Member Reviews
Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Hide is written in the POV of various characters, all who have troubling secrets. When seven acquaintances attempt to bond over a hiking trip in the winter, things go wrong. One of the members from the group is murdered and questions are raised about who the murderer could be... Is it one of their own? Could it be the poachers who've come to invade the reserve they're hiking on? While everyone is watching their own back and making conclusions of their own things spiral out of their control. The synopsis is interesting but the story itself is a slow burn thriller with a lot of repetition. The ending was shocking to say the least but I didn't experience any closure and it raised a lot of questions and details in the book that didn't add up for me, but maybe this book will be part of a series. Hide is my first read by Nell Pattison and I plan on reading more by this author since I did enjoy the writing style.
7 friends join each other for a walk around a nature reserve on Boxing Day on a special arrangement. No one else is allowed in. So when 1 member of the group is killed, it means one of the group is the killer. But who?
An enjoyable read with the story told by each member of the groups perspective which I felt helped build up the suspense of the book. Many of the groups had secrets they did not want to get out. Another superb book by Nell Pattison.
Thanks to NetGallery for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a really fun read---I went through it in a day. I almost didn't want to read this book because majority of the time I am disappointed in mystery/thriller crime/whodunits and I dislike changing perspectives in books, but not here. With a cast of six characters (members of a bird watching group visiting a nature sanctuary on Boxing Day), I was interested.
The cast: There is Lauren and her sister Emily, who have been estranged for many years and are looking to reconnect their relationship. There is Morna, a volunteer who was passed up for a full-time job at the sanctuary who is always clashing with Lauren, a full time employee. Ben, the quiet one, the "nerd" who lived at home with his mother and is really into Emily. Kai, one of the newer members who has shifty reasons for being part of the group. Dan, the newest member of the group and another quiet one. And then Alec, the know-it-all expert who is condescending and who at the group's Christmas dinner reveals that he knows secrets about each person there.
The delivery: Even with all these perspectives, this book delivered when it came to wanting to find out what happened next. When a shot rings out and one of the group is murdered, the rest of the party split up to try and find help and chaos ensues. It was refreshing that little reveals were slipped into each person's perspective and peppered around instead of being made out to be gigantic deals. The culprit is revealed about 80% through the book and I think the way it comes to be when we get that viewpoint is great. The ending has a twist and one I greatly enjoyed. I especially liked the dynamic between the two sisters. With growing up in foster care, Emily's hearing impairment, and underlying jealously and resentment I found it to be unique and captured my interest through the end.
There is some repetition in the retelling of certain events from multiple perspectives that at times got a little tiring, but overall----wow. I think Pattison hit this one out of the park. First book I've read by this author and I did enjoy it. Well worth the read and recommendation.
I love books like this - atmospheric, spooky, fast paced. I loved the desolate winter setting. This was an exciting read and I think it will be perfect in December when it comes out.
RATING: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 🌟.5/5
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SYNOPSIS: Several acquaintances decide to go watch the murmuration of birds 🦅 🐦 using special access on the reservation. While there and all split up, they hear a gun shot 😱 and realize there’s a murderer in the woods. One problem though: they are supposed to be the only ones there. 🤷🏼♀️
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PROS: I DEVOURED this novel and loved everything about it. Nell Pattison combined the perfect blend of suspense 😱 and plot twists 🪢 ,keeping me hooked until the very end.
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CONS: NOT A THING
Wow what a story, although I had guessed the relationship between 3 of the characters, the ending just blew me away. A really good read.
Trigger Warnings: murder, stalking, overdose, child neglect, stealing
This novel follows the story of seven friends who go together to a wildlife retreat in order to observe the birds. They all have secrets to hide that involve others in the group too, but only one of them knows everyone’s secrets. When Alec is found murdered, they all start to panic and try to think which one of them could have such a big secret that was worth killing Alec for so that the secret dies with him.
As the night comes and snow starts falling, they start to panic when they realize how far in the woods they are and how much they have to go back to the visitor center in order to be able to call the police for help. The panic grows inside each of them since they can’t know for sure who is the murderer amongst the group and if they have a second target.
The first 20% of the book went a little bit slow until I I got used to the characters, but once I became invested in their stories, it was such a fast pace to read. I was completely hooked and eager to find out how it ends.
I loved that the suspense and twists kept coming up to the very last paragraph of the book and the last sentence was a jaw-dropper. I am still thinking about it and I can’t believe how twisted the characters were and I’ll always wonder about the way it ended.
I liked that the story was told in the first person’s POV from all the seven characters' perspectives. It was interesting seeing how each and every one of them felt without the truth being revealed towards the end.
I was skeptical about this book at first, but it totally exceeded my expectations, so glad I gave it a go!
Read this if you like:
Multiple POVs
Who did it?
Outdoor adventures
Complex characters with dark personalities
Short chapters
Thank you so much NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the gifted digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Hide by Nell Pattison. I gave up at about 40% into the book. I jumped to the end to find out who killed who. The best part of this novel for me was the nature reserve descriptions. I totally disliked all the bickering and eye rolling. While writing is smooth and fine I just couldn't stand the characters contribution. Thank you Net Galley for thr opportunity to read this book.
Thanks to Netgalley for this review copy in exchange for an honest review.
I was intrigued by the title, the snow made me request this book. 7 bird watchers(I can't say them friends) gathered on the boxing day to watch a murmuration. Lauren and Emily are sisters with a strained relationship. Morna volunteers at the centre where Lauren works and they don't get along. Alec is an old nerd who doesn't have anything in his life to do except degrade everyone. Dan is a mysterious guy who decided to join this group for unknown reasons. Ben is a guy who doesn't have any personality except he like Emily. I forgot to mention, Emily is deaf but rich and uses some latest cochlear implants. Kai is also a mysterious guy who is doing something secret. Believe me, it took me long to remember who is who and their personalities but fortunately, they didn't get any so it was not that hard.
So on the boxing day when they were ready to watch murmuration. One of them died and they decided to blame one of them without evidence and keep treating that one so badly throughout the book. There was fighting, allegation, rudeness and some bitchiness till the end. I skim read 75 % of the book because I lost interest. The background of each character was discussed so shallowly which made it so hard to feel for any of them. Everything was dragged, characters were not likeable. There were so many loopholes and the story felt forced and dull. The ending was just MEH. I don't know why I wasted my time.
Another great who did it story, honestly this type of books are my absolute favourites and ‘Hide’ was up there. The mystery of this book was a good layout of thrill/suspense. Throughout the book it had me questioning a few times who the killer was. The characters were very well written, we had so unlikeable characters, many secrets and more. The author has this effect on you as I was always questioning myself on each of the characters whether they were the one. The ending okay, wasn’t expected but also a good shock(?), anyway I wasn’t expecting the ending. Very much enjoyed this book and I would recommend 5*
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Definitely a fun read,but you just have to go with the flow and not worry too much about how believable the whole thing is.
Having a deaf character,as is Pattisons norm,adds an extra element to the story that bumps up the tension.
A great classic whodunnit story! There is nothing I enjoy more than a “trapped in one location” mystery. The environment, the suspense it was just great. Though it was a fairly simple thriller, It had me guessing at who the killer was the entire time. Great read!
3 ish ⭐️
I had a hard time with this one. I wasn’t able to connect with the characters. It had some potential, but fell short for me.
Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to read this one!
I love a good who dunnit thriller/mystery and Hide by Nell Pattison doesn't disappoint. Set in the dark on a nature preserve makes it all the more thrilling. Add in seven unlikable characters with secrets and we've got a great story. I love how the author really makes you suspect each character and you're questioning everything you've read only to be surprised by another secret revealed. The end will shock you!!
Thank you Netgalley for the advanced e-book of Hide by Nell Pattison in exchange for my review.
I wanted Hide to grab me up and really get me, but with MPOV changes it just misses something. I would get lost in the switching and the pace would become off.
Alright- so I was excited about this because it reminded me a lot of Agatha Christie’s ‘And then there were none’
This story is about 7 friends (I would say friends very lightly- more like people who all appreciate wildlife and so meet ups)
You get to read from all 7 perspectives, which I will say I didn’t care for. It made it hard to follow and sometimes I had to go back and remember who was talking.
It’s definitely a fun thriller and you are constantly trying to figure out who the “bad guy” is. I was pleasantly surprised by the ending and was kind of left going “whaaaaat??”
If you like thrillers and something that makes you analyze characters and try to figure out “who done it” then I would recommend this book.
Loved it! A who dunnit with the weather as an extra character. Really enjoyed it and read it in a very short space of time. You know a books good if you get up thinking about when you can next read and go to bed hoping you can read for hours with dropping off to sleep too soon.
Yes, Emily was right to yell when Alec didn't remove his hand, but that was about the only thing I agreed with in this book.
The story is based on what Alec said in a pub while being drunk. With every chapter being a different character, this book is mainly those characters wondering about the others: what they are thinking, what they possibly could be hiding, why behaving this or that way...
Two stars for a book I did not enjoy reading.
This one for me was a little slow starting and then introduced the main 7 characters very quickly, I kept trying to remember who's who. Once I got past that, and the suspense built up, I was intrigued. The second half of the book unravels lots of secrets and I changed perceptions of them all quite quickly. Entertaining. And THAT ending. Wow.
I found this book a bit hard to get into. It was very slow moving but having enjoyed the author's work before I decided to keep going. I'm so glad I did. About halfway through, the story seemed to take off and the tension was ramped up. I had no inkling about the various characters' secrets and the identity of the killer was a total shock. But that was nothing compared with the jaw-dropping final chapter. What an awesome ending.