There are certain reads meant to bring you pain, influence your life choices, make you embrace joy and then there are other stories written solely to entertain - books I coin as reality TV reads as they have no depth but are so enjoyable to devour. Hide is one of those books. The premise is ridiculous, there is a touch too much exposition, it contains a weirdly interpretive ending, and there is a lot of eye rolling moments but, it's exactly what you expect from the blurb and it's fun.

Hide is a read meant to bring you light-hearted entertainment with a dash of horror. This is an action packed novel, the characters demonstrate development (I personally was attached to a few who met no-so-good endings), and there is always a present sense of unease throughout to stimulate fear and intrigue. Hide has positive and negative aspects to the story and as long as you know you are in for a quick and engaging ride, not spine-chilling horror, you will enjoy this book. Hide is a novel worth your time because it's the good kind of simple we all crave to read sometimes whilst containing engaging characters and moments that make sense throughout the story.

Chaotic. I mention this in my spoiler-filled thoughts, but I think Hide is a strong contender for a horror/action movie. There is a lot of telling in this novel and a lot of exposition that at times dragged but I feel if those moments were told through cinematic design, it would really heighten the intensity of those moments and create something truly spooktacular.

The hiding and seeking is the best part of the plot and all you need to know is that as the story progresses, the madness enhances. Hide contains a simple but engaging plot that makes this novel easy to read and the ideal choice for when you want something "lighthearted" and bingeable.

I think Hide would make a fabulous movie. There is little depth to the novel but so much action that I believe would translate to film well. I would be quite interested to see what type of monster is created for the show compared to my imagination. I imagine the monster to have the body of the demogorgon from Stranger Things along with horns and a gaping black hole for a mouth - the monster was ambiguous and creepy, a walking horror it sounded like. There are many great things about this novel like the monster and many so-so things. In all, I did not think this was a bad read.

I found Hide engaging, definitely cringey, a bit ridiculous, but in the end - fun. Sometimes all you want from a read is something on par with reality TV and Hide encapsulates that vibe. I found Mack to be unlikeable but I slowly warmed up to her as it was revealed that her iciness was a defence mechanism; it was clear she was willing to open up and find worth in herself, she just needed some understanding and companionship. Even in such a short time frame, I think the insanity of the "reality show"  concept and lack of deep relationships ripped from them helped heighten that instantaneous friendship. Like Mack, I didn't like how close they became at first and then it grew on me.

I adored how Linda was a villain. She had zero redeeming qualities and her megalomaniac persona portrayed in her journals made it so lovely to hate her and all the immediate family. I was frustrated by the lack of explanation regarding how this family continued to run a murder contest every seven years and why. Only Linda seemed passionate about keeping open the connection to the monster and the others seemed impassive; I like to think they were riding on her coattails for the profit but if it were up to them, they would have closed the portal. I also like how her husband abandoned her with her children - smart.

There was so much exposition in Hide, like a ridiculous amount, and I am still upset that I didn't get to know more behind the ritual for opening the gate and what Tommy's connection was to the underworld. Was he dying and they opened it up to heal him? Did they do it for the riches? Was Tommy a mastermind? There was so much exposition that could have answered those questions and if not, show me the answers. Show me some conflict in the immediate families that hinted to what we learnt in the diaries. Show me more!

On that note, I do think a lot of good things were shown. For example, how the park was described created an elaborate visual for me and I was able to use it to bounce from place to place as the story continued. I could visualise the park during its glory days and how its downfall was caused by others. I did not enjoy the ending. I wanted maybe two or three more pages and then an explosion. The potential to finish with Linda being eaten with a "f**k you" would have been a cherry on top. I just wanted Linda to be torn to shreds, everyone excluding those who didn't know were torn to shreds.

I do wonder what will happen to the monster and I guess it's up to our imagination to determine its future. What are your thoughts on what happened? Because I am curious to see how others perceived the ending and Hide overall. Hide was a fun read, it was easy and I really hope this becomes a movie because I think it would be worth watching.