The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn AndersonGenre: Paranormal
Release Date: July 1st 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Rating:
Girls started vanishing in the fall, and now winter's come to lay a white sheet over the horror. Door County, it seems, is swallowing the young, right into its very dirt. From beneath the house on Water Street, I've watched the danger swell.
The residents know me as the noises in the house at night, the creaking on the stairs. I'm the reflection behind them in the glass, the feeling of fear in the cellar. I'm tied—it seems—to this house, this street, this town.
I'm tied to Maggie and Pauline, though I don't know why. I think it's because death is coming for one of them, or both.
All I know is that the present and the past are piling up, and I am here to dig.I am looking for the things that are buried.
From bestselling author Jodi Lynn Anderson comes a friendship story bound in snow and starlight, a haunting mystery of love, betrayal, redemption, and the moments that we leave behind.
If you read The Vanishing Season after having read Tiger Lily, it’s inevitable that you’re going to want to talk about both of the books and make some (almost unfair) comparisons. I adored Tiger Lily, and it’s one of my favourite books of all time, but I didn’t adore The Vanishing Season. It’s very difficult for me to write a review for it, because it was simply just boring. I don’t know how else to explain it. So here, have some bullet points, because those make everything better.
Boredom
The Vanishing Season wasn’t enthralling or exciting in the slightest. I was bored after thirty pages of the slow (yet still beautiful, I will give it that) writing and sluggish pace. The whimsical writing didn’t work for me here as it did with Tiger Lily. Instead of captivating me and drawing me into the world, I was left stranded.
Uninteresting characters
These characters didn’t stand out to me at all. Tiger Lily (yes, I’m comparing the two again) has an amazing selection of characters that I loved reading about. From Tink (*sobs*) to Peter to Tik Tok, they were all brilliant. But Maggie and Pauline and Liam were flat. I didn’t care about their lives or their problems or their relationships. Liam succeeded in pissing me off, which meant that I spent most of the book rolling my eyes at him and yawning at the other two.
Ending
The ending still made me sad, even if I did skim most of the chapters prior to it. I didn’t feel a connection to the story or the characters, so it kind of felt like I was watching the ending on the news. I was detached, but it was still a sad story and I felt for the characters towards the end. Not enough for them to actually appeal to me or make me cry, but still.
All in all, I’m very disappointed because I was expecting another all time favourite story from Ms. Anderson. This isn’t enough to put me off reading her other books, but it has certainly lowered my expectations a little. Or a lot.
When a book is boring, it’s just so hard to enjoy it any ways even though the writing is gorgeous. I haven’t been hearing the best things about this book and I’m glad I never downloaded the review copy when it was available. I need my characters to be more one-dimensional than the ones that seem to appear in this book.
I’m sorry this didn’t work for you, Amber! 🙁
Aw, sorry it was a disappointment. I like to think of it as a way for the universe to help us truly appreciate the awesome books out there! 🙂
Ok, I LOVE that Sherlock gif. I had mixed feelings about The Vanishing Season. It was very slow paced and nothing much happens (ever) but I did love the writing and it was enough to keep me reading. great review!
I’m very sad this is only two stars (firstly because TIGER LILY and secondly because I’m supposed to read it next). I want to love it but my expectations are definitely very low right now. I do think it’s very difficult to compare books to Tiger Lily because TIGER LILY. But it’s sad that this isn’t even just a four star read.