Hidden

by Shalini Boland

3 out of 5

Synopsis

Falling in love has never been so dangerous...

Madison Greene is in foster care until one day she inherits a fortune, she inherits a house, she inherits a cellar full of danger.

Alexandre Chevalier lives in 19th century Paris. On an archaeological expedition, he discovers a lost underground city where his life changes forever.

A romantic supernatural adventure that spans the centuries.

Can a human save a vampire?

Review

A hidden history binds modern Maddie, with the hundred-year-old vampire, Alexandre.

When Maddie inherits a house, she uncovers a locked room, filled with strange statues...

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Our main narrators are Maddie and Alexandre.

Maddie is an orphan, living with her brother in London with their foster parents. Life is hard, and people are constantly judging Madiie before they know her. Her relationship with her foster parents is close to breaking, and Maddie is only sticking around for the sake of her brother.

Everything changes when she inherits an estate, which seems too good to be true.

Alexandre is a young French gentleman, from the 19th Century. After causing a scandal with an already-engaged young lady, Alexandre has to leave Paris. His whole family take the opportunity to travel with their father, to explore a dig site in Turkey.

Alexandre revels in the adventure, trying to get to the bottom of the myth of the blood demons.

I really liked the first half of the book. I felt that the story had an old-fashioned, steady nature to it. It slowly hooks you in, and pulls you along.

I enjoyed following the progression of the main characters.

I thought that what Maddie was going through, before the inheritance was sadly awful and realistic. You can understand why she acts out when she has the chance. She's a good person at heart, and cares a lot about her little brother.

After the inheritance, I felt that all of her doubts and feeling out of place were expected, and it was good to see her finally embracing her new life.

I thought Alexandre was quite shallow in the beginning - he's not passionate about anything - whereas his younger brother loves to learn, and his younger sister is excited about stepping into society. Alex is happy to coast on his good looks and good name.

Travelling to Turkey to accompany his father on a dig finally gives him a purpose. He longs to know more about the hidden underground city, and is keen to do anything to help make this dig a success.

I thought some aspects to the story were very original, and I haven't come across them before - which is saying something in vampire lore!

The true story of the underground city, and blood demons; and the sleeping sickness, in particular.

The not-so-good.

I wasn't keen on the second half of the book. I felt that it lost its focus and momentum.

It went from a building mystery, and low-key horror, to nearly 200 pages of Maddie and Alex in love on repeat.

Our main characters do nothing to learn about vampirism, or how to cure the sleeping sickness affecting the others. It just totally focuses on their relationship, with absolutely nothing else.

I was completely bored.

Throughout the book, there were also instances of the narrative going from third person, to omniscient. Some of it made sense, to get the big picture; but I found it jarring to go head-hopping between characters.

Overall, although I enjoyed the book to begin with, I don't think I'll be continuing with this series.

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