ARC Review: Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver @OliverBooks @harperteen

New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver delivers a gripping story about two sisters inexorably altered by a terrible accident.

Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara's beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged. When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick thinks Dara is just playing around. But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished, too, and Nick becomes increasingly convinced that the two disappearances are linked. Now Nick has to find her sister, before it's too late.

In this edgy and compelling novel, Lauren Oliver creates a world of intrigue, loss, and suspicion as two sisters search to find themselves, and each other.

Title: Vanishing Girls
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: March 10, 2015

Brooke's Review:

I want to thank HarperTeen for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give an honest review. Receiving this book for free has in no way altered my opinion or review.

I love Lauren Oliver! So when I saw she was publishing a new book I jumped right on it. And I was not disappointed! I was hoping I'd get the same feels from this book that I did what I read Before I Fall, and I really did!

In alternating points of view, we meet Nick and Dara, best friends and sisters. After suffering a tragic car accident,the sisters are estranged and we watch the story unfold between the two. Nick holds a ton of guilt over the accident. Throughout the book she and Dara do not interact, the rift between them too big to mend.

We also meet Parker, Dara and Nick's best friend. He's also the object of their affections. I loved Parker's character. He was sweet and endearing and very genuine. I also love that the romance didn't one up the plot line. We really got to know the characters without having to worry about them always being in romantic situations. But the romantic element was just the right amount.

Both Nick and Dara have pulled away into themselves after their tragedy. One of the things I had issue with was we really didn't see what their life was before the accident. When we meet them, they are so far removed from any friends they may have had, completely and totally isolated. The other thing I had issue with was the secondary plot. While there were some elements of the vanishing I understood having in the book, there were others that pulled me out of the story, giving me information I really didn't feel was needed to keep the story on track.

I will say that I figured out the plot twist fairly early on, but it didn't really take away from my enjoyment of the book. I found myself pushing on because I really needed to know how it all wound up (and of course if I was right!). The ending was a fairly nice wrap up, although I will say my happily ever after mind really wanted just a bit more.

Would I recommend this book? Certainly. I think Oliver has such a knack for really pulling her readers into her stories, grabbing on with both hands and not letting them go. I will advise that you should sit down and commit to reading this book all at once. I took a bit of a break and when I picked it back up, I had forgotten what had happened and it took me a bit to get back into it. If you're an Oliver fan, this book certainly will not disappoint!

Lauren Oliver comes from a family of writers and so has always (mistakenly) believed that spending hours in front of the computer every day, mulling over the difference between “chortling” and “chuckling,” is normal. She has always been an avid reader. 

She attended the University of Chicago, where she continued to be as impractical as possible by majoring in philosophy and literature. After college, she attended the MFA program at NYU and worked briefly as the world’s worst editorial assistant, and only marginally better assistant editor, at a major publishing house in New York. Her major career contributions during this time were flouting the corporate dress code at every possible turn and repeatedly breaking the printer. Before I Fall is her first published novel. 

She is deeply grateful for the chance to continue writing, as she has never been particularly good at anything else.