WHAT YOU HIDE By Natalie D. Richards

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

What You Hide by Natalie D. Richards
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on 12/4/18
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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Mallory didn't want to leave home, but it wasn't safe to stay. So she sleeps at her best friend's house and spends the rest of her time at the library, doing her online schoolwork and figuring out what comes next. Because she's not going live in fear like her mother.

Spencer volunteers at the library. Sure, it's community service for a stunt he pulled, but he likes the work. And it's the perfect escape from his parents' pressure to excel at school, at ice hockey, at everything. Especially after he meets Mallory.

Then there is a tragic death at the library. Suddenly, what was once a sanctuary turns sinister. Ghostly footprints, strange scratching sounds, scrawled messages on bulletin boards and walls... Mallory and Spencer don't know who or what is responsible, but one thing is for sure:

They are not as alone—or as safe—as they thought.

Short and Sweet

After Mallory leaves her home because it wasn’t safe she splits her time between her friends house and the library. Spencer volunteers at the library after a stunt he pulled required him to do community service. But when someone is found dead at the library, what seemed like a safe haven may be the exact opposite.Spencer and Mallory know that something strange is going on in the library, considering the unexplained footprints and writing on the library walls.

Characters

Mallory: Mallory has a difficult life and she decides to leave home to be safe and away from her stepfather, Charlie. Charlie isn’t abusive but he is controlling and likes to keep tabs on Mallory. Despite all that she’s going through Mallory is a strong character and I like that she cares about her mother and her safety even though she had to leave her behind. Mallory is pretty resourceful and I felt bad about the situation she was in.

Spencer: Spencer was a good character he usually tried to defuse situations by using humor. Spencer may seem like he has the perfect life but lately his grades have been slipping and he did end up breaking a window at the library which led to the community service. Even though it is community service Spencer enjoys being at the library it gives him time away from his parents talking about college and the pressure of ice hockey.

Romance

Mallory and Spencer: I liked the pacing of this relationship it wasn’t instant. Mallory was wary of Spencer at first and trying to figure out why Spencer would want to help her, and she did have her guard up. I appreciated how patient Spencer was with Mallory and that he genuinely cared about her and wanted to make sure she was safe.

My Thoughts

~  I felt bad for Mallory she really had no place to go and she knew she couldn’t stay away from home that long, but she needed to find an alternative or try to convince her mom to finally leave Charlie.

~ Spencer feels a lot of pressure at home his parents want him to go to a good college but Spencer hasn’t spent time thinking about where he wants to go or what he wants to do.

~Mallory has been staying with friend but when she realizes that she can’t anymore desperation kicks in and she begins to stay at the library.

~ When I got the book I thought that the focus would be on the mystery surrounding whats going on in the library but that isn’t the focus and doesn’t get solved until 80% through the book.

~ In the end I liked that Mallory finally realized that she had to do what was best for her considering time was running out on her making a decision about going back home or not.

~ The book kept my interest mainly because I wanted to know what was happening in the library but in the end I wasn’t as satisfied as I thought I would be.

Overall

I enjoyed this book but I wasn’t really fond of the ending I wanted a better ending for Mallory but oh well. There was a lot of suspense around what was going on in the library but the answers to what was going on fell flat for me. I finished this book feeling like I wanted more.