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chronicallybookish 's review for:
Vanishing Girls
by Lauren Oliver
3 stars
~
“Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara's beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged.
When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick thinks Dara is just playing around. But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished, too, and Nick becomes increasingly convinced that the two disappearances are linked. Now Nick has to find her sister, before it's too late.”
~
I think that a big part of why I didn’t like this book is because I went into it expecting a mystery/thriller, which it was, but it also wasn’t. The first 75% of the book (I actually checked) reads like a contemporary, where the biggest issue is a dysfunctional family and a little it of implied boy troubles. Then, all of the sudden—boom—Dara is missing and there’s secrets and intrigue and thriller vibes. It just felt really sudden, and I found it hard to follow.
Now, I know that Madeline Snow is missing this whole time, but it’s not mentioned all that much. Just in passing here and there. It felt like a minor detail that didn’t particularly fit in with the rest of the story, and then it became this big piece of the puzzle all of a sudden. That part of the story felt a little unnatural to me.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. The plot was interesting, the voice was intriguing, and that plot twist totally got me. I liked it, but it also just felt almost like two separate books meshed into one. I just feel torn.
~
“Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara's beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged.
When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick thinks Dara is just playing around. But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished, too, and Nick becomes increasingly convinced that the two disappearances are linked. Now Nick has to find her sister, before it's too late.”
~
I think that a big part of why I didn’t like this book is because I went into it expecting a mystery/thriller, which it was, but it also wasn’t. The first 75% of the book (I actually checked) reads like a contemporary, where the biggest issue is a dysfunctional family and a little it of implied boy troubles. Then, all of the sudden—boom—Dara is missing and there’s secrets and intrigue and thriller vibes. It just felt really sudden, and I found it hard to follow.
Now, I know that Madeline Snow is missing this whole time, but it’s not mentioned all that much. Just in passing here and there. It felt like a minor detail that didn’t particularly fit in with the rest of the story, and then it became this big piece of the puzzle all of a sudden. That part of the story felt a little unnatural to me.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. The plot was interesting, the voice was intriguing, and that plot twist totally got me. I liked it, but it also just felt almost like two separate books meshed into one. I just feel torn.