Hide and Seek by Sheridan Anne: A Spoiler-Filled Review

**This entire post contains spoilers for Hide and Seek by Sheridan Anne.**

If you have not read the book and you care about going in blind, this is your sign to leave now and come back later. We are fully in the spoiler trenches.

My Overall Reaction

Seriously, what the hell.

Every time I thought I had even a slight grasp on what was going on, this book yanked the floor out from under me.

I started Hide and Seek because I was in a reading funk (if you read my last blog, you know). I had already started two other books, both very different, hoping one of them would pull me out of it. I still want to finish them, but neither one gave me that immediate “I don’t want to put this down” feeling. This one did. Like, almost immediately.

I was only in the first chapter when I realized the comedy was going to get me. So, fast forward to the end. Holy shit. I finished it and just sat there like… so she was sick and hallucinating parts of it, but then an actual real-life weirdo stole the doctor’s notes and started impersonating the hallucination? Excuse me? What do you mean? What do you mean this was not over?

That ending was insane in the best “I need to talk to someone immediately” way. I mean I literally sat starting at my book like "WHAT THE FUCK?!" I grabbed the remote, paused my fiancés movie and immediately had to give him a run-down of the emotional mindfuck I just experienced. **He didn't truly grasp the insanity, but I know a book lover somewhere will, hence the reason for this blog**

Overall

At first, I thought I had the setup figured out.

Harper-Rayn is a forensic pathologist. Bodies start showing up with messages connected to her. There is a stalker. There is Knight. There is danger. There is tension. There is obviously something very wrong happening, but at least I thought I understood the general type of wrong.

I did not.

The book starts in a lane that feels like dark stalker romance mixed with thriller. You think you’re reading one thing, and then the story slowly starts making you question whether the evidence is real, whether Harper is reliable, whether people are hiding things, whether the stalker is someone obvious, whether Knight is involved, whether the detective is suspicious, whether Laith is dead, whether the bodies are real, whether the reports exist, whether there was even a janitor, and whether Harper herself is somehow at the center of it in a completely different way.

At one point, I genuinely wondered if Harper was her own stalker. Like what is even going on here.

Then I wondered if Knight was the stalker and making her think she was losing it.

Then I wondered if everyone was lying.

Then I wondered if I needed to start the book over with a notebook and a corkboard like some kind of suburban detective but I just settled for the Notes app on my phone (my original notes are included at the end for your entertainment)

Harper Had Me Stressed

Harper is one of those main characters where I was invested, but also constantly yelling, “Why would you not tell someone this immediately?” "GIRL WHAT ARE YOU DOING"

There were multiple moments where something horrifying would happen, and I was sitting there wondering why she was not calling Knight, alerting a detective, taking a breath, making a report, screaming, something.

Especially around the body of the guy in the club situation. The guy she had been dancing with shows up dead, and my immediate reaction was basically, “Girl, why are we not calling everyone? Why are we not sounding every alarm in the building? Why is this not everyone’s problem right now?” I mean eventually she did but for someone with a "killer stalker" hastiness wasn't her strong suit.

To be fair, the book is obviously playing with confusion, fear, trauma, and Harper’s grip on reality. So, some of that reaction is probably the point. She is not always operating from a place of clarity, and as the story goes on, you start realizing there is a lot more happening with her mentally and physically than you first understand.

But still. I was stressed.

Confusion Was Kind of the Point

There were moments where I was genuinely confused, and not always in a bad way.

Bodies would appear, then disappear or be replaced. Harper would recognize someone, then the situation would shift. Laith was dead, but then there were texts. The stalker seemed like one person, then maybe another. Detective Gray felt suspicious. Knight felt suspicious. The janitor situation had me questioning whether I had understood anything correctly.

The book really leans into that unstable feeling where you are trying to decide what is evidence and what is perception.

That can either work really well or become frustrating. For me, it mostly worked because I wanted answers badly enough to keep going. I did have some moments where I was like, “Okay, but what about the report? What about the photos? What happens to the documentation if the body is gone?” I may have missed something, but there were a few procedural/details questions that my brain kept poking at.

That is probably the lawyer/research brain in me. I can suspend disbelief for a lot, but if there is a report and photos and a missing body, my brain is immediately like, “Where is the chain of custody? Who has the file? Did nobody notice this?”

Annoying? Maybe. But I am who I am. Even after the end, some things seemed a little like "huh??"

Knight

Knight was a lot. But a lot of what I need in my life hahah. jk, or am I?

Protective, intense, involved, suspicious, not suspicious, maybe the problem, maybe not the problem, maybe the only person holding things together, maybe absolutely not.

There was a point where I wondered if he was the stalker and somehow making Harper believe she was delusional. Then there was another point where she sees Knight and the stalker at the same time, and I was like, okay, so maybe not, but also this book has already lied to me in seventeen different emotional languages, so I trust no one. I mean did she even see the stalker, apparently not but at that point, I just didn't know what to believe.

The relationship dynamic is intense. This is dark, messy, obsessive, dangerous, and full of people who probably need several professionals and a locked group chat.

The Ending

The ending is what really made me sit back and stare.

The reveal that Harper had been sick and hallucinating reframes so much of what happened. Suddenly the confusion, the disappearing bodies, the replaced bodies, the uncertainty around what was real, all of it starts clicking into a different place.

But then the book does not just stop there.

Because apparently that was not enough.

Instead, we get the added horror of someone real stealing the doctor’s notes and using Harper’s hallucination against her. Not only was she dealing with her own mind and illness, but now there is an actual person taking that private, vulnerable information and turning it into a nightmare. Which brings me to my point, who the hell had access to the doctor's notes?? They said she made it so easy?! I'm so confusseddddddd.

That is such a nasty twist.

And I mean that as a compliment.

Because by the end, I had gone from “is she imagining this?” to “okay, she was imagining parts of this” to “oh no, someone real has learned the script and is now playing the monster.” Insane behavior.

The whole book was just wild, which is why I IMMEDIATELY started book #2 "Ready or Not"

My Actual Reading Notes

This is where I’m leaving my real notes because honestly, they capture the experience better than a polished review could.

• Spice starting page 8. No wasting time, apparently.

• Chapter two: stalker first appearance. We got into it early.

• Book is getting me out of my funk. I actually had that “I don’t want to put this down” feeling again.

• Chapter 8. Confused about how Harper was telling Knight not to mention her when talking to Detective Gray but she did a thorough report and her name was carved into his fingers?? This is one of those moments where my brain started asking logistical questions.

• Chapter 11. The body is gone, but what about the report? The photos? Is that all stored with the body? Did I miss something? This was a detail I wanted more clarity on. I almost want to research "morgue processes"

• Chapter 16. I'm wondering if Detective Gray was the stalker or if he was being blackmailed or involved somehow. Because how was he there but had no knowledge of anything?!

• Chapter 21. Another body. The guy she was dancing with in the club. Why isn't she calling Knight immediately? Why isn't she alerting someone? Why was I more stressed than the fictional people with jobs?

• She did finally call (clearly not quick enough for me or for someone with a killer stalker sending a message)

• Chapter 28. Is Harper delusional or somehow her own stalker? Why did Knight not just show her the blankets, I mean I get not wanting to trigger her but hello snap her ass back to reality. Communication not thriving.

• The disappearing/replaced bodies. Questioning everything. She sees people she recognizes, but then the bodies disappear or are replaced. Is she imagining it all? Is Laith actually dead? He texted her while the body was on the table. What was going on with Harper?

• Chapter 31. I thought this was the stalker, but then it was Laith? Maybe? I'm confused in real time. Was this hallucination? Was this from the beating from the janitor? Was there even a janitor at this point? Where was Vincent? What was happening?

• What the heck does she have going on mentally?

• Is Knight the stalker and was making her believe she was delusional.

• Is Laith the stalker and he is getting revenge bc he secretly loves her?!

• Chapter 38. She sees Knight and the stalker at the same time?! Is she really seeing the stalker though or is this another mind trick? Homegirl is in the hospital so how did someone get in her room ? But he is a professional stalker so do we believe that she is imagining it or is he that good. This book has given me trust issues

• Chapter 40. Laith drove her to the hospital, but who called him from her phone? How did they know to call him? Or was he there... watching and the phone call was yet another lie/imagination?!

• Chapter 42. She's putting on lingerie and I can't shake the feeling he (Knight) was going to come in there with that mask like it really was him. Wild behavior from everyone involved.

• The end. What the fuck. So she was sick and hallucinated it all, and then some real-life weirdo stole all the notes from the doctor and started impersonating her hallucination? That is insane.

  
  

Final Thoughts

I do not think this is a book you read casually while also expecting your brain to stay calm.

This book wants you confused. It wants you suspicious. It wants you second-guessing what is real and what is not. And while I had a few moments where I wanted more clarity on the procedural details, I cannot deny that it kept me reading.

A book can have twists all day long, but if I do not care enough to keep turning the pages, it does not matter. With Hide and Seek, I cared. I wanted answers. I wanted to know whether Harper was in danger, whether Harper was the danger, whether Knight could be trusted, whether the stalker was real, and whether I had misunderstood the entire book.

By the end, I was still sitting there like, “Wait. What?”

So yes, this was messy, dark, dramatic, confusing, entertaining, and absolutely effective at dragging me out of my reading slump.

Would I recommend it? Yes, but only if you like dark romance/thriller energy, unreliable reality, stalker plots, and endings that make you immediately need to bother someone else about what you just read.

Because seriously.

What the hell was that ending?

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