Review: Great Sequel!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 21, 2014
This review had to be shortened to fit within Amazon's maximum word count. For the full review and more, please visit markedbybooks.blogspot.comI'm really glad that I decided to read this book, mostly because I had almost forgotten how much I loved all of the characters from the first novel. I fell right back into the hilarious house dynamic that I loved so much in Hidden, and I'm so glad that I did. The characters were my favorite part in the first book, and I'm very happy to say the same about this one!M. Lathan's ability to mesh together a person's thoughts from either two different viewpoints, or two whole different memories, like with Christine, is extremely impressive. Not once did I think anything she wrote in any of those instances sounded odd or forced, which is something I usually have a huge problem with when other authors attempt it. I can honestly say that Lathan's handling of the issue is the best I've ever seen of it, so amazing job to her there!And now for my criticisms. Don't worry, there aren't too many. Actually, they can probably be boiled down to one really vague one, and that is that sometimes the story seemed to be moving a little too quickly. Like I said before, I have always loved these characters, so I was a little disappointed that there wasn't as much time spent with them as there was in the first book. I even wish that some of the newer characters had been explored further. I adored Annabelle from the moment Chris met her, and I'm sure I would be able to say the same thing about Shane, but the sad thing is, neither one of them got a whole lot of page time in this book.Also, Christine is a very smart girl (it's about time these female protagonists started to be!) and she figures things out very quickly, but sometimes that leads to a lack of explanation on her part. I can usually figure out what's going on too (like the reason behind her lack of abilities after the big incident in the pool), but my ideas are never really confirmed or denied, so I don't know what to believe. I think that maybe if her thought process was laid out a little more, that would help. I really don't want her to draw out and explain every little revelation (because that's not how actual thoughts work), but I just think there could be a little more of a balance in that area.I really don't want you to think that I didn't like this book since I just spent all of this time criticizing it because that's not true at all! Overall, however, I'd still chose Hidden over it without much contest, but seeing how I gave that book five amazing stars, I'd say coming in second isn't too shabby after all!Taylor