These Things Hidden: A Novel of Suspense

I must admit, there were things I liked about the book, but more things I didn't. The author was able to paint some images in my head with her descriptions, and that worked. Some of those images I will not be able to erase. Every once in awhile, she said something profound and beautifully-written that made me sigh in satisfaction, but these were few and far between.Many things bothered me about the book. Christopher was too vague. Grandma was too vague. I couldn't figure out the relationship Brynn and Allison had with their parents. Some of the things Allison feared her mom would do if she found out about the birth of the baby didn't seem to line up with the woman I believed the author had painted. Their parents seemed like people who would do anything to make sure Allison looked like the perfect daughter who would never make a mistake. So why would she fear that her mother would want to keep the baby for herself? Or have Allison raise it? It seems that her mom would have done everything she could to get things back to normal as if a baby had never been born. So Allison's reasoning there made no sense to me. I also didn't understand why they erased Brynn out of their lives. Why? They knew nothing of her involvement. This excuse that she just couldn't be the perfect daughter once they lost their precious Allison didn't quite vibe with me.Brynn really made no sense. The author did a good job of portraying that Brynn had issues with depression; that she often drowned herself in alcohol and medication to overcome that depression; that she tried to kill herself right after the baby died, but we are with Brynn... in first person... for quite a bit of the story. And yet she never shows any signs of mental illness that would cause her to commit the heinous act in the bathtub. We are with her, inside her head, and we don't see it coming? We never even see her visiting her doctor, or having mental breakdowns or conversations that are incoherent until near the end. Instead, her doctor is only vaguely mentioned a couple of times. If Brynn was that messed up, we should have seen it. So the ending to her saga was very disappointing.And something is clearly wrong with Joshua. Is he autistic? I didn't quite get his tantrums. I mean, there is no way he could have suffered some traumatic episode before he was adopted that he could have even remotely remembered. He was only three weeks old when he came to live with Claire and Jonathan. Nobody remembers anything from that young age. But that is the feeling I got--that we were supposed to believe his hardship before adoption had somehow tainted him. It just didn't work for me. I didn't fall in love with Joshua like every woman in this book seemed to because he didn't tug on my heartstrings like he should have. He just seemed spoiled, and everyone tried to walk on eggshells around him like they were afraid he would break if they did or said the wrong thing. It was all very weird.Most of the main characters weren't fully fleshed out, and that always bothers me. Jonathan was too vague. He flitted in and out of the story with no real substance, although he was supposed to be important. Claire was very one-sided; wrapped up in fertility and adoption and the fear of losing another child. We don't know anything else about her. She didn't strike me as real. Joshua is five years old and she's still dwelling on the past. It was strange. The women at the halfway house were so underdeveloped that even Olene and Bea came off as superficial when they were supposed to be the voices of reason for Allison. They had one meaningful conversation, or maybe two. But I felt no connection between the women and Allison. I did not feel the ambiance of the halfway house like I wanted to, either. I wanted to see more of what Allison's life was like there. I would have liked to see scenes where she interacted more with the women. This was her home, after all, for the entire book.The story was rushed, especially at the end--to the point that it began to feel like we were watching flash scenes rather than smoothly making our way through a good story. The action was so fast in certain parts. Dinner with Charm's mother didn't impress me. Charm was there, then she was gone in six pages flat. I wanted meat in that chapter. I wanted to see motives behind her mother. Her mom was again, a disappointment as far as character development. There were things I could see about her very well, and I thought "this character has potential." But then it was gone. She is a character I would have run with. The villainess is the most enjoyable character to create, and she was as close to a villainess as one got in this novel.SPOILERS BELOW:I think if the author had slowed her pace a bit and really allowed us time to get to know Christopher, for example-- to see the relationship between him and Allison blossom into love-- then I would have felt more of a connection to Joshua. I would have seen the Allison that the author merely told us about, but never let us meet. The scene with Allison and Brynn delivering that baby would have been moving in a different and personal kind of way. The author spent a lot of time telling us about Allison and what she was like before the pregnancy, but we didn't really know her, so it was hard to connect with who she was now.All in all, this book had a lot of potential, and I really did like the first half better than the second. I was disappointed when it all became predictable, and then unreasonable. And my one question still is how in the world does a thin, 17-year old girl hide the fact that she's having twins? It's just not realistic. One baby, maybe. Twins? Hmmm... Not sure that could be pulled off as easily.Casey HaysAuthor of  The Cadence

At age sixteen, Allison Glenn was sentenced to ten years in prison. After serving five years, she's being released early for good behavior. Alienated from her sister, Brynn, Allison has a strong desire to reconnect, but Brynn wants nothing to do with her. And her parents? They disowned Allison the night she was arrested for a crime so heinous people in Linden Falls are disgusted at the sight of her. She has no money, no job, no friends, no connection to family, and if she wasn't going to the halfway house, she'd have no place to live. Will Allison - whose life seemed so perfect once upon a time - find her way to happiness?Before jail Allison's plans were valedictorian, volleyball scholarship, college, law school. She was the perfect high school student until she became interested in a twenty-two year old; a young man she kept secret from her parents. What were the exact details of what happened that night to end Allison in jail? That was the main thing I wanted to know. I also wanted to know how these characters (Allison, Charm and Claire) lives were connected. For a minute there, I thought I had one thing figured out, but I didn't - there was nothing predictable about this story.Brynn (Allison's sister): She loved animals and it seemed she was able to relate to them better than she could to people. As for her relationship with her sister - on the one hand she longed for Allison's approval but on the other hand, she resented Allison. She was also consumed with guilt about what had happened that night, so another thing I wanted to know - what did she have to feel so guilty about? I felt for the girl, and I mean, really, really felt for her.Allison and Brynn's parents: Their love for Allison was conditional and they didn't seem to have much love at all for Brynn. They caused animosity, favoring one child over the other.Charm Tullia: A student nurse, and a likeable character. She had way too much on her for a twenty-one year old, feeling responsible for everyone in her life the way she did. I was impressed by her strength, and I loved that she had a giving heart. She didn't know a mother's love and that was disappointing.Reanne (Charm's mother): A disturbing presence.Claire Kelby: She's been in business for twelve years, running Bookends, a bookstore located on oak-lined Sullivan Street in downtown Linden Falls. She stays so busy that she doesn't have lots of time to spend with her adopted son, Joshua. Her story was interesting because five year old Joshua was a part of it.These Things Hidden has short-to-the-point chapters; most are no more than three or four pages long. The story is told in different narrative modes - first person (Allison and Brynn) and third person (Charm and Claire) and the author's writing flows quite well using these alternating points of view. Sibling rivalry, bullying, teen pregnancy, adoption, mental illness and attempted suicide are issues addressed in this novel. It was intriguing and the ending - oh my goodness, the ending was so shocking and unexpected... and heartbreaking.

This is another tremendous story by this author. The third I've read and the first 2 I gave 5 stars but if there were halves I'd drop this one half down to mistakes and only went with the 5 again because as far as I can make out this was her first book. If not for that it would definitely be a 4.Need was used in place of needed, naval instead of navel (!!) This sentence-"With a kick perfected my during my second year", Jonathan was used at one point instead of Joshua...then this sentence dropped a word-"Where do think those bad guys are" ? This was also wrong-"Reanne's says petulantly". Then speechmarks were dropped and I was beginning to sigh.....loudly. It really distracts me altogether when I keep coming across them.....AND in paid-for books, too !!! I expect better presentation.There were also a LOT of acknowledgements at the beginning and a bit too much 'gumph' at the back meaning it ended at 93% !!I thought the girls' parents in this one were appalling people, I must say !! The best examples of parenting in the whole tale were by non-blood relatives !! My favourite character was probably Gus, a sweet old gent.I loved the story of Beautiful Jim Key-that was quite fascinating. I also enjoyed a couple of sweet little phrases she wrote. If this had been my first by the author, though, I may not have read another based on the lack of proper editing. She's lucky she can weave such intriguing stories !

Having read  The Weight of Silence (MIRA)  which I thought showed great promise I was keen to read Heather Gudenkauf's next book.I enjoyed this book much more, it starts with Allison aged 21 being released from prison to a half-way house following theheinous crime she committed at the age of 16. Each chapter is narrated from a different character which gives the reader a different perspective as the story unfolds. The pace is fast and I certainly wanted to know whether my thoughts about what happened on the night in question were right or not.Although this book is similar to Jodi Picoult's in that they deal with the big issues of life which underpin the story, that of relationships, in this case mainly between two sisters and their parents. This book cared about the outcome for all the main characters. The Weight of Silence (MIRA)

I have enjoyed this book so much I am sad that it has ended but it did end on a satisfactory conclusion. I was so engrossed with the storyline that I could feel whatever the characters were going through. The author explored what happens to a family when someone is accused of a terrible crime it tears them all apart but the parents in this story decided to completely shut everyone out. I am sure it's a true representation of an average family going through this tragedy. Still makes my heart ache for Allison and Brynn. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did

This book was a little hard going at first. I had to put it down a lot and it took a while for me to finish, but as it got to 3 quarters of the way in I couldn't put it down. I can imagine some people guessed the ending but for me I truly didn't expect it to turn out how it did. I really enjoyed the twists in the last few chapters and I haven't read a book that without an obvious ending in a while.I found the characters a little difficult to warm to. I couldn't stand Brynn, I really couldn't get a picture of her in my head. I imagined a character like 'Carrie' but more chubby. Listening to Allison she didn't seem the same character that her sister Brynn described, perhaps due to the time jump and she had changed. In my mind she was the main character and the one I wanted to read more on. Claire was a bit wishy washy, I didn't really enjoy her chapters. And Charm was a reasonable character but didn't add too much either.The portrayal of parents in this book was a little black and white. Allison and Brynn wouldn't have turned out how they did if they hadn't had such nasty parents. And how did their lovely grandma have such a horrible son? It was a distinct case of the parents are bad and the grandma is good. The same goes for Charm's parents. Her mother was bad but her stepfather was good. Claire and Jonathon were distinctly good parents. There was no middle ground for any of these parents. Perhaps this was to highlight Allison's treatment of her new born daughter.What I found hard about the book was seeing what the point of the story was. The first 75% is all set up to the final 25%.I am still glad I read it, I also enjoyed 'The Weight of Silence' (I guessed the twist in that) so plan to read another Gudenkauf book next.

I think Heather Gudenkauf is an amazing writer. She has a brilliant imagination, has the skill to create characters you either love, hate or just feel sorry for.Her stories are original and have great depth, I have read all her books now and I have never been disappointed.Now I am eagerly awaiting her new book Little Mercies that's due out in July 2014 - Can't wait.Keep writing Heather you are an inspiration.Karrie.