears simple - they must hide during the day while searchers try to find them, but the participants soon realize darker forces are at work. Mack is a survivor who carries trauma from her past and sees this contest as a chance for a fresh start. As days pass in the park's decaying buildings and overgrown grounds, alliances form and fracture while contestants begin to disappear. The novel combines elements of horror, survival thriller, and supernatural suspense as it explores themes of trauma, power, and what humans will do when pushed to their limits. Through Mack's journey, the story examines how the past shapes identity and whether anyone can truly escape their history.

Readers found this horror-thriller started strong but lost momentum. Many noted the first third builds tension and atmosphere well, with compelling descriptions of the abandoned amusement park setting. Positives: - LGBTQ+ representation felt natural and well-integrated - Short chapters maintained pacing - Creative premise with the deadly hide-and-seek game - Effective creepy atmosphere early on Negatives: - Plot became repetitive mid-way through - Character development felt shallow - Ending disappointed many readers who wanted more resolution - Some found the horror elements too mild Several readers mentioned struggling to connect with or differentiate between the large cast of characters. One frequent comment was that the book "reads like a movie script." Ratings: Goodreads: 3.6/5 (22,000+ ratings) Amazon: 3.9/5 (2,800+ ratings) StoryGraph: 3.5/5 The book performs better with YA audiences than adult horror readers, who often note it lacks the intensity they expect from the genre.

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🌟 Though Hide is Kiersten White's adult horror debut, she previously wrote over 15 young adult novels, including the bestselling And I Darken trilogy. 🏰 The story takes place in an abandoned amusement park based on several real-life defunct parks, including Lake Shawnee Amusement Park in West Virginia, which closed after multiple deaths on its premises. 🎡 The novel's premise was inspired by the children's game hide-and-seek, but White deliberately subverts the innocence of the childhood game by turning it into a deadly competition. 🏆 Hide won the 2023 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel, establishing White as a notable voice in adult horror fiction. 🎭 The main character Mack's experience with her father's cult was influenced by White's research into real-life cult survivors and their psychological aftermath of escaping such situations.