📖📖Review: Hidden In The Dark by Rashell Lashbrook 📖📖
Hidden in the Dark by Rashell LashbrookMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Hidden In The Dark by Rashell Lashbrook
What I liked about the book?
I finished it in a day so it held my attention and wouldn’t let go. The central characters—Lilly, Randi, and Raine—are compelling and the story of everything that they had to go through as children living in a home with a monster and an enabler hurt my heart. No child should have to protect themselves from the people that are supposed to love them.
Moreover, it was highly realistic concerning the coping mechanisms that each survivor of the home’s abuse had used, specifically Raine who was the youngest in the home and therefore had to deal with the brunt of what her sisters faced after they decided to leave home. Rashell Lashbrook really did her portrayal and struggle with mental illness justice.
What I didn’t like?
Raine was the only character I rooted for. Her mother and sisters put so much on her, but when she needed them, they had their own lives to deal with; actions that continued on to adulthood.
That really made me angry.
Raine helped everyone else, but no one would be there when she needed them. They were all to wrapped up in themselves and their own potential happy endings. As a result, she had to conjure up a friend that would do what her sisters and mother refused: protect her.
Also, the ending seemed kind of abrupt with matters wrapped up too neatly and quickly for those who didn’t deserve it. There were issues that weren’t fully addressed that I felt needed to be to complete the story. It almost felt like, in the story, going through horrific abuse excused one set of behaviors but not another set, without addressing that all of them needed to heal if they were going to truly thrive.
Overall, Hidden in the Dark was disturbing. It was a mistake for me to read this in the evening so close to bedtime because I could barely sleep. Furthermore, the pacing was excellent. The character arcs could have been a little more fleshed out but they were developed enough to make a compelling tale. Rashell Lashbrook did an amazing job and her work is “lit.” I do hope there is a continuation of Hidden in the Dark sometime in the future.
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