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A review by emiliedeeann
Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall
4.0
I wanted to read something thrilling, spooky and bizarre enough so that I could focus my anxiety on a book and not my life. This worked for that!
I read it in an evening (I am a slow reader) and it took me about 40 pages to really get into it, but after that, I lost myself in the pages and it became a real page turner.
It’s CREEPY. And sad. And WEIRD. It was also confusing though, and not a good confusing, which is why it lost a star.
I feel like this had WAY WAY WAY WAYYYYY too many side stories and plots goin on. Which wouldn’t be a huge problem, except that the side stories were interesting on their own, so I couldn’t get a full taste of all of them being in one book. That, combined with the fact that NOTHING is figured out in the end... this ending will not satisfy you, guaranteed. Feel free to ask questions while you read, but your questions will not be answered. I hate that in a ... I feel robbed kind of way. Anyone wanna walk me through the endings please?
I didn’t love the writing style. I don’t mean the docu style or whatever. I mean the actual writing. I couldn’t explain really why I didn’t like it. Too much telling, not enough showing maybe? But then again, it’s a weird ride so I think the telling was there to attempt to make some things more clear?
I think this would have been a great trilogy: 1. Book of the city 2. Book of Miranda 3. This book, book of the road. It was just a lot of info jam packed and not in a way that satisfies in the end.
But — I did like the storyline. And I did want to keep reading. And it did move my anxieties elsewhere (it’s 2:45 AM and I’m afraid of ghosts, not my tragic life woooo). I didn’t find this book THAT predictable because it was so weird in some parts. I also read a review of someone saying this was predictable because you always expected something bad to happen after the calm. From my perspective, this book was a whirlwind of bad things happening one after another. I didn’t trust this book — which i am satisfied with, because I do think that was intentional and adds to the story. I don’t remember any calm after the storm? Lol can those portions be highlighted for me? This was a messy swirling of smoke and delusion. The whole thing was a twist and a turn.
There is also a lot of representation in this, which is always always always a bonus; racial, sexual, even handicap representation.
Yeah so, overall, I liked the story. It’s a good book and I can’t argue that. I didn’t love the writing style. And the ending was just ... ? Thanks for the wild ride without any point to it??? like I get on a fun roller coaster and am usually like “yeah! That rocked!” This feels like a roller coaster that doesn’t make any sense, ends abruptly, and you don’t really think about afterward. Haha I’m serious, help?
I read it in an evening (I am a slow reader) and it took me about 40 pages to really get into it, but after that, I lost myself in the pages and it became a real page turner.
It’s CREEPY. And sad. And WEIRD. It was also confusing though, and not a good confusing, which is why it lost a star.
I feel like this had WAY WAY WAY WAYYYYY too many side stories and plots goin on. Which wouldn’t be a huge problem, except that the side stories were interesting on their own, so I couldn’t get a full taste of all of them being in one book. That, combined with the fact that NOTHING is figured out in the end... this ending will not satisfy you, guaranteed. Feel free to ask questions while you read, but your questions will not be answered. I hate that in a ... I feel robbed kind of way. Anyone wanna walk me through the endings please?
I didn’t love the writing style. I don’t mean the docu style or whatever. I mean the actual writing. I couldn’t explain really why I didn’t like it. Too much telling, not enough showing maybe? But then again, it’s a weird ride so I think the telling was there to attempt to make some things more clear?
I think this would have been a great trilogy: 1. Book of the city 2. Book of Miranda 3. This book, book of the road. It was just a lot of info jam packed and not in a way that satisfies in the end.
But — I did like the storyline. And I did want to keep reading. And it did move my anxieties elsewhere (it’s 2:45 AM and I’m afraid of ghosts, not my tragic life woooo). I didn’t find this book THAT predictable because it was so weird in some parts. I also read a review of someone saying this was predictable because you always expected something bad to happen after the calm. From my perspective, this book was a whirlwind of bad things happening one after another. I didn’t trust this book — which i am satisfied with, because I do think that was intentional and adds to the story. I don’t remember any calm after the storm? Lol can those portions be highlighted for me? This was a messy swirling of smoke and delusion. The whole thing was a twist and a turn.
There is also a lot of representation in this, which is always always always a bonus; racial, sexual, even handicap representation.
Yeah so, overall, I liked the story. It’s a good book and I can’t argue that. I didn’t love the writing style. And the ending was just ... ? Thanks for the wild ride without any point to it??? like I get on a fun roller coaster and am usually like “yeah! That rocked!” This feels like a roller coaster that doesn’t make any sense, ends abruptly, and you don’t really think about afterward. Haha I’m serious, help?