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A review by novelesque_life
The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen
4.0
RATING: 4.5 STARS
2017; Minotaur/St. Martin's Press
I have had The Vanishing Season on my TBR list for about 4 years, and now I am mentally kicking myself for waiting soooo long. This novel starts with a bang and does not let go of you till the last page (or in my case, listening to it on audio, the last word). Schaffhausen writes with compassion and raw emotions. After finishing this one I sat there. I thought about Ellery, and all she has been through, and the things not discussed in the book. I have a feeling, Ellery, her story, this book will stay with me for awhile. This is book one in a series (four books to date) so I have placed the others on hold. I am ready to dive back into Schaffhausen's writing, but I will need a several days to part with this one. That means I need a few lighter tales to move onto another dark twisty novel.
Ellery was kidnapped at 14 years old, and rescued six days later by a FBI agent. She was the killer's sole survivor, and soon is in the spotlight. The FBI agent, Reed Markham, wrote a book about the case pushing Ellery's story further in media. With her brother's illness, and her mother's attention divided, Ellery changes her name and starts a new life with her baggage right behind her.
Fourteen years later, Ellery is an officer in a small town, Woodbury, MA. When three people in three years go missing she suspects they are connected. They have gone missing right around her birthday, and everything leads her to believe that something dangerous has come to town. Her superiors won't listen to her theories, and she can't get them to see her way unless she divulges who she really is. Ellery decides to call on one person who will believe her, Agent Reed Markham.
Markham is going through his own demons, but drops everything to aid the girl that started his own career.
I loved the interactions of characters in this novel. They are messy and real and full of intensity. Whether it is between Ellery and Reed - her rescuer but also now a peer, or Ellery and her fellow officers - whom she wants to impress with her ability, feel like one of them, and yet also show she has the chops to be a better investigator. The trauma of her early life lurks in everything she does, in her relationships (or lack thereof), her work and how she lives her day to day life. As someone who has had trauma, I could relate to many of her defence mechanism and her emotions. At times, I would feel uncomfortable with Ellery as I felt a bit exposed to my own stuff. It is books like this, that dig deeper into the world behind the mystery, that makes reading so magical to me. Yes, there is a mystery to solve but the characters around that are what makes the book work. I loved this one, and I hope you get a chance to read it as well.
***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***
2017; Minotaur/St. Martin's Press
I have had The Vanishing Season on my TBR list for about 4 years, and now I am mentally kicking myself for waiting soooo long. This novel starts with a bang and does not let go of you till the last page (or in my case, listening to it on audio, the last word). Schaffhausen writes with compassion and raw emotions. After finishing this one I sat there. I thought about Ellery, and all she has been through, and the things not discussed in the book. I have a feeling, Ellery, her story, this book will stay with me for awhile. This is book one in a series (four books to date) so I have placed the others on hold. I am ready to dive back into Schaffhausen's writing, but I will need a several days to part with this one. That means I need a few lighter tales to move onto another dark twisty novel.
Ellery was kidnapped at 14 years old, and rescued six days later by a FBI agent. She was the killer's sole survivor, and soon is in the spotlight. The FBI agent, Reed Markham, wrote a book about the case pushing Ellery's story further in media. With her brother's illness, and her mother's attention divided, Ellery changes her name and starts a new life with her baggage right behind her.
Fourteen years later, Ellery is an officer in a small town, Woodbury, MA. When three people in three years go missing she suspects they are connected. They have gone missing right around her birthday, and everything leads her to believe that something dangerous has come to town. Her superiors won't listen to her theories, and she can't get them to see her way unless she divulges who she really is. Ellery decides to call on one person who will believe her, Agent Reed Markham.
Markham is going through his own demons, but drops everything to aid the girl that started his own career.
I loved the interactions of characters in this novel. They are messy and real and full of intensity. Whether it is between Ellery and Reed - her rescuer but also now a peer, or Ellery and her fellow officers - whom she wants to impress with her ability, feel like one of them, and yet also show she has the chops to be a better investigator. The trauma of her early life lurks in everything she does, in her relationships (or lack thereof), her work and how she lives her day to day life. As someone who has had trauma, I could relate to many of her defence mechanism and her emotions. At times, I would feel uncomfortable with Ellery as I felt a bit exposed to my own stuff. It is books like this, that dig deeper into the world behind the mystery, that makes reading so magical to me. Yes, there is a mystery to solve but the characters around that are what makes the book work. I loved this one, and I hope you get a chance to read it as well.
***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***