Book Rewind – Review:
The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Today we are introducing our new book feature, Book Rewind! Book Rewind is a meme that will be posted fairly regularly as a means to distinguish reviewed books that are in no way a new release. We noticed we tend to review almost all new or newly released books and wanted to have a feature to spotlight some older books that we just read or are just reviewing because we never got around to it or didn’t blog back then! We are thinking we will post this meme on Thursdays as a ‘Throwback Thursday” kind of deal. I know today is Friday, but the blog was full of posts this week so we thought we needed to space it out a little. We hope to have a banner and we will be encouraging others to participate in the Book Rewind Review meme in the near future.
So without further ado, our first Book Rewind Review will feature The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson, an eARC we received from Edelweiss, courtesy of HarperTeen, over a year ago and I read it in conjunction with the ARC August Feature we participated in last month.
The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Category: Young Adult, Paranormal, Mystery
Publication: July 1st, 2014; HarperTeen
Purchase: Amazon
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.
Review:
[book rating=4/5]I turn my face away from the world.
This is no place for anyone with a heart.
The Vanishing Season is an Arc we received last year. One of those books that haunts your shelves begging to be read but for whatever reason you just keep passing it over. When Kelly started Arc August I just knew I had to bump this long awaited read to the top of the pile, and I am so glad I did.
It’s hard for me to describe this book. Words, like stark and haunting immediately come to mind but that only scratches the surface. I would argue that his book is not a traditional “young adult” book but rather a book that features young adult characters. It’s elevated and beautifully written. But this book is not for everyone. Some will find it slow moving others will be disappointed that the mystery/paranormal aspect of the book is only part of the background of the story.
It’s impossible for me to really get into too much without giving away too many of the books secrets suffice to say, although there is a small supernatural element to the book (it’s partially narrated by a ghost) and there is a serial killer mystery happening simultaneously but that element is more to add a tension to the book. At the heart this book is a character study about three polar opposites connecting in a cold rural town.
I have never read any books by Jodi Lynn Anderson before but she so deftly crafted the characters of Maggie, Pauline and Liam that I am anxious to read more by her.
The character of Pauline, so unique and wild of spirit, was vividly realized but it was Maggie, quiet, intelligent, and warm, that really endeared me to this book. She was as true as the north star, and where Pauline was loud and demanded notice, she was unassuming and mature beyond her years. Then of course there was Liam, a true gentleman, spare with words but long on good intentions.
Of course there is an inevitable love triangle but as sure as the snow melts in spring you know how this is going to turn out.
Since this book has been out for awhile, I read the negative reviews and I can see where some people are coming from. It is a slow moving book and I kind of wish more had come out of the serial killer mystery but really that’s not what this book is about. It’s about three characters, how they intersect and ultimately change each others lives.
When I finished this book I did something I haven’t done after reading a book in quite sometime. I cried. I don’t mean a sniffle I mean full blown rivers of tears. I had issues with how it all played out, and days later it’s still niggling at me. This beautiful, quiet book, that sat on my shelf untouched, came in and it literally broke my heart. I don’t think I will forget Maggie, Pauline or Liam for quite sometime.
