Title: Hidden: Nistar
Author: Batya Casper
Publisher: Author Reputation Press, LLC
ISBN: 978-1649611727
Pages: 178
Genre: Literature & Fiction/Genre Fiction
Reviewed by: Christina Avina

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There are two events in life that far too often go hand in hand, each elevating the other to a cascading series of pitfalls which we all have to endure and go through. Those two events are war and loss. For throughout human history, war has inevitably led to great loss, both for the nations that lost soldiers, and the families who lost loved ones. The last century especially has seen far too many families having to endure loss and pain in times of war, from the days of WWI and WWII to the more modern war on terror and beyond.

In author Batya Casper’s Hidden: Nistar, the author explores the pain and confusion of loss through the eyes of children and other family members who watched their families torn apart by war. In a series of interconnected novellas, the author shares how families throughout various time periods and several locations witnessed the rise and fall of their loved ones, from a young girl who loses her grandparents in a whirl of confusion, only to discover family member she never knew she had, to a mother and wife who can’t bear the loss of her husband in an eight-day war, and even the haunted memories of WWII in England, these stories draw the reader into the painful journey of loss and family in a time of war.

The author does a fantastic job of bringing the reader into the emotional turmoil, heartbreak, and confusion which various family members feel in a time of loss. The most fascinating by far had to be the opening story, as a young child loses the only parental figures she’s ever known, her grandmother and her grandfather years later, and discovers relatives she never knew existed. What stood out to me was the way the author fleshed out the characters and their internal struggles, even showcasing how young children and their thoughts are often dismissed by adults, leaving children to learn and grow for themselves far more than they ever cared to.

This is a brilliantly written novel, and fans of this genre style fiction will absolutely adore it. Fans especially of dramatic, emotionally-driven novellas that focus on painful losses and especially loss in a time of war will be thoroughly engaged in this narrative. As a fan of the genre, I felt the emotional pull back and forth of the characters and their struggles, and loved the way the author weaved their connections to one another throughout each story.

A remarkable, heartfelt, and powerful read, author Batya Casper’s Hidden: Nistar is a must-read novel. During a time of uncertainty and loss, this kind of novel really hones in on the raw emotions and feelings that take over us all when faced with losing someone truly close to us, whether it is to illness, age, or violence in a time of war.