What do you think?
Rate this book
Hiding: A YA Mystery Thriller Where a Lovelorn Teen's Obsession Reveals Shocking Secrets
When a teen boy who excels at being unseen finds himself hiding in his ex-girlfriend’s house, he uncovers carefully concealed truths—about her, her family, and himself—in a twisty mystery with a shocking surprise.
One night, a lovelorn teen boy “accidentally” slips into the home of his ex-girlfriend, Laura, and ends up hiding in her basement, trapped in the house by its alarm system. How long can he stay hidden? What will happen if he is found? What will he learn about Laura—and himself—in this house? And what is his true motive for being there?
Turner’s affinity for observant outsiders—and teens who share a desire to hide from nosy adults and judgmental peers—shines in a psychological thriller in which the slow burn of tension keeps readers turning pages to a sudden twist that changes everything.
One night, a lovelorn teen boy “accidentally” slips into the home of his ex-girlfriend, Laura, and ends up hiding in her basement, trapped in the house by its alarm system. How long can he stay hidden? What will happen if he is found? What will he learn about Laura—and himself—in this house? And what is his true motive for being there?
Turner’s affinity for observant outsiders—and teens who share a desire to hide from nosy adults and judgmental peers—shines in a psychological thriller in which the slow burn of tension keeps readers turning pages to a sudden twist that changes everything.
- GenresMysteryYoung AdultTeen
272 pages, Hardcover
Published April 3, 2018
6 people are currently reading
196 people want to read
About the author
Henry Turner
2 books22 followersHenry Turner grew up in Baltimore Maryland, in Roland Park, an old neighborhood heralded, on a historical plaque outside its local shopping center, “The oldest planned Garden Suburb in the United States”. He went to public schools. He was always interested in storytelling in one form or another, and as a teenager he started making films with his brother and neighborhood kids.
Henry wound up making five feature films, writing and shooting and cutting them. When his films won awards and attracted some attention he moved to Los Angeles, after getting a call from a movie production company that was looking for scripts. He stayed in L.A. and helped build a fledgling film festival that has since become well-established. He also wrote much freelance entertainment journalism, interviewing well-known filmmakers such as George Lucas, Brian Grazer, Quentin Tarantino, James Cameron, and many others. All along he was writing stories.
During a year spent in Greece he made a total commitment to writing fiction. Returning to Los Angeles, he met his future wife, who encouraged him to study fiction writing with a novelist he admired – John Rechy. Henry stayed in Rechy’s private writing group for a number of years and also studied privately with Hubert Selby. Since that time he and his wife have had a son, Hugo, who is now nine. Henry Turner is now writing a new novel.
Henry wound up making five feature films, writing and shooting and cutting them. When his films won awards and attracted some attention he moved to Los Angeles, after getting a call from a movie production company that was looking for scripts. He stayed in L.A. and helped build a fledgling film festival that has since become well-established. He also wrote much freelance entertainment journalism, interviewing well-known filmmakers such as George Lucas, Brian Grazer, Quentin Tarantino, James Cameron, and many others. All along he was writing stories.
During a year spent in Greece he made a total commitment to writing fiction. Returning to Los Angeles, he met his future wife, who encouraged him to study fiction writing with a novelist he admired – John Rechy. Henry stayed in Rechy’s private writing group for a number of years and also studied privately with Hubert Selby. Since that time he and his wife have had a son, Hugo, who is now nine. Henry Turner is now writing a new novel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
April 10, 2018
This one just gets an okay from me.
Being in this teen's head isn't terribly exciting. It is (necessarily) introspective and, while the author tries to make the reader think this is a book about obsession, he never quite pulls it off. Instead, the reader yawns a bit and keeps reading, hoping that something (anything) will happen.
My reaction to the shocking reveal? Oh. Okay...
Probably not the reaction the author was hoping for.
More philosophical than psychological.
And definitely NOT a thriller.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Note: I originally posted this on Amazon only. Then the author's wife decided to post a snarky comment on my review there. Then I discovered she gave a five star review to her husband's other book. While not irritated enough to lower my star rating (lucky author), I'm irritated enough to further share the review.
Being in this teen's head isn't terribly exciting. It is (necessarily) introspective and, while the author tries to make the reader think this is a book about obsession, he never quite pulls it off. Instead, the reader yawns a bit and keeps reading, hoping that something (anything) will happen.
My reaction to the shocking reveal? Oh. Okay...
Probably not the reaction the author was hoping for.
More philosophical than psychological.
And definitely NOT a thriller.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Note: I originally posted this on Amazon only. Then the author's wife decided to post a snarky comment on my review there. Then I discovered she gave a five star review to her husband's other book. While not irritated enough to lower my star rating (lucky author), I'm irritated enough to further share the review.
November 9, 2017
Even though I called the twist on like, page 3, and feel that most readers will catch it early as well, this YA novel was unsettling and I was enjoying its creepy mood until the last 35 pages or so, when it morphed into a totally different (not as good or interesting) book,
July 20, 2018
I want to send a huge thank you to WunderBooksPR for sending me a copy of Hiding by Henry Turner.
I am going to be honest, I pretty much knew what the twist of this book was going to be from the beginning and the main character’s friend Carol made me very uncomfortable when I read that he squeezed the boobs of their Suzie when they were wrestling each other and when she gets upset over it his response is that she should ‘get over it’.
After I reached that point I very nearly dnfed this book, but I kept reading because I wanted to know how the main character’s friendship with Suzie was going to be explored further on in the story.
I related to many points made by the main character (especially when he shares the most dangerous part of hiding: everyone knows you but you’re not really there, even for yourself). I too hid my feelings and didn’t really want to be seen by people (this is something I’m working on getting better with, but it’s a work in progress!)
Overall, Hiding was a very insightful read and I understand what this book was trying to portray but I feel it could’ve been handled better.
I am going to be honest, I pretty much knew what the twist of this book was going to be from the beginning and the main character’s friend Carol made me very uncomfortable when I read that he squeezed the boobs of their Suzie when they were wrestling each other and when she gets upset over it his response is that she should ‘get over it’.
After I reached that point I very nearly dnfed this book, but I kept reading because I wanted to know how the main character’s friendship with Suzie was going to be explored further on in the story.
I related to many points made by the main character (especially when he shares the most dangerous part of hiding: everyone knows you but you’re not really there, even for yourself). I too hid my feelings and didn’t really want to be seen by people (this is something I’m working on getting better with, but it’s a work in progress!)
Overall, Hiding was a very insightful read and I understand what this book was trying to portray but I feel it could’ve been handled better.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 2, 2018
Don't you just absolutely hate it when the synopsis on the inside cover or the back cover makes the story sound better than it actually is?
The reason I did not finish Hiding is that the writing was simply not good. The author doesn't really have any originality to his writing, apart from all the originally annoying things. For example, I extremely dislike super-short sentences, random italics, and repetition.
Examples, respectively:
1. 5 sentences with 6 words or less on the first page alone.
2. 5 words with random italics on page 3.
3. "I'm good at hiding. I think it's what I'm best at. If you're going to believe anything I say, I think you have to know that. [enter] I'm very good at hiding" (Turner, 1). Truly, the reader must read the book in order to determine whether they are annoyed by such things or not.
This story, I feel, is less "thriller" and more "lame" or "wannabe." The story idea is just not interesting.
Perhaps I didn't give this book a chance, but, then again, I did not want to take the risk of wasting my time.
The reason I did not finish Hiding is that the writing was simply not good. The author doesn't really have any originality to his writing, apart from all the originally annoying things. For example, I extremely dislike super-short sentences, random italics, and repetition.
Examples, respectively:
1. 5 sentences with 6 words or less on the first page alone.
2. 5 words with random italics on page 3.
3. "I'm good at hiding. I think it's what I'm best at. If you're going to believe anything I say, I think you have to know that. [enter] I'm very good at hiding" (Turner, 1). Truly, the reader must read the book in order to determine whether they are annoyed by such things or not.
This story, I feel, is less "thriller" and more "lame" or "wannabe." The story idea is just not interesting.
Perhaps I didn't give this book a chance, but, then again, I did not want to take the risk of wasting my time.
June 16, 2020
The ending surprised me but not enough to give it more than two stars. I just didn't care for any of the characters.
May 20, 2018
When I think of the greatest example of a book solely focused on the big twist, the first book that comes to mind is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. (I believe it was also the first book I reviewed on my blog!) The kind of twist that you don’t even expect to come, or even if you knew about the twist itself, you have no idea when or WHAT exactly will it bring. These are the thrillers that I love the most.
«Hiding» was supposed to be exactly that kind of book. But from the very first page, you could understand what kind of twist was coming your way. I remember reading just 15-20 pages and talking to my friend about “this new books I started reading” and predicting right then and there what was going to happen later on.
Not to say that I was very disappointed at the fact of how predictable the events were, but I would have loved to see slightly more subtlety and mystery.
Another thing that bothered me a lot was the conversational and simplistic type of writing. I understand that the story is told by a teenage boy and I gave writing some slack because of that. But it can be too much when there are at least three “like” in one paragraph and sentences have up to 3-4 words.
«Hiding» was supposed to be exactly that kind of book. But from the very first page, you could understand what kind of twist was coming your way. I remember reading just 15-20 pages and talking to my friend about “this new books I started reading” and predicting right then and there what was going to happen later on.
Not to say that I was very disappointed at the fact of how predictable the events were, but I would have loved to see slightly more subtlety and mystery.
Another thing that bothered me a lot was the conversational and simplistic type of writing. I understand that the story is told by a teenage boy and I gave writing some slack because of that. But it can be too much when there are at least three “like” in one paragraph and sentences have up to 3-4 words.
May 18, 2018
I wanted to like this, but... It had a few good points and more bad. As a warning, the spoilers mostly pertain to The Big Twist, so it'll ruin that if you haven't gotten there yet.
Okay, the good:
-All the introduced characters were flawed and at least semi-realistic.
-There were some interesting philosophical musings on a variety of subjects that I found interesting (I especially found the MC and Laura's one "meaningful" conversation reveal interesting, especially where the MC talks about where he tried Carol's ploy and actually used it to make him feel worse about himself, thus giving him a very jaded and cynical view of depression and the view that life is a "box").
-The narrative flowed pretty well some of the time.
-The twist was interesting, although a bit cliché. It did have some good setup.
-Unreliable narrators can be fun.
-The stream of consciousness narrative was interesting at times, although it needed to be dialed back like 75%.
The bad:
-Mostly the rambling—if you cut out all the repetition and irrelevant tangents, this book would be like 1/4 as long as it is now. The whole story literally spans from the MC going into the house and lurking around for a night and half a day and somehow takes up an entire book even though nothing happens. I get that it was supposed to be sort of stream-of-consciousness, but this went way too far and I kept getting bored by all the rambling (the MC constantly talks about the readers' opinions of him as being creepy, for example, and never.shuts.up. Like, give it a rest eventually—we get your point). I like some stream of consciousness, but this got to be ridiculously much after a while.
-The MC and Laura's entire romance is just so fake. They knew each for what, like three months? And they knew honestly very little about each other. Even the MC says that they only had one meaningful conversation and admits that he never knew her at all. He had a crush because he felt like she saw him when no one else did, but half the time she treated him like trash () and he never really tried to learn who she really was past saying she was 'wonderful and beautiful' and, as he himself admits, continually pressuring her to have sex with him. They didn't know each other at all, and I don't believe they were truly in love. Crush, maybe. Also, the way Laura broke up with him was disgusting, and they both treated each other horribly. Neither of them were very likable characters.
-Seriously, why does nothing happen in this book? It's just a couple hours of sneaking around the house with countless asides for flashbacks and pointless, repetitious rambling.
-Laura's family is super cliché and has no depth.
-The MC's family.
-The anomalies that arose from the twist:
-The MC's justifications for sneaking around Laura's house and digging through her stuff. Having him constantly say he knew it was wrong and creepy did not make it any less so or endear him to me any more, even taking into consideration how the twist could have played into it.
-The dialogue and character interactions in the flashbacks usually felt really forced and fake.
-The ending climax scene.
Overall:
There are some interesting philosophical musings here, but you'll have to slog through countless pages of nothing to get to them. I don't regret reading this because I did find some of those interesting to ponder, but I would've liked it a lot better if the MC was more likable and the book was about 1/4 as long as it was. You might see the twist coming beforehand, but the setup throughout the story is actually pretty good, looking back, even if the explanation behind what happens next is super sketchy. It has its ups and downs. I'd say the downs outweigh the ups, but you still might be able to get something out of reading it if you can ignore all the annoying bits.
Okay, the good:
-All the introduced characters were flawed and at least semi-realistic.
-There were some interesting philosophical musings on a variety of subjects that I found interesting (I especially found the MC and Laura's one "meaningful" conversation reveal interesting, especially where the MC talks about where he tried Carol's ploy and actually used it to make him feel worse about himself, thus giving him a very jaded and cynical view of depression and the view that life is a "box").
-The narrative flowed pretty well some of the time.
-The twist was interesting, although a bit cliché. It did have some good setup.
-Unreliable narrators can be fun.
-The stream of consciousness narrative was interesting at times, although it needed to be dialed back like 75%.
The bad:
-Mostly the rambling—if you cut out all the repetition and irrelevant tangents, this book would be like 1/4 as long as it is now. The whole story literally spans from the MC going into the house and lurking around for a night and half a day and somehow takes up an entire book even though nothing happens. I get that it was supposed to be sort of stream-of-consciousness, but this went way too far and I kept getting bored by all the rambling (the MC constantly talks about the readers' opinions of him as being creepy, for example, and never.shuts.up. Like, give it a rest eventually—we get your point). I like some stream of consciousness, but this got to be ridiculously much after a while.
-The MC and Laura's entire romance is just so fake. They knew each for what, like three months? And they knew honestly very little about each other. Even the MC says that they only had one meaningful conversation and admits that he never knew her at all. He had a crush because he felt like she saw him when no one else did, but half the time she treated him like trash () and he never really tried to learn who she really was past saying she was 'wonderful and beautiful' and, as he himself admits, continually pressuring her to have sex with him. They didn't know each other at all, and I don't believe they were truly in love. Crush, maybe. Also, the way Laura broke up with him was disgusting, and they both treated each other horribly. Neither of them were very likable characters.
-Seriously, why does nothing happen in this book? It's just a couple hours of sneaking around the house with countless asides for flashbacks and pointless, repetitious rambling.
-Laura's family is super cliché and has no depth.
-The MC's family.
-The anomalies that arose from the twist:
-The MC's justifications for sneaking around Laura's house and digging through her stuff. Having him constantly say he knew it was wrong and creepy did not make it any less so or endear him to me any more, even taking into consideration how the twist could have played into it.
-The dialogue and character interactions in the flashbacks usually felt really forced and fake.
-The ending climax scene.
Overall:
There are some interesting philosophical musings here, but you'll have to slog through countless pages of nothing to get to them. I don't regret reading this because I did find some of those interesting to ponder, but I would've liked it a lot better if the MC was more likable and the book was about 1/4 as long as it was. You might see the twist coming beforehand, but the setup throughout the story is actually pretty good, looking back, even if the explanation behind what happens next is super sketchy. It has its ups and downs. I'd say the downs outweigh the ups, but you still might be able to get something out of reading it if you can ignore all the annoying bits.
November 18, 2017
I started and then put down this book for a long while, and just recently picked it back up. Creepy premise: an ex boy friend finds himself in his ex girlfriend’s house. Told while he’s inside he house, with flashbacks and other revelations. This book just wasn’t great, twist or not it just wasn’t a fun enjoyable read. No spoilers, but I’ll suggest a pass on reading/buying this for your collection.
October 2, 2018
A love-sick teen wandering his neighborhood finds himself in his ex-girlfriend Laura’s backyard. He slips into her basement and is trapped there overnight due to the alarm system, in “Hiding” (Clarion 2018) by Henry Turner. The next morning the family members leave but the maid arrives. And there’s a large dog in the house. He’s got time to think.
He thinks about his close friend Suzy who knew everything about him, but Laura had let him hide, keep his secrets, so the mystery held, which had to do with why he couldn’t get over her. Besides discovering things about himself while trapped in the house he discovers plenty about Laura and what seemed like her perfect life.
Why had Laura, a popular talented girl, chosen him when he was such a loser? Maybe she was attracted to a life that didn’t have to look perfect. Maybe her life wasn’t as perfect as she’d claimed. Is that why he was here? That’s one of his major questions. Why was he here?
Why did Laura love his house and all the “dopey” artwork he’d done that his mother put up on the walls? He wishes his mom would tear them down. But he remembers Laura saying, “Don’t ever do that. She loves you. You’re so lucky to have that.” Ahah. He sees that Laura’s perfect house has no personal touches—it looks expensive and unused. Is that why Laura had never invited him over? Not because she was embarrassed by him, but because she was embarrassed by her own home?
He’s good at hiding. Lots of teens are. “Growing up like I did, there was a lot to tell me that I was just a sort of total nobody . . .” but he actually feels that he’s better than that. However, no one would agree with him, he tells us, “because people don’t actually see me, or see any real value in me, which was probably the best reason I ever had to just start hiding all the time.”
He describes a past experience when he pretended to be a rich boy—a day of lies. He says, “I’d made myself feel like nothing by not being me.” He’d sensed that there was something deep and dark in Laura, and in her house he discovers the truth of that. That’s perhaps why they were initially drawn together. Laura had hidden from herself. “That’s the most dangerous kind of hiding. Everybody knows you, but you’re not really there, even for yourself.” There’s a lot to discuss in this book.
The humor is wry. He’s upstairs wandering and avoiding the maid, and we readers are nervous for him. The living room furniture is reddish so he grabs a reddish tablecloth and hides behind it so the surveillance camera doesn’t detect him skulking through the house.
I found his teen voice refreshing at the outset. Eventually all the repeated phrases such as, “if you know what I mean,” “sort of,” “you know,” “in my opinion,” grew annoying but made it a great candidate for practicing speed-reading. “He” is named only in the surprise twist ending, in the last lines of the book. Good for thoughtful readers.
Patricia Hruby Powell is author of Loving vs. Virginia; Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker and the forthcoming Struttin’ With Some Barbecue talesforallages.com
He thinks about his close friend Suzy who knew everything about him, but Laura had let him hide, keep his secrets, so the mystery held, which had to do with why he couldn’t get over her. Besides discovering things about himself while trapped in the house he discovers plenty about Laura and what seemed like her perfect life.
Why had Laura, a popular talented girl, chosen him when he was such a loser? Maybe she was attracted to a life that didn’t have to look perfect. Maybe her life wasn’t as perfect as she’d claimed. Is that why he was here? That’s one of his major questions. Why was he here?
Why did Laura love his house and all the “dopey” artwork he’d done that his mother put up on the walls? He wishes his mom would tear them down. But he remembers Laura saying, “Don’t ever do that. She loves you. You’re so lucky to have that.” Ahah. He sees that Laura’s perfect house has no personal touches—it looks expensive and unused. Is that why Laura had never invited him over? Not because she was embarrassed by him, but because she was embarrassed by her own home?
He’s good at hiding. Lots of teens are. “Growing up like I did, there was a lot to tell me that I was just a sort of total nobody . . .” but he actually feels that he’s better than that. However, no one would agree with him, he tells us, “because people don’t actually see me, or see any real value in me, which was probably the best reason I ever had to just start hiding all the time.”
He describes a past experience when he pretended to be a rich boy—a day of lies. He says, “I’d made myself feel like nothing by not being me.” He’d sensed that there was something deep and dark in Laura, and in her house he discovers the truth of that. That’s perhaps why they were initially drawn together. Laura had hidden from herself. “That’s the most dangerous kind of hiding. Everybody knows you, but you’re not really there, even for yourself.” There’s a lot to discuss in this book.
The humor is wry. He’s upstairs wandering and avoiding the maid, and we readers are nervous for him. The living room furniture is reddish so he grabs a reddish tablecloth and hides behind it so the surveillance camera doesn’t detect him skulking through the house.
I found his teen voice refreshing at the outset. Eventually all the repeated phrases such as, “if you know what I mean,” “sort of,” “you know,” “in my opinion,” grew annoying but made it a great candidate for practicing speed-reading. “He” is named only in the surprise twist ending, in the last lines of the book. Good for thoughtful readers.
Patricia Hruby Powell is author of Loving vs. Virginia; Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker and the forthcoming Struttin’ With Some Barbecue talesforallages.com
March 17, 2018
Henry Turner’s HIDING is ultimately one of those YA books that’s “all about the twist.” Whether you figure it out in the first chapter or not, every part of this book is about that eventual reveal. The story is narrated by a sixteen-year-old boy who is unnamed until the final page. He is telling this story to the reader while he’s hiding out in his ex-girlfriend’s super fancy McMansion, ostensibly trying to unravel why she left him, why she loved him in the first place, and why her rich and comfortable life hasn’t made her happy. As the jacket cover suggests, it’s all about what they’re trying to conceal – both ex-girlfriend Laura and the narrator, who claims he’s a genius at hiding (i.e. “Real hiding happens when everybody can see you, but they don’t notice you.”). Ultimately, this is a very long slog through the troubled mind of an obsessively lovesick teen, ending in an eye-rolling twist and a rather mundane Afterschool Special message.
Admittedly, I’m not the target audience for this novel (far from it!). But I’ve read many, many YA novels, and I had a hard time with the way this book is narrated. I get that teens use the word “like” and the phrase “you know” way too often, but it gets pretty tedious pretty fast when an entire book is narrated this way. Additionally, Turner uses a plethora of italicized words to help us hear how his narrator is emphasizing things (and I’m talking about lots of emphasis!). There’s very little dialogue (this is, after all, pretty much the narrator’s personal monologue) and a ton of one-sentence paragraphs. It’s not an easy book to read.
What we learn about the narrator in the first two-hundred pages is that he’s from the “fifty cent” side of town (meaning his family doesn’t have a lot of money), his parents have split up, his rich girlfriend has broken up with him, and he’s a master at hiding in plain sight (meaning he never really lets anyone see who he really is). He’s obsessively in love with Laura, so when he finds himself stuck in her basement (he climbs in through a basement window, and then can’t get out because of the security alarm), he vows to find out what he can about Laura and her family. And none of it is what he expects (of course it isn’t, because Laura’s pretty good at hiding, too). The narrator assumes that because she’s rich, Laura must be super happy, and that living in a house like hers must be so much better than living in a house like his (he assumes “it would be impossible [emphasis on “impossible”] to have problems in this house”). As expected, he learns that money doesn’t buy happiness (it’s a cliché for a reason!).
Bottom line, the message of this book is nothing new, and it’s all pretty clear from the start (as is the twist, if you’re looking for it). I found the writing style tedious, and the twist detracted from any realistic ending to the novel. This one didn’t work for me on several levels.
[Please note: I was provided an Advance Reading Copy of this novel free of charge; the opinions expressed here are my own.]
Admittedly, I’m not the target audience for this novel (far from it!). But I’ve read many, many YA novels, and I had a hard time with the way this book is narrated. I get that teens use the word “like” and the phrase “you know” way too often, but it gets pretty tedious pretty fast when an entire book is narrated this way. Additionally, Turner uses a plethora of italicized words to help us hear how his narrator is emphasizing things (and I’m talking about lots of emphasis!). There’s very little dialogue (this is, after all, pretty much the narrator’s personal monologue) and a ton of one-sentence paragraphs. It’s not an easy book to read.
What we learn about the narrator in the first two-hundred pages is that he’s from the “fifty cent” side of town (meaning his family doesn’t have a lot of money), his parents have split up, his rich girlfriend has broken up with him, and he’s a master at hiding in plain sight (meaning he never really lets anyone see who he really is). He’s obsessively in love with Laura, so when he finds himself stuck in her basement (he climbs in through a basement window, and then can’t get out because of the security alarm), he vows to find out what he can about Laura and her family. And none of it is what he expects (of course it isn’t, because Laura’s pretty good at hiding, too). The narrator assumes that because she’s rich, Laura must be super happy, and that living in a house like hers must be so much better than living in a house like his (he assumes “it would be impossible [emphasis on “impossible”] to have problems in this house”). As expected, he learns that money doesn’t buy happiness (it’s a cliché for a reason!).
Bottom line, the message of this book is nothing new, and it’s all pretty clear from the start (as is the twist, if you’re looking for it). I found the writing style tedious, and the twist detracted from any realistic ending to the novel. This one didn’t work for me on several levels.
[Please note: I was provided an Advance Reading Copy of this novel free of charge; the opinions expressed here are my own.]
May 9, 2018
I received a final copy of Hiding by Henry Turner in exchange for an honest review. Review copied from www.centersquareblog.com
From the get go I was grabbed by this book. It is written in the first person perspective of a teenage boy who has spent his entire life “Hiding”. The real beauty of this book is the way it is narrated. I really felt as if I was sitting in front of the main character talking to him. The entire time it was just as if we were having a conversation one on one and he was telling me his story. Now his story involves doing something very, very stupid as most teenage boys tend to do. It is also easy to see that this boy is troubled right from the start.
I said above how this main character spent his life “Hiding” and it may beg the question, what exactly do you mean by “Hiding”. I would encourage you to read the book to find out as the only real way to understand what this term means is to have the main character explain it to you in his own words. It is something the author does an extremely good job of describing, painting a picture that is easy for the reader to visualize.
The real genius of this book is how it speaks to you. You might think a book narrated in the voice of a troubled teenage boy might not be good, but it brought out some very interesting questions as I was reading it. How many of us go through life “Hiding” in our own ways? How many of us fall into social norms? Or let the situation we are born into or our parents’ way of life define us before we really get a choice to choose for ourselves? How many of us do not give those who could be the most important people in our lives the right amount of attention? Who really understands what is going on in someone else’s head at any point in time?
I found myself thinking a lot about my own life and how I would answer some of these questions. It made me love the main character even more despite the stupid act he commits which makes you want to think otherwise about him.
There is a very, very good twist at the end which I did not see coming. The last few chapters were some of the best of the book. I tend to believe that it must be incredibly difficult to find a way to end a book. A book in a sense is like a painting. You are never truly done, you just decide to stop painting. Or in this case, writing. However, the ending was absolutely perfect in my opinion! I finished this in two days and did not want to put it down. It was a quick read, but well worth it.
From the get go I was grabbed by this book. It is written in the first person perspective of a teenage boy who has spent his entire life “Hiding”. The real beauty of this book is the way it is narrated. I really felt as if I was sitting in front of the main character talking to him. The entire time it was just as if we were having a conversation one on one and he was telling me his story. Now his story involves doing something very, very stupid as most teenage boys tend to do. It is also easy to see that this boy is troubled right from the start.
I said above how this main character spent his life “Hiding” and it may beg the question, what exactly do you mean by “Hiding”. I would encourage you to read the book to find out as the only real way to understand what this term means is to have the main character explain it to you in his own words. It is something the author does an extremely good job of describing, painting a picture that is easy for the reader to visualize.
The real genius of this book is how it speaks to you. You might think a book narrated in the voice of a troubled teenage boy might not be good, but it brought out some very interesting questions as I was reading it. How many of us go through life “Hiding” in our own ways? How many of us fall into social norms? Or let the situation we are born into or our parents’ way of life define us before we really get a choice to choose for ourselves? How many of us do not give those who could be the most important people in our lives the right amount of attention? Who really understands what is going on in someone else’s head at any point in time?
I found myself thinking a lot about my own life and how I would answer some of these questions. It made me love the main character even more despite the stupid act he commits which makes you want to think otherwise about him.
There is a very, very good twist at the end which I did not see coming. The last few chapters were some of the best of the book. I tend to believe that it must be incredibly difficult to find a way to end a book. A book in a sense is like a painting. You are never truly done, you just decide to stop painting. Or in this case, writing. However, the ending was absolutely perfect in my opinion! I finished this in two days and did not want to put it down. It was a quick read, but well worth it.
July 30, 2019
A quote on the backside of this book literally says that this book is "intense, scary and compelling." What? Did they read the same book?
April 24, 2018
HIDING was a very unique, particular book about a teenage boy who has been figuratively hiding all his life, that he’s capable of going unnoticed in plain sight. The whole book takes place within a twenty hour-time frame and explores the various secrets one keeps, and how sometimes surface truths aren’t always the truth, but merely a cover-up to what is truly hiding beneath the surface. This novel will keep you guessing as you try to unravel the truth about why the protagonist’s girlfriend left him, and how the truth affected the whole relationship. A fast-paced YA that ultimately delivers an important message to teens, how precious life is and what it means to be true to yourself. Check this out if you’re into coming of age YA novels, with a protagonist reminiscent of Holden Caulfield.*
*I received a free copy of this book for review purposes. Check out my interview with the author here:
https://theinkblotters.com/2018/04/23...
*I received a free copy of this book for review purposes. Check out my interview with the author here:
https://theinkblotters.com/2018/04/23...
April 18, 2018
He is a teenager in love. Sadly, Laura broke up with him. He is crushed, of course, but he truly feels as if he had not really known her at all. Feeling that he needs to get close to her once again, he follows her, one day ending up hiding away in her house. He learns her surprising secrets. Now, he must get out without being seen!
This introspective account in the first person is insightful and interesting. The author examines the subject of being seen and truly known and understood. There are many wonderful twists in the story, as well as one big one. Although I discovered the big twist within the first five pages, I still enjoyed this story very much.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
This introspective account in the first person is insightful and interesting. The author examines the subject of being seen and truly known and understood. There are many wonderful twists in the story, as well as one big one. Although I discovered the big twist within the first five pages, I still enjoyed this story very much.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
July 7, 2019
I got about half way through before I decided to just skim the rest of the way through which was too easy to be honest. There is a lot of filler but I feel like that's also part of the character. But since the character narrates the whole book, it becomes a drag. It wasnt much of a thriller. I didnt predict the ending though but honestly with how heavy the book is on him being pervert with pervert friends, it didnt make that much of a difference. I gave it 2 stars instead of one because I generally liked the set up of the book. Atypically main character/narrator which got me half way through the book.
January 27, 2018
Henry Turner's HIDING is a beautifully-written, atmospheric twisty mystery which ultimately delivers you face to face with -- yourself!!! When I read this book I felt I was hearing the true voice of a teen -- the narrator seems completely real and I've never come across such an authentic teen character before. Nowhere in this book did I find any evidence of an adult author with adult opinions using a teen as his mouthpiece, as is often the case in YA. HIDING is for everyone who wants to be seen and heard. I'd recommend it to anyone who you think is hiding!!!
March 8, 2018
I have mixed feelings about this book.
First of all, I did actually enjoy quite a bit of this book, and it was an interesting look at the ways we hide ourselves from others. I didn’t call the twist— although looking back I probably should have— but I didn’t really like the twist either. I mean, it was a cool twist, but the way it was written made it feel really weird and abrupt, and wasn’t explained very well. A little revision to the ending of this book to make it more natural feeling would have earned this book a solid four stars.
First of all, I did actually enjoy quite a bit of this book, and it was an interesting look at the ways we hide ourselves from others. I didn’t call the twist— although looking back I probably should have— but I didn’t really like the twist either. I mean, it was a cool twist, but the way it was written made it feel really weird and abrupt, and wasn’t explained very well. A little revision to the ending of this book to make it more natural feeling would have earned this book a solid four stars.
July 15, 2018
I'm so conflicted about this novel. The message is phenomenal and the twist near the end changes everything. But I felt that the writing was poor (there were 5-7 needlessly italicized words on every single page and the character must have used the phrase 'sort of' 30 times). Luckily the book is so short that I stuck with it, but it fully took 15 chapters to be interesting, meaning just the last 3 were excellent to me. It's a shame because the concept was brilliant but I don't think I can get over the quality of writing, even if it was just the character's voice.
April 6, 2024
Couldn’t stand it from the very beginning but powered through hoping it would get better… it didn’t. The excessive use of italics in almost every sentence irritated me and the writing style itself was undeveloped and juvenile. I know this is a YA book, but that’s no excuse for the poor writing. The “twist” is ridiculous, entirely convenient and unoriginal. The only bright spot was that it was pretty short so only a few hours of my life wasted on it. Book jacket description makes it seem so much more thrilling and intense than the after school special it turns out to be.
March 1, 2019
This was the first book to make me cry this year. I figured out what was going on in the beginning of the book but I was still surprised at the end and sad. Basically its a story about a boy who is good at hiding and hides in his ex-girlfriend's basement. It's very eye opening and great for teens to read because the girl had everything she wanted but was still unhappy and the boy was poor but was kind of happy in a way. All in all a great read.
November 3, 2020
I didn't have high hopes when I guessed the ending within the first 10 pages of the book, and the stream of consciousness narrative didn't provide enough interest to make up for that fact. It reads like a middle/high school diary, filled with either misguided or over the top pronouncements of the main character's thoughts and feelings. I think readers can identify with the feelings of losing a crush, but there's little else of merit to recommend this book to others.
November 6, 2022
I loved this book, it started off pretty slow so I was starting to not be interested in this book but towards the end was amazing. I wasn't expecting that plot twist. I liked the way the main character and Lauras relationship is explained and I liked how the term hiding was mostly used when expressing the characters feelings. Also the suspense and waiting to even find out the main characters name was really cool too. Id definitely read this book again it was great.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2018
Figured out the big twist right away, and so felt pretty validated when it came out near the end. Did not see the smaller, secondary twist that came with it though. Wasn’t sure how much I liked the protagonist’s voice or the author’s excessive use of italics, but was compelled enough to finish this book. Consider as a hi-low title for teens.
September 17, 2019
I was intrigued and mildly disturbed by this book while reading it, but then something is revealed that completely changed the feel and tone of the story. A part of me is surprised I didn't pick up on it sooner, but I'm glad I didn't since I was able to feel surprised and feel that shift in perspective.
April 27, 2020
I loved this book, It is certainly one of my favorites. The main character really caught my attention along with how the author humanized him. The ending really shocked me and made me enjoy the book even more. I'd give this book a 9/10
December 14, 2022
i could say so much about this book but i’m gonna keep it short. being in the teens head and seeing his perspective on everything was amazing and the plot twist was something you didn’t really expect. but at some points it dragged on and had unnecessary descriptions
March 12, 2018
The 'twist' is obvious from the first few pages, and the end is a horrible, dragging After School Special.
October 9, 2018
Overall, this was an interesting read; however, the overuse of italics was annoying. This book didn't wow me but I was interested enough to keep reading until the end.
January 16, 2019
Very depressing
September 16, 2021
Not what I was expecting at all. To much repetition. It is already a short book but could be so much shorter.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews