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desiree930 's review for:
The Vanishing Season
by Jodi Lynn Anderson
So I'm having a difficult time articulating my thoughts around this book. I've read two novels by this author prior to this one. I liked Tiger Lily, and I LOVED Midnight at the Electric. The latter of those is by far my favorite book by her.
When I picked up this book, I didn't look much into the synopsis, I just knew that I liked this author and that the title was intriguing. As I began the book and realized that a) one of the POV belongs to a ghost; and b) there is a murder mystery, I was even more intrigued.
But as I continued my read I realized that the story isn't actually about either of those two things. They both just kind of happen in the periphery of this coming-of-age story and only one of them even means anything in the grand scheme of the book.
I feel a little strange giving this book 4 stars, because there are so many things that I can point to that I wish were more developed or storylines that had played out differently. But I just love this author's writing so much, and I wasn't angry at the ending like many reviewers seem to be. Actually, the vitriol leveled at this book's ending is a little astonishing to me. Sometimes things don't always end happily ever after tied up in a little bow. That's life. Now, if the book had been marketed as some sort of cutesy YA contemporary rom-com and ended the way it did, I would kind of understand it. But that was not ever going to be this book.
I was actually shocked to see that this book has such a low average rating. Yes, 3 stars is technically an average rating in the 5-star, no-half-star rating system. But, with the way that reviewers rate books on this platform, 'good' books usually have at least a 3.75 rating. At the time of this review, the ratings for this book are a 3.42, which is very low. I don't know that I've ever enjoyed a book with that low a rating on GR. Not that I base my opinions on GR ratings, but that's just how it usually is. To compare, Fifty Shades of Grey has a 3.67 average rating, and that 'book' is a pile of shit. Sorry, not sorry. The idea that this book has .25 lower star rating is ludicrous to me.
I will continue to read anything this author publishes. I feel like her books get better and better with each one that comes out.
When I picked up this book, I didn't look much into the synopsis, I just knew that I liked this author and that the title was intriguing. As I began the book and realized that a) one of the POV belongs to a ghost; and b) there is a murder mystery, I was even more intrigued.
But as I continued my read I realized that the story isn't actually about either of those two things. They both just kind of happen in the periphery of this coming-of-age story and only one of them even means anything in the grand scheme of the book.
I feel a little strange giving this book 4 stars, because there are so many things that I can point to that I wish were more developed or storylines that had played out differently. But I just love this author's writing so much, and I wasn't angry at the ending like many reviewers seem to be. Actually, the vitriol leveled at this book's ending is a little astonishing to me. Sometimes things don't always end happily ever after tied up in a little bow. That's life. Now, if the book had been marketed as some sort of cutesy YA contemporary rom-com and ended the way it did, I would kind of understand it. But that was not ever going to be this book.
I was actually shocked to see that this book has such a low average rating. Yes, 3 stars is technically an average rating in the 5-star, no-half-star rating system. But, with the way that reviewers rate books on this platform, 'good' books usually have at least a 3.75 rating. At the time of this review, the ratings for this book are a 3.42, which is very low. I don't know that I've ever enjoyed a book with that low a rating on GR. Not that I base my opinions on GR ratings, but that's just how it usually is. To compare, Fifty Shades of Grey has a 3.67 average rating, and that 'book' is a pile of shit. Sorry, not sorry. The idea that this book has .25 lower star rating is ludicrous to me.
I will continue to read anything this author publishes. I feel like her books get better and better with each one that comes out.