Jul
2
2014

The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Title: The Vanishing Season
Author: Jodi Lynn Anderson
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: July 1, 2014
Pages: 256
Source: ALA MW

Summary from Goodreads:
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.


Review

I found The Vanishing Season to have a certain dream-like quality to it. The story is a delicate one and didn't feel quite grounded in reality. The characters had a storybook way to them - a little young and a lot peculiar. That, and Jodi Lynn Anderson's writing was beautiful, seamless and floating, and wistful too. I feel like this will either work for readers or it won't. For me, I found that I liked this.

I can understand the criticism though too. The synopsis is deceiving. The perspective from which it is told is a small part of the story you will read. An important part, especially as the end nears, but small nonetheless.I wish it had been given more prominence because I loved this part of the story. On the surface, this book is really about a young girl who moved from the big city to the small town of Door County. She's adjusting to her new life and growing closer to her two neighbors, the fragile, childlike Pauline, and the quiet, steady Liam. Meanwhile, young girls are being murdered in a mysterious way and the people of Door County grow more fearful and distant by the day. But this isn't really a mystery, or a horror story. Actually, in reflection, the vanishing girls have very little to do with the story at all except to contribute to the mood.

The Vanishing Season is no Tiger Lily but it had its moments and its good qualities. It wasn't always so engaging but it had me curious and I read it easily. But sadly, I don't think it lived up to its promise. That said, I think this one may be better suited for a younger audience or fans of simple seeming stories with an understated elegance to them.

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Comments (3)

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Pam@YA Escape's avatar

Pam@YA Escape · 561 weeks ago

I think I'll have to skip this one. The premise sounds intriguing, but beautiful writing won't make up for the some of the things that bothered you because I'm sure they would bother me too. Thanks for the honest review!
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I think I will pass on this one. I have too many other awesome books that I want to read instead. I'm pretty sure I would feel the same way about this book as you did so I don't think I'll be missing too much if I skip i.
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I think it's just hard to follow up after Tiger Lily! It was just so amazing. I still want to read this one and (my synopsis problem rears its head aka I'm still trying to stay in the dark) I don't really know what it's about. (Sorry, I skimmed this review to keep myself in the dark haha) -- I really want to sort of experience this one because I know it's not going to be the same as Tiger Lily so I'm trying to take as many expectations out of it as I can. Hopefully it will go well and hopefully I'm not just confusing myself LOL!
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