Hide: The Graphic Novel

I haven't read the novel this is adapted from yet, but I think this stands well on it's own. It follows some tropes but is done well. It's part Hunger Games, part And Then There Were None. It's about 14 twenty somethings invited to a defunct amusement park. They are playing Hide and Seek and then the winner collects 50 grand. Of course, that's not the real story at all. The Fish's artwork works very well.

I adored Hide when I originally read it, finding it to be one of the best adult horror novels I have ever read, despite it being a debut, while also finding it to have the token humor and camaraderie I associate with every Kiersten White novel, and the graphic novel was just as easy, if not easier to love. Granted, I didn't love seeing one of my favorite characters die for a second time, and to have an illustration the second time around to boot. I did find myself truly enjoying how the Amazement Park was illustrated, contrasting the images with the way I had imagined/pictured it the first time, and also loved how Hide being adapted into this format opens such a fantastic book up to a whole new audience. The illustrations throughout are absolutely gorgeous, and I adored the new cover, feeling it represented the setting much better than the cover of the original, though I do still appreciate that version. I cannot recommend either format of this book enough and highly recommend to any adult horror or graphic novel fans!

“Hide: The Graphic Novel” by Kiersten White (3.5 stars) is the graphic novel release of the 2022 novel of the same name and without having read the original story, I felt that this version is a solid and interesting story stylistically rooted in comic-book writing and art. It was a quick read, and one that I would recommend for graphic novel horror genre fans as well as fans of comics in general.. What it lacked in depth, it made up for with murder and thinly disguised religious metaphor. Always a fun combo!Positives: The premise, a reality TV-like competition of Hide and Seek on the grounds of an abandoned amusement park, is super fun. The park itself was creepy, designed oddly, and after years of neglect, had more fear factor than any other story element. I also liked the comic-book art of the novel, even though I’m not a frequent pure-comic reader.Wish List: I feel like the art was good, but not what would have been best for THIS story. The form and shape of the panels and the connection points lost punch with the comic-style and, while I don’t know if the original novel had more depth, this version definitely didn’t. Different artistic rendition could have helped to add depth and connection. I felt interestingly informed, not truly engaged. I also wish that there had been a few less characters to keep track of. In the brief format of a graphic novel, this many characters felt cumbersome. I didn’t get a chance to really care about anybody, because there was so little space to get to know each one. I believe though, that comic fans would applaud the intense and rapid fire delivery of an action-packed story without all the belaboring that novel-readers tend to enjoy. Eyes of the beholder, and all that.As always, I appreciate the opportunity afforded me to have an early read by netgalley and Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press.

I highly recommend viewing this graphic novel after reading the book Hide. I really enjoyed being able to see images of the book. I am going to share this graphic novel with my teens I think they are going to love it. Illustrations are dark which complement the storyline. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I dove into another short read, this time picking up Kiersten White’s Hide, graphic novel style! Scott Peterson adapted the story and it was illustrated Veronica and Andy Fish. It’s always fun reading a graphic novel based on a novel. There’s a certain kind of enjoyment one gets when reading a favorite book in a new way.Following the storyline of its predecessor, 14 young adults are brought to an amusement park for a competition. It’s easy enough, play a game of hide-and-seek, don’t get “found” for seven days and you could win $50,000! It’s an opportunity to start over, an opportunity to have a new life and start things off right. For Mack, it will help her forget her horrible past and live a nice quiet life away from people.But naturally, things don’t go as expected. Each day two people will just disappear, having been “found” and casted out of the game without so much of a goodbye. Mack and the others start to suspect something might not be quite right in this park. It becomes clear that they are not the only ones in the park.This was once again an amazing story! I felt like it followed the novel fairly well. Having read it last year I can’t recall all the finer details but the story at large stays the same and even knowing what happens I still found myself taken by surprise on occasion.The illustrations were wonderfully done! I always enjoy seeing different art style when reading these kinds of books and this one was spectacular in the art department. I’m not much of an art critic, I don’t remember styles and such. I just know when I like things! Lol. This one felt like a natural sort of curves and the coloring was stunning.I have to admit, seeing some of the scenes in here was intense! If you remember there was quite a bit of violence in this one! Seeing even the violent scenes was a little intense. Lol. And of course if you’ve read the book, you’ll remember what’s hunting them and seeing that was the stuff of nightmares!In the end, this was a nice quick read that was a lot of fun! It was still a spooky read too! It’s definitely one of those reads that’s fun for the reader who read the book or maybe wants to read it but takes a shorter route. I’ll be curious to see what the film version of this will be like. If I recall, it was optioned for a TV series. I just hope I have whatever streaming service it’s on!If you want to read something truly spooky with a terrifying storyline then look no further than Hide!Overall Rating 5/5 stars

Second copy sent without issue but also found to be imperfect, not good considering it's a gift.