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Hidden Words
A Novel by Award-Winning Author Christine Roy
Some secrets don't stay buried. They wait for the right mind to hear them.
Joey Barrows is drowning in grief. As he crosses the graduation stage, a terrifying gift awakens, the unspoken words of everyone around him, pouring uninvited into his mind. When Joey discovers his distant, unstable father shares this same curse, the door to a devastating past swings open, releasing secrets, obsession, and ghosts that refuse to stay silent.
Told across two timelines, Hidden Words is a gothic, speculative mystery about the inheritance of trauma — and the terrible cost of truths left unspoken.
Perfect for fans of We Were Liars, Black Swan, and The Turnout.
Praise for Hidden
*****
"Wow what an beautiful, emotional read this was. It's a duel timeline with multiple pov's. This story starts off with Joey receiving his diploma and all of a sudden he notices he is hearing everyone thoughts. His dad is absent alot because he is drinking trying to deal with his own demons and they are both suffering from loss. There is so much to unpack in this story. The is love, grief, young love, alot of trauma, found family and family comes back together. Their is some very bad apples, especially one that I feel is mostly to blame for everything. This was an un put downable read!!! I read it in one setting. For a short book it packs a heck of a punch. This is the sort of book that will stay with you days after reading. It was well written, with characters you absolutely fall in love with and feel for and then there are the one you hate and then their is one that is despicable they have your jaw dropping to the floor. This is an emotional read but so worth it story, I might, highly recommend." - Verified Goodreads review
Some secrets don't stay buried. They wait for the right mind to hear them.
Joey Barrows is drowning in grief. As he crosses the graduation stage, a terrifying gift awakens, the unspoken words of everyone around him, pouring uninvited into his mind. When Joey discovers his distant, unstable father shares this same curse, the door to a devastating past swings open, releasing secrets, obsession, and ghosts that refuse to stay silent.
Told across two timelines, Hidden Words is a gothic, speculative mystery about the inheritance of trauma — and the terrible cost of truths left unspoken.
Perfect for fans of We Were Liars, Black Swan, and The Turnout.
Praise for Hidden
*****
"Wow what an beautiful, emotional read this was. It's a duel timeline with multiple pov's. This story starts off with Joey receiving his diploma and all of a sudden he notices he is hearing everyone thoughts. His dad is absent alot because he is drinking trying to deal with his own demons and they are both suffering from loss. There is so much to unpack in this story. The is love, grief, young love, alot of trauma, found family and family comes back together. Their is some very bad apples, especially one that I feel is mostly to blame for everything. This was an un put downable read!!! I read it in one setting. For a short book it packs a heck of a punch. This is the sort of book that will stay with you days after reading. It was well written, with characters you absolutely fall in love with and feel for and then there are the one you hate and then their is one that is despicable they have your jaw dropping to the floor. This is an emotional read but so worth it story, I might, highly recommend." - Verified Goodreads review
346 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 22, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
Wow what an beautiful, emotional read this was. It's a duel timeline with multiple pov's. This story starts off with Joey receiving his diploma and all of a sudden he notices he is hearing everyone thoughts. His dad is absent alot because he is drinking trying to deal with his own demons and they are both suffering from loss. There is so much to unpack in this story. The is love, grief, young love, alot of trauma, found family and family comes back together. Their is some very bad apples, especially one that I feel is mostly to blame for everything. This was an un put downable read!!! I read it in one setting. For a short book it packs a heck of a punch. This is the sort of book that will stay with you days after reading. It was well written, with characters you absolutely fall in love with and feel for and then there are the one you hate and then their is one that is despicable they have your jaw dropping to the floor. This is an emotional read but so worth it story, I might, highly recommend
September 22, 2026
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. This was an emotional story for me to read. Honestly, I was so upset that I wanted to stop reading it. But, this book was amazing to read and I even shed a lot of tears. The character of Joey was sweet to read because he started to hear everyone’s thoughts. This was well written and it can stay with you and played out in your heads for days.
September 22, 2026
I'm old (66) and don't read a ton of YA. Not my favorite book, but I finished it - as I usually do. Took me a minute to realize the dialog not in quotes was telepathy. A little too descriptive for me with many adjectives.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews