A review by st0bbit
Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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? Yes

3.25

i love the prose! this sort of flowy, descriptive writing is so evocative and effective in imagery. felt like i could really picture everything happening in my mind

the relationship between both sisters is tragic and heart-wrenching, especially with the change in perspectives and insight into each’s psyche, especially during the “before” segments. both of their resentment that’s pitted against each other is so raw, yet real and reflective of sisterhood

it’s just the ending i take issue with….
would have been perfectly fine, even better, with dara and nick just reconciling. this ending still could’ve worked…. but i’m not a fan of how nick’s mental issues were treated. if she were so deep into her dissociation  (which, judging how long this went on in the novel, seems very deep), it doesn’t make sense that she would’ve recovered so quickly. i wish more care had been given to her recovery, and i get that most of it happens bts but it feels unfinished, and abrupt as a consequence. perhaps it’s also desire on my part to see them make things right and communicate, because a fight is truly such a tragic medium through which one’s last words can be conveyed. if more time had been spent on nick fully coming to terms with dara’s death, with the fact that they had never resolved everything and had it all broken off there, i would have enjoyed the ending much better.


but overall… am much inclined to check out more of the author’s works!! again, adored the writing style. the pacing was inconsistent in the sense that it was quite slow at the start, but really sped up towards the end. perhaps it’s just the nature of this story though!
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