Reviews

The Vanished Days by Susanna Kearsley

teacupsandfirereads's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

When I first heard of this book, it sounded reminiscent of Outlander and I wasn't sold on that. However, it came highly recommended to me. What are similar between the two is the Scottish landscape and history, beyond that, they were different. I enjoyed the build up in the story and the timelines. The characters were intricate and engaging. At times, I felt a little bit lost in the timelines, but enjoyed Lily's earlier years more interesting. Overall and enjoyable read, but not sure I will pick up the rest of the books in theh series. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Death

Minor: War, Slavery, Trafficking, and Pedophilia

thepagelady's review

4.0

The Vanished Days was full of mystery Scottish history & romance! I absolutely enjoyed soaking up all of the historical facts in this book! The rich & detailed setting was amazing to read about. It does have a slow pace but don't let that fool you! Its one of those books the more you read the more you're drawn in & once everything starts to come together you won't be able to turn the pages fast enough! & the ending, that was a great twist! I will definitely be reading this one again!

pam2375's review against another edition

3.0

This book is the prequel to The Winter Sea and boy is it a commitment. I enjoyed this book well enough.

There is a lot going on and I will say that I was lost in the story much of the time. There is a LOT of Scottish history and it felt like quicksand at times. BUT, if you are a fan of Susanna Kearsley, then this is the book for you.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this advanced readers copy. This book released October 5, 2021.

the_book_eater's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

lee25's review

3.0

I LOVE the Scottish series.

The men of the Moray and Graeme family are courageous and honourable (and in my imagination, gorgeous as well). And they are the best part of this book - along with a few cameos from some other characters from [b:The Winter Sea|3392089|The Winter Sea (Slains, #1)|Susanna Kearsley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1410915489l/3392089._SY75_.jpg|3723657].

Lily was also courageous and honourable, but for the most part I found [b:The Vanished Days|57183703|The Vanished Days (The Scottish series)|Susanna Kearsley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1616717872l/57183703._SX50_.jpg|85740153] hard work. While there wasn't really anything to dislike about the book, I just couldn't complete immerse myself in the story like [b:The Winter Sea|3392089|The Winter Sea (Slains, #1)|Susanna Kearsley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1410915489l/3392089._SY75_.jpg|3723657], [b:The Firebird|15942636|The Firebird (The Scottish series, #2)|Susanna Kearsley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347896972l/15942636._SY75_.jpg|21409785] and even [b:The Shadowy Horses|961831|The Shadowy Horses|Susanna Kearsley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1428617658l/961831._SY75_.jpg|960794] (all of which I have read multiple times). That said, I will definitely re-read [b:The Vanished Days|57183703|The Vanished Days (The Scottish series)|Susanna Kearsley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1616717872l/57183703._SX50_.jpg|85740153]

Spoiler

if for no other reason than to work out how I missed the unexpected twist at the end

.

wishesandpages's review against another edition

emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

debeskina's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

myjourneywithbooks's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I wasn't sure what exactly I was getting into when I started reading The Vanished Days but that quote from Diana Gabaldon on the cover had me apprehensive that I might find it to be something like Outlander, half the pages filled with smut and a terrible bore (I couldn't even bring myself to finish that one).

I was therefore pleasantly surprised in the extreme to find that The Vanished Days read nothing like Outlander. Instead, it was a beautiful and thoughtfully put-together story about a young woman named Lily who is trying to prove the authenticity of her marriage in order to claim an inheritance,  and Sergeant Adam Williamson, who is charged with investigating her claims. 

There are two timelines here, both in the past as the whole story is being told retrospectively by Adam, some time in his old age. The first timeline is in 1707, told in the first person by Adam when he is recruited to investigate if Lily really was married to the now deceased sailor James Graeme. The second timeline starts in the 1680s and works its way forward as Adam's digging around slowly begins to build a picture of Lily's life from the time she was a little girl.

The story takes its time getting a move on and sometimes seems to meander but never once lagged or had me feeling bored. Of the two timelines, I found myself looking forward more to the one about Lily's history but the other timeline had its own intrigue, with the mystery surrounding the investigation. 

Set during the Jacobite revolution in Scotland, the book provided a bit of an introduction to the Scottish history of the time, and the clashes between those aligned differently when it came to religion and politics. 

There was something charming about the main characters, the setting and the author's writing, that just pulled me right in. There is a nice twist towards the end, though it wasn't as convincing as I would have liked, given how some of the previous parts of the book played out. 

Definitely a book I'd recommend if you like historical fiction with a dash of clean romance, mystery and political intrigue. 

duanur's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

2.5

snance's review

2.0

This one didn’t do it for me. Too many characters and switching timelines, which usually I enjoy. This was really tough to get through