Hidden pictures from Jason Rekulak. I bought that book after a recommendation from Bookstagram. As we know, it can be a terrible idea to trust someone on Bookstagram, as I have gotten the book many times and regretted having it. Was that book a mistake? Well…
At the beginning of this book, we are presented with Mallory. A young, ambitious lady who had a winning life ahead of her. She was on track for a university athletic scholarship in her senior year in high school. And guess what? Bad scheisse (German for shit) happens all the time, and she injured herself. So, long story short, she got addicted to oxycodin and other things, and bam! All-winner life is dead now. No scholarship, no future. But life is not about raining all the time, so time later, she is in her eighteen months of being clean and ready for her next step into the future and independence. With this sob story, I don’t want to, but I like her… She is likable; she feels terrible about her decisions in life and wants to do 100% or more to get back on her feet. And damn… I like it. I like her. Mallory is such a cute name tho. Anyway… Her sponsor ( not that kind of sponsor, dirty people) helped her to find this summer job as a babysitter for a cute five-year-old boy named Teddy. Russell told Maxwell’s family all about her past so they would not be so surprised or scared, and she got the job even when the head of the family, Ted, told his wife Caroline she was not his first pick and he wanted a different nanny. Caroline probably has many good arguments about why they should hire Mallory, and she gets the job. She lives in the little guest house at the back of the house near the pool. It is a slow burn, and there is a lot of bonding between the new nanny and little Teddy. They play games together, draw pictures, and play in the pool. Everyone is so happy because now Teddy has a real friend, not just his imaginary friend Anya, so yeah! Win-win. The best thing about this book is that you have these drawings inside the book so you can literally see what Mallory saw. Initially, these pictures are ugly but cute, which you can expect from a five-year-old. He is not a Picasso, but we would say, ‘Oh, Teddy. This is amazing. Real genius!’. But it is starting to look weirder, and now you think this does not look like this kid’s work. From (deformed) animals, you would get a picture of a woman dragged on the ground by a man. Then someone is digging a hole, and you think, what the fuck? Mallory finds out some more information from that one neighbor who knows anyone business better than them, and she tells her about a tragedy from the 1940s if I remember correctly. Some Annie disappeared without a trace, which was a big sinister mystery in this city.
So what does Mallory do? Ding, ding, ding. If you answered that she went to the Maxwells and told them, then you won a wheelbarrow of rubble! Congratulations. Sure, she did. And what did they think? Is she using it again? That chick is wild… talking some weird stuff about Teddy being what? A friend with a ghost? A maybe murdered girl? Crazy.
This story has a lot of turns and twists, and the only person who will believe her is her new friend, who will try to help her solve this weird story.
The ending was nothing I had expected, and I was surprised. This book was a pleasure, and I enjoyed my time with this lecture.
Was it the best I read? No, that’s why I am giving this book:
4/5