Brief Synopsis
“Hide and Seeker” is a middle-grade horror novel that takes the childhood game “Hide and Seek” and twists into a horrifying nightmare. When Justin’s friend Zee returns after being missing for a year, he attributes his friend’s strange behavior to whatever mysterious circumstances resulted in him going missing in the first place. But after a neighborhood game goes wrong, he begins to piece together the terrifying truth…and it’s coming for him and his friends.
Content Warnings: Frightening subjects, horror (PG)
What Do I Think?
This is not normally my cup of tea – personally, I tend to avoid horror stories, particularly in the children’s categories. They are oftentimes predictable, bland, and too PG to actually be very scary.
“Hide and Seeker” tries, but ultimately falls short in making me rethink that assessment.
From the get-go, the novel suffers from a slow start. The main protagonist is bland, the initial plot point for the first few chapters is not as engaging as it could be, and there are too many equally-bland side characters who add little to the overall narrative. Though I nearly DNF’d after the first three chapters, I persisted, and I am glad I did. Zee, a boy who had been missing for over a year, provides some genuine intrigue for the story, introducing us to the BIG BAD of the novel: the Seeker.
From there, things pick up with some interesting set pieces, but it is still ultimately hindered by a lack of coherency. The protagonists face some of their darkest fears, but other than with Justin, the main protagonist, there was little to no lead-up to those fears to begin with. They meet several other characters along the way who contribute little to the overall narrative. While the story does reach a satisfying conclusion by the end of it, I was left feeling incomplete – many significant story arcs felt underdeveloped.
Don’t get me wrong, “Hide and Seeker” is a perfectly passable novel. But it doesn’t achieve anything more than that.
Jacob Ryckman 