Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Rules For Vanishing

I really enjoyed this book, and I didn't really figure out the twist until I think you were supposed to get an inkling. Other than gore, which isn't my thing, and the loss of the character's I loved, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Great character arcs for those who survived. And plenty of representation. Thankfully fairly low content warnings for "horror" I'd say more paranormal mystery/thriller with gore.

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kirstendo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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emory's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

Honestly it feels unfair of me to rate this book this poorly, as it's clearly just not something to my taste. I wouldn't pick out a YA book now, but I was recommended this about a year ago, and my taste has changed quite a bit since then.

And were I a teenager in the intended audience of this book I might have loved it. There were genuinely intense moments that carried the narrative through, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't hold my attention and intrigue, no matter what opinions I was forming as I read. I breezed through this book in a few days. It was a compelling narrative with several different original concepts (will touch on that later though..) and a well fleshed out main character.

Additionally, the inclusion of characters of color in a small town horror was refreshing (although the characterization of a black female character as crass and wild was certainly questionable), as was the inclusion of disabled characters--not only that, but

the traits associated with their disabilities help the characters on their journey instead of hindering them. Sign language is not an annoyance but one of the only ways the characters are able to speak to one another when robbed of the ability to speak out loud. The character who does not know sign language is interpreted for by a HOH character who reads her lips. The stutter of another character is key in deciphering her fate.

. At the risk of sounding like an asshole, though, I wish the author didn't spend so much time going over this to make sure that we the readers realized that we were receiving capital R representation and just let the characters' inclusion speak for itself.

As enthralling as short stretches of this book were, my biggest issue is that the book overall seems to have no concept of suspense. I again might sound downright mean, but I've read nosleep threads with a better grasp on the pacing of a horror/thriller, and the way the narrative speeds up halfway through betrays that the author seems to have been getting just as bored as I was. It reads less like a horror and more like the least favorite installment in a middle grade fantasy series. The prose contains no subtlety; every scare is explained for pages upon pages. This is scary, look how scary this is? Did you catch the scare?
Creatures and events that would frighten more when left to the imagination are beaten out for a minimum of a full paragraph every time; the mood of each scene is painfully skipped over, casting the whole book in a feeling of "meh".

Even the deaths feel lackluster, as no character in this book talks like a human. Everybody talks like either a therapist or a 40 year old man's idea of what middle schoolers talk about at lunch. ("Welcome to the Trauma Kids club" had me physically cringing). All conflict is resolved in a matter of a page or two, because the characters tell all about their inner turmoil and excise all realistic conversation. And obviously, there are so many characters for kill count fodder, but really it just gets hard to keep them straight when only 3 or 4 are ever really saying anything.

One of the books largest strengths, the twist that

Nick had died and Sara had forgotten him,

was mind boggling and a wonderful use by the author of the found "footage" outline of the narrative. Double checking that

yes, Sara really had not mentioned Nick at all in her statements that made up the main narrative, and that every reference to him was in supplemental materials only

, was an artful trick of writing, and I was impressed by it. The full chapter's worth of explanation that this is what happened was a little excessive, though.

Marshall then tries this twist technique 3 more times throughout the book, the final big twist feeling hurried and unearned, and what makes it even more excruciating is that each time it is explained just as explicitly and heavy handedly. A big red stamp saying "UNRELIABLE NARRATOR" would've been more tolerable and less direct. All suspense or mystery is stomped out by the apparent need to make sure every single reader got exactly the right takeway without having to think about it themselves for even a second.

My final complaint is that the plot is just batshit. Marshall starts out with a strong concept of a ghost road and a legend of a lost girl, with interesting encounters at the beginning. Even the first, albeit slightly predictable, scare gets credit from me because of the unnerving description and Haunting of Hill House homage ("whose hand was I holding?!"). But as the group progresses through the gates, it gets more and more convoluted and twee. This is why I said it feels more like a contrived fantasy series than a horror novel. The legend expands into something poorly constructed and utterly off color from the rest of the book up to that point. Random points make no sense, and we receive bits of lore in all the wrong places. A central conflict at multiple points is that

they need even pairs to get through the darkness, but a triple pair got through perfectly fine right at the beginning. As I type this, I suppose it would be because Miranda is dead already (btw: another random shark jumpy plot point), but this is not discovered by the characters until after they exit the road, and they would have no reason to believe exiting with odd numbers would do anything to them. Seriouslu, there is so much conflict based on this one point that was not a problem at all prior?

. The main evil makes no real sense, and the existence of the road in itself is disappointingly skipped over in a weirdly lore heavy ending narrative.

It feels like a motley of every possible idea the author had, and the disjointment has a negative impact on the tone and the flow of the story. It's not an absence of creativity or writing prowess, but a disappointing follow through and entirely too many concepts to be thoroughly explored as connected.

The strong sections pulled me through, but the overall book felt like missed potential and flat scares held together by irritatingly unbelievable dialogue and a disappointing use of the original format.

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georgiakirkegard's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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plumpyherb13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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sapphic_reader's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Rep:
Bisexual main character
Black lesbian love interest
Asian side characters
Character with a stutter

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julesmae's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I'm not usually one for the horror genre or the YA genre but so many recommended this one I finally picked it up - and I was not disappointed. Marshall pulls off a complex framework of found footage, transcripts, and unreliable narrators seamlessly. The horror aspects do not come in the form of cheap thrills or over-utilized gore, the story is constantly evolving, and the road it travels is unique. While I have to owe this partially to a slow work day - I did finish this in one day so, it definitely pulls you through quickly.

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jbellomy's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

EXTREMELY LIT YA horror. Beautifully crafted world, unpredictable plot twists, compelling relationships, weird creepy vibes. Like the podcast TANIS meets Annihilation meets a YA crime novel with a ghosty twist. I listened to it in a day. Severely underhyped.

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