Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall Published by Viking (9.24.2019)
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Young Adult
Format: Audiobook, 416 pages
Length: 11 hours, 5 minutes
Narrator: Jesse Vilinsky, Rob Shapiro, Robbie Daymond
Source: Library
Once a year, the path appears in the forest and Lucy Gallows beckons. Who is brave enough to find her--and who won't make it out of the woods?
It's been exactly one year since Sara's sister, Becca, disappeared, and high school life has far from settled back to normal. With her sister gone, Sara doesn't know whether her former friends no longer like her...or are scared of her, and the days of eating alone at lunch have started to blend together. When a mysterious text message invites Sara and her estranged friends to "play the game" and find local ghost legend Lucy Gallows, Sara is sure this is the only way to find Becca--before she's lost forever. And even though she's hardly spoken with them for a year, Sara finds herself deep in the darkness of the forest, her friends--and their cameras--following her down the path. Together, they will have to draw on all of their strengths to survive. The road is rarely forgiving, and no one will be the same on the other side.
My thoughts
This book was suuuper creepy!! I love how twisted and bizarre it was. It was definitely dark and atmospheric – this would have been a perfect Halloween read! I didn’t think it was scary, but definitely disturbing at times. That was 100% the selling point of this book for me! I adore the dark and disturbing and this book was full of it.
My main complaint about it, though, is that I couldn’t connect to any of the characters. I didn’t find them, or the relationships in the book for that matter, compelling at all. I didn’t care about the romances nor the friendships, including the sisterly bond between Becca and Sarah (which should have been a driving point for this novel).
Umm, what the heck was that ending?? I thought I missed something when I was listening (I tend to zone out from time to time, oops), so I went and downloaded the ebook from my library and it still felt incomplete, like I was missing something?? I really enjoyed the story up to that point, but was left feeling unsatisfied and confused by the abrupt and nonsensical ending. I can’t even tell you what the hell happened because I don’t actually know. I usually like open endings, but I think this one was a bit too open, sorry.
THE AUDIO
The narration was fantastic! I don’t think I would have enjoyed this half as much if I’d been reading it. I absolutely loved Jesse Vilinsky’s storytelling, she really brought the eerie world to life!
Overall Assessment
Plot: 4/5
Premise: 5/5
Writing style: 4/5
Originality: 4/5
Characters: 2/5
World-building: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Feels: 1/5
Cover: 2.5/5
Overall rating: 4/5
I read this one last year and loooved the creepy! But I’m with you on that ending! It left a little too much unsaid and it drove me bonkers! lol.