4.5 stars

Vanishing girls is another brilliant SPLASH into Lauren Oliver's pool of works. Vanishing Girls tells the story of two sisters, Nick and Dara, after a horrific car accident left Dara scarred physically and Nick scarred emotionally.

Now, several months after the accident, a little girl has gone missing in Nick and Dara's town. A few days later, Dara is also missing, and Nick is convinced that there must be a connection between the two disappearances.

Vanishing Girls absolutely toys with your emotions, twisting how you feel about each sister and about the choices they made leading up to the climax. Sometimes you side with Dara-- other times with Nick. You will be left guessing and theorizing up until the very end, when you find out that

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Dara died in the car accident and Nick is going through a dissociative state in which she is both Nick and Dara and what actually happened to Madeline Snow.

Spoiler

I would have given this book a higher rating, but it didn't end quite how I was hoping

Spoiler

with Nick and Parker together

Spoiler

so I had to take off a half star.

Overall, a GREAT work, and I am already waiting with bated breath for Lauren Oliver's next book!

This book was one of those books where everything was just trying too hard. The writing was trying too hard to be lyrical. The character was trying too hard to be angsty. The mother was trying too hard to be the worst mother in history. The author was trying too hard to surprise you with a twist that, frankly, detracts so much from the book.

If you can't tell, I really disliked this book. Also, I do not recommend the audiobook at all, as the narrator sounds like she is talking through a head cold the entire time.