Imagine a life living in constant fear of being killed for simply being caught existing. That is what Luke Garner faces in the novel “Among The Hidden.”

This book constantly keeps readers on the edge of their seats wondering what might come next. Despite being dystopian and a work of fiction, this novel covers some important topics and some plausible future issues.

Written by Margaret Peterson Haddix, this story takes place in a country with a crippled economy and a strict two child policy, alongside a population police trained to find and kill any “third children” they can. Luke Garner was born the third child of his family and was forced to live in constant hiding, only able to explore the outdoors in the forests behind his house. He never realized how different he was, and assumed it was normal for small children to be kept inside until a certain age. Eventually he figured out that something was different about how he had to live his life compared to his brothers. They were able to go wherever they wanted, whilst he could not leave the attic ninety percent of the time.

The author keeps the reader in suspense and always keeps them guessing by taking some unexpected turns. The author also used cliffhangers very well to make the reader continue reading. The author also is not too unrealistic and always ties up loose ends.

Overall this novel is a great read. It received a four out of five with one-hundred and thirteen thousand ratings, as well as six-thousand reviews. I give it a 9/10 as I really enjoyed it and found only a few miniscule issues with it.