Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
The book was so dull up until the last bit, but then it got interesting. Probably gonna be the last YA I read for a while.
The reviews kept me away at first. In the end I enjoyed this work from Oliver even though her comparisons were predictable. This is the story of two sisters - one who takes big risks and the sister who protects her from parents and herself. They have a falling out and Nick tries her best to get Dara to forgive her.
I wouldn’t call it a scary, psychological thriller, but there are enough twists and turns to keep a reader interested.
I wouldn’t call it a scary, psychological thriller, but there are enough twists and turns to keep a reader interested.
Solid 3.5. Sharing my feelings would give away all of the spoilers.
This is the third book I've read in two months with the same 'twist'. You could see it coming early on, and the story didn't do much for me.
This was an interesting read and the relationship between the two sisters is what makes it worth it.
I loved the push and pull of Nick and Dara's relationship and their differing personalities. Everything about them and their interactions felt so familiar and reminded me strongly of my own relationship with my younger sister (although it's not EXACTLY the same, thank goodness).
It almost feels impossible to read this book without comparing it to We Were Liars. That being said, Vanishing Girls does stand pretty well on it's own merits. The plot is very interesting and the writing is good, but I do wish the story had been pared down with more of a focus on Dara's absence. She didn't go missing until about halfway through the book and then it felt like there were too many things happening a little too late in the book. I liked that Liars accomplished similar twists and turns in a shorter amount of time. However, all of these complaints were mollified at the end, when everything fell into place.
I loved the push and pull of Nick and Dara's relationship and their differing personalities. Everything about them and their interactions felt so familiar and reminded me strongly of my own relationship with my younger sister (although it's not EXACTLY the same, thank goodness).
It almost feels impossible to read this book without comparing it to We Were Liars. That being said, Vanishing Girls does stand pretty well on it's own merits. The plot is very interesting and the writing is good, but I do wish the story had been pared down with more of a focus on Dara's absence. She didn't go missing until about halfway through the book and then it felt like there were too many things happening a little too late in the book. I liked that Liars accomplished similar twists and turns in a shorter amount of time. However, all of these complaints were mollified at the end, when everything fell into place.
I really got sucked in to the end of this story. The before and after, Dara and Nick narration is a bit confusing at times, but the ending is very good. So interesting the way the author tied everything today. Similar to We Were Liars, which I really liked.
I didnt like it. I hated finding out that her sister was dead and she was developing DID. I didnt really care for it before that, but that sealed it for me. I usually like Lauren Oliver though so its ok to have one out of a bunch that I dont like.
3/5
*Listened to audiobook*
Vanishing Girls was, for me, a slow build to what should have been a predictable ending (I did not, but I'm sure others could see it coming). While I enjoyed this story heaps more than the other YA mystery/thriller I read this year ([b:We Were Liars|16143347|We Were Liars|E. Lockhart|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1402749479s/16143347.jpg|21975829]), that was mainly due to a cast of more likeable characters. Nick was instantly the "relatable" character compared to her wild child sister Dara (who frankly was kind of a brat), but I did find that as I got to see Dara's point of view I found her more understandable. Every part with their parents was super uncomfortable, but given the various situations going on in their family it made sense to see what a mess they were collectively as well as individually.
I think my biggest issue of the book was the pacing. I made it a quarter of the way through... halfway... three quarters... wondering when on earth Dara was going to go missing. So much time was spent on little Madeline Snow that the book could have just been called Vanishing Girl, singular. While I didn't necessarily mind the mundane bits (I probably could have read an entire book alone about Nick and Parker's budding romance while working at Fanland, especially with the quirky cast of coworkers they had) it wasn't what I had signed up for. The first half of the book read like a slightly angsty contemporary novel, not at all a mystery. I should note though that I really enjoy Oliver's writing, which I recall loving when reading the Delirium series, so I was glad that it didn't disappoint. Once Dara's birthday hit, I became crazy invested in Nick's hunt for her sister. That chunk of the story was without a doubt the most gripping in the whole book, and it was nice to see little things from throughout the novel finally all get laced together.
Spoilers regarding the ending:
*Listened to audiobook*
Vanishing Girls was, for me, a slow build to what should have been a predictable ending (I did not, but I'm sure others could see it coming). While I enjoyed this story heaps more than the other YA mystery/thriller I read this year ([b:We Were Liars|16143347|We Were Liars|E. Lockhart|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1402749479s/16143347.jpg|21975829]), that was mainly due to a cast of more likeable characters. Nick was instantly the "relatable" character compared to her wild child sister Dara (who frankly was kind of a brat), but I did find that as I got to see Dara's point of view I found her more understandable. Every part with their parents was super uncomfortable, but given the various situations going on in their family it made sense to see what a mess they were collectively as well as individually.
I think my biggest issue of the book was the pacing. I made it a quarter of the way through... halfway... three quarters... wondering when on earth Dara was going to go missing. So much time was spent on little Madeline Snow that the book could have just been called Vanishing Girl, singular. While I didn't necessarily mind the mundane bits (I probably could have read an entire book alone about Nick and Parker's budding romance while working at Fanland, especially with the quirky cast of coworkers they had) it wasn't what I had signed up for. The first half of the book read like a slightly angsty contemporary novel, not at all a mystery. I should note though that I really enjoy Oliver's writing, which I recall loving when reading the Delirium series, so I was glad that it didn't disappoint. Once Dara's birthday hit, I became crazy invested in Nick's hunt for her sister. That chunk of the story was without a doubt the most gripping in the whole book, and it was nice to see little things from throughout the novel finally all get laced together.
Spoilers regarding the ending:
Spoiler
Okay, I really should have seen it coming. I thought it was weird enough that Dara went all [b:Gone Girl|19288043|Gone Girl|Gillian Flynn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397056917s/19288043.jpg|13306276] on her sister, but of course I should have known not to fall for the unreliable narrator trick. While I was kind of disappointed to find out that Dara died in the accident and I'd just been dealing with Nick's dissociative breakdown the whole novel, it also made me want to go back and look at all of Dara's "after" chapters, so I could piece together all the clues. This was the major downside to the audiobook, because I had no simple way of doing that. The very end of the book wasn't all that special, but I was very very pleased that Nick and Parker left on an open-ended note. Having them together by the end of the novel would have just seemed rushed and forced... it was perfect to give them room to grow back together.
Huh. I kind of want to go back and re-read it to see what I missed. But then again, I don't actually think I liked it enough to do that to myself.