Review: The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Title: The Vanishing Season

Author: Jodi Lynn Anderson

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publishing Date: July 1st, 2014

Pages: 261
Audio Length: 6 Hours and 40 Minutes

Genre: YA Contemporary 
TW: N/A

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio

 

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.

What made me pick this book up: 

I don't really remember where I saw this first. 

However the cover really made me notice it first, and then the title. Because The Vanishing Season sounds very scary. It sounds like people just start disappearing. Vanishing without a trace.

What did I like about the cover: 

This cover is absolutely stunning. The colors are beautiful, the tree is gorgeous. I love the snowflakes and the butterflies along the border.

What made me read this book: 

I wanted to find out why the girls were disappearing. It sounded creepy and like a really great mystery.

What did I like the most: 

This was written really well. It was descriptive but not overly. I didn't get lost or have too many words that I started zoning out. I could picture the world, the snow, the houses. 

I liked reading from the ghosts point of view. It was very poetic almost. And I had to figure out who this ghost was. Who she used to be. Why she was stuck there. 

I didn't have it figured out at all until the very end. I had no idea who the ghost was, so Jodi hid that very well. And then someone dies and it keeps going back and forth on who it could be. So you'd think it was one person and then it wasn't. And then it was one person and then it wasn't. 

What didn't I like: 

There were actually a few things that made this just a meh read for me. 

The characters. They were all very whiny, very one dimensional, except for Liam. But I ended up hating Liam for a very specific reason. 

Anyway. The main character didn't seem to care much. She was just meh and held back her feelings. Her supposed best friend was selfish, loud, and obnoxious. 

*Spoiler* Highlight to read. Liam was in love with the best friend Pauline but Pauline did nothing but tease him and lead him on. She leaves and Liam and Maggie fall in love with each other. Then Pauline comes back and says F Maggie I'm actually in love with you. So then Liam leaves Maggie for Pauline and it's a stupid love triangle but not really. It's all really immature. *End spoiler* 

The other thing is that the whole "missing girls" barely made it into the story. It was just a background thing. I thought it would have had a major part of the story considering it's the first line of the synopsis.

I was expecting kind of a creepy contemporary that at least held me at the edge of my seat. And I didn't feel scared, jumpy, worried, nothing. It was just a contemporary really. 

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
Yeah probably. It was written well for the most part. 

Just kind of meh. More contemporary than anything. Quick read that I finished in one night.

“She tried to decide whether the silence was an empty one or a waiting one.” 
― Jodi Lynn Anderson, The Vanishing Season

I write strange and mythical stories about young people.