#193 Book Review: Hidden

Hidden (Avena #1)
Release Date: 1 March 2013
Author: Marianne Curley
Publisher: Bloomsbury Australia
Source: Publisher for Review
Format: Paperback
Where to Buy:  Fishpond | Booktopia
More Info: Goodreads

Summary:

Ebony has led a very sheltered life. She isn't ready for the disturbing things which start happening to her. But these events are just part of a discovery that will rock her whole world. Ebony's life wasn't 'sheltered' - she was hidden away. Now her location is no longer secret, but who will find her first?

Cover:
Love the feather theme in the cover and how one feather is covering the eyes of the girl! I also love the swirly patterns and the blue title. It's gorgeous!

Story:

"When he took Ebony from me, I knew I would spend my life searching for her. Now I have found her, he will do everything in his power to keep us apart."

When I first heard of Hidden, I did not know that this was an Aussie YA. Before writing Hidden, Marianne Curley has already written other well-known books which I have never heard of. However, the premise behind Hidden does sounds interesting so I decided to give it a go and see what I thought of it! It is overall enjoyable although I did have some issues with the book.

Hidden is written from two different point of views, Ebony and Jordan. Just looking at this, you'd probably think that there is some sort of romance between Ebony and Jordan since their POVs are featured in this book. That's what I thought as well but Marianne Curley surprised me. It's in fact not true. There is definitely romance, but not between Ebony and Jordan. The concept behind Hidden is not new, and we've seen a lot of books about angels in the world of YA. While the concept wasn't quite appealing, what made me enjoy this book to a certain extent was the romance between Ebony and a character called Thane!

Characters:
So let's talk about Thane! He is mainly the reason why I enjoyed this book. Perhaps if the romance was between Ebony and Jordan, I might not have enjoyed this book. Thane was the only character that I could relate to and understand. Ebony wasn't a particularly likeable heroine and Jordan was also annoying at times. Thane however, was a strong and kind character who really loves Ebony. If you want to know who Thane is, then you'd have to read the book because knowing who he is actually is a huge spoiler to the story!  While there are other characters in the book, the one that definitely stood out the most for me was Thane even though none of the chapters were written from his POV.

Overall:
Hidden is the newest novel by Marianne Curley with an enjoyable story and characters. While the concept is not new, I really adored Thane's character which made me enjoy the book! Even though I didn't quite enjoyed this book as I thought I would, I am still looking forward to its sequel!

3 Forget-Me-Not flowers for Hidden!

Check out the book trailer below!

Hidden Blog Tour - Marianne Curley Guest Post

Hello everyone! Today I have Marianne Curley, Aussie author of Hidden on the blog to share her favourite books when she was a teenager. I would also like to thank Sonia from Bloomsbury for putting this blog tour together! Without further ado...here's Marianne's guest post!

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This is a huge topic for me because when I was a teenager I was into books in a BIG way. I was born in 1959, so my teenage years covered the entire seventies decade. And since I lived on a farm without close neighbours and my house was a substantial distance from my school, I was relatively isolated from the social community and my network of friends. There was no Facebook or Twitter or YouTube. What am I saying? There were no computers yet!

By the time I was a teenager I was already an avid reader and spent every spare minute I could find immersed in my favourite pastime. And since I wanted to remain with the characters long after I turned the last page, I looked for books of considerable length. And yet, there still never seemed to be enough to read. There were fewer books with themes for young adults than today. The seventies was an emerging adolescent market. Bookstores and libraries were only starting to create Young Adult sections distinct from children’s or adult’s literature.

I remember spending many lunch hours sorting through the shelves of my school libraries, where I was drawn almost always to epic novels like James A Michener’s Hawaii; historical fiction, which is still a favourite theme of mine, such as Anya Seton’s Katherine; and the long romantic sagas like Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind.

I wasn’t able to buy many books while I attended school. Living on a farm, away from local shops and general commerce, I didn’t have the benefit of a part-time job, so I relied on pocket money and the occasional birthday or Christmas gift. But I began full-time work as a legal stenographer at sixteen, and that’s when I started to build my personal library.

Back in the seventies I had heaps of favourite authors and couldn’t wait for their new novels to appear in the stores. Many of them remain on my bookshelves today, including Leon Uris’s Holocaust, Mila 18, Battle Cry, QBVII and Exodus. Stephen King’s The Shining, Carrie and Salem’s Lot, to name a few. Irving Stone’s The Agony and the Ecstasy – a brilliant biography of the remarkable 15^th Century artist Michelangelo, and Henry Charriere’s Papillion were other favourites.

Some books I enjoyed reading more than once, such as Herman Wouk’s The Winds of War, Irving Wallace’s The Word, Alex Haley’s Roots. I fell in love with William Goldman’s The Princess Bride, and found myself caught up in the humour of Joseph Heller’s Catch 22, both hugely different genres. I also can’t forget how much I enjoyed the tension in Arthur Hailey’s Airport, and the supernatural suspense of William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist.

But sitting on the top of my teenage favourite books were: Colleen McCullough’s The Thorn Birds; Morris West’s The Devil’s Advocate and The Shoes of the Fisherman; Erich Segal’s Love Story, Mario Puzo’s series of The Godfather, and one book that I have already mentioned, a novel I read over and over during my teenage years - Anya Seton’s Katherine.

Add the book: 

Goodreads 

Where to buy? 

Fishpond | The Book Depository | Amazon

Find Marianne Curley at:

Website

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I haven't read most of the books on Marianne's list but I have heard of Gone with the Wind! (I sure do want to read it someday) Hope you guys enjoyed the guest post and if you haven't read Hidden, be sure to check it out. Thank you Marianne for the guest post and Sonia for the putting the blog tour together!