book 35

These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf
337 pages


I read this book because it was recommended based on my rating of Dark Places by Gillian Flynn.  It was an okay read.  I wasn't too into it, but yesterday I picked it up at page 70 or so and plowed through the rest, because I'm getting really behind on my goal here.

These Things Hidden is a thriller - I guess - that centers around three women.  Allison was a perfect teenager, a star student and star athlete, well-liked by everyone.  That is, until she gets convicted of drowning her newborn baby girl in the Druid River.  When we meet her, she is being released from prison for good behavior, ready to start her life over.  Brynn is her sister, a fragile young woman with mental problems and a lot of guilt.  She lives with her grandmother and several pets, and wants nothing to do with Allison.  Charm is another young woman living in the same town the girls grew up in.  She is a nursing student, caring for her sick stepfather, Gus, who has lung cancer and is nearing death.  Finally, we have Claire, a mid-40s book store owner and adoptive mother of a 5-year-old boy named Joshua.  Claire's shop, Bookends, is the centerpiece around which the characters, except for Brynn, revolve.  Charm is a regular customer, and Allison works there after her parole.

The story is told chapter-by-chapter through each woman's eyes.  Sometimes they are disconnected, and at other times one leaves off and another picks up right there in the same moment.  I was not particularly fond of this method, since there were four women and sometimes I had to stop for a second and realize who was narrating.  The chapters are labeled, but still.  I've read many books with this method, but maybe because the chapters were so short (1-7 pages each) was what irked me.  Allison and Brynn tell the story in first person, Charm and Claire are in third person.

I wasn't very surprised by the reveal, or the ending of the story.  I would say I was a little disappointed in the ending.  It leaves a lot to be wanted, which I guess is a good sign but I just felt flat.  Nothing propelled me to keep reading.  I had little sympathy for the characters, although I think I was supposed to.  I felt for Charm, she was the most real character to me.  I did feel sympathy for her, and at times for Brynn.  I understood the characters and their choices.  I just kind of felt like I was reading chick-lit with a twist or something.  I do not think this book would appeal to men, whereas other thrillers would.

I don't know if I would recommend this book. It kept my attention well enough to read it mostly in one day.  Nothing was awful.  I wasn't bored.  I just felt like "Eh."  Therefore, I would say that it isn't one to skip, but not a top priority.