Review of Hidden by M. Lathan

When I read the summary for this book, I was really intrigued. I have, however, been trying to cut back on the books that I review because it's been leaving me next to no time to do anything else on this blog. If you read my last post, you would know that I failed miserably at my last attempt to do something else interesting here, and part of that is due to lack of time. Still, this book looked really, really good. So, when I noticed that the first chapter was up for free on Goodreads (you can go there and read it now by clicking on the cover on this post), I immediately decided to see what Hidden had to offer. And I fell in love.

Hidden by M. Lathan

Sixteen-year-old Leah Grant has given up on being normal. She’d settle for stopping the voices in her head, intrusive visions of the future, and better odds of making it to her seventeenth birthday.

That’s the thing about pretending to be human in a world where magic used to exist – at any moment, her cover could be blown and she’ll be burned to death like the rest of the witches.

Everything changes when she loses control of her powers and flees the orphanage she grew up in. She desperately wants to be invisible but finds her face plastered on every news channel as humans panic over the possible resurgence of her kind. And now the hunters won’t give up until they find her.

Making friends for the first time in her life and falling in love with one of them drives her to discover why she is unlike any being she’s ever met – human or otherwise. The dangerous powers inside of her that would repel Nathan, her new, handsome reason for living, are priceless to some. The locked up forever kind of priceless. And to others, they are too dangerous to allow her to live.

Let’s hope she can stay hidden.

Amazon          B&N          Smashwords          Kobo

Oh, and did I mention that, right now, it's free?

M. Lathan lives in San Antonio with her husband and mini-schnauzer. She enjoys writing and has a B.S. in Psych and a Masters in Counseling. Her passion is a blend of her two interests – creating new worlds and stocking them with crazy people. She enjoys reading anything with interesting characters and writing in front of a window while asking rhetorical questions … like her idol Carrie Bradshaw.

Website          Goodreads

It's not very often that a book surprises me. When I read, my mind is always working to try to decide what's going to happen next and unraveling every mystery, no matter how small. I thought I had this book figured out. I was wrong.

This was a crafty little book (though "little" is probably not a very appropriate word to use for it). It made me think that I knew what was going on by luring me into a false sense of security, and then BAM! It turned my whole world upside down. This didn't just happen once either. I was fooled multiple times by the gorgeous Mrs. Lathan right along with her main character, and I never really saw any of it coming. You know how most horror movies have that really dramatic music right before something bad is going to happen? Well, there was music here, but the story itself had me wrapped so tightly around its little finger that I didn't even know I was hearing it.

Some of this probably has a lot do with the main character, whom those of you who haven't read this book know as Leah and I know as Christine. Unlike so many YA protagonists, she was actually smart. I know, go figure, right? She wasn't the type of character who could have all of the facts staring her down in the face and still be unable to comprehend what was going on. She made crucial connections very quickly, and I think that's part of why I never felt like I knew everything before it happened. I learned what was going on just as she did, and didn't have to sit and mull over how stupid the main character was not to realize what was right in front of her.

Oddly enough, I don't think I ever really got mad at this book. I don't think I was ever even frustrated. I do remember one time when I had to put the book down and take a breath because things really weren't going so well for Christine, but aside from that, someone would have had to have been very strong willed to get me to release this book from my iron grasp. I was always engaged in reading it, and it never seemed to disappoint.

Speaking of which, I think I just found one of my new favorite book boyfriends. Nathan was such a wonderful character, and at least half of the times that I laughed were because of him. I think my favorite part about him was that he wasn't your typical "I can get any girl I want" type of male lead. He probably could have, but he was just as inexperienced socially as Christine was, even though he didn't show it as much. The times when he talked about his childhood almost tore me apart, and I wanted to do nothing more than hug him to death. I could just imagine an adorable but devastated little Nathan doing whatever he could to make himself feel like somebody cared about him. As weird as it may sound to someone who's never read this book, I almost started crying when he brought out the sock.

On a happier note, my favorite scene was probably his big reveal to Christine because his awkwardness was exceedingly sweet. Though it does pain me to say it, he is not perfect and does have one major blemish on his record that I'm not all the way ready to forgive him for. I guess he'll just have to prove himself even more in book two! I can't wait!

My Rating:

There are so many quotes that I want to share with you here. This book was so full of ones that both touched me and made me want to break out into fits of hysterical laughter, but I'm going to go with this one because I think it does a really beautiful job of describing everything Christine had to go through.

His bark coached me on until I was no longer running from him. I was running to feel my heart pound. Running to feel my legs and arms move with a fervor I didn't think I could have.

Running because I'd feared death for years for no reason at all, waiting for someone to pluck me from my hiding spot. Waiting to burn. And I would have thought I deserved it. I'd sat in Mass truly believing I could combust, more than convinced that the God I prayed to hated me. Witches weren't soulless and incapable of happiness. My mind was just buried in a dark and hopeless place.

When the tears wanted to come up, I let them without straining. I kept running, because running felt like the opposite of dying - what I'd been doing for years.

A copy of the novel was provided for us in exchange for an honest review.