The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson

The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Release Date - July 1, 2014
Publisher Website - Harper Collins
Publisher Social Media - Twitter/Facebook/SavvyReader/Frenzy
Pages - 256 pages
My Rating - 5/5
**received in exchange for an honest review from the publisher**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

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.

After Tiger Lily I basically vowed to read anything Jodi Lynn Anderson writes; ever. My giddiness when The Vanishing Season was announced was borderline ridiculous. You can pretty much call me a total fangirl. When it came time to open The Vanishing Season and read it I was filled with both excitement and terror. Excitement to be reading a novel from one of my favourite authors, and terror that this book would never be unable to live up to the incredibly high expectations I had placed on it. Needless to say this book not only met them, but shattered them along with my heart.

Those looking for a scary, thrilling read will not find that here. Instead, you'll find a crushingly beautiful look at a friendship between three people. You'll find the blushes of new love and the unshakable hold of first love. The synopsis isn't misleading as everything it promises is in the novel. It just is secondary to the characters, and their story. This story may be short at 256 pages but the amount of characterization within those pages is staggering. Each of them, particularly Pauline, had depth and were more than just brushstrokes on the story's canvas. They were the canvas that the story was told on.

This novel achingly captures the complexities of human emotions. We're capable of both unbelievable goodness, and acts of crushing betrayal. Jodi Lynn Anderson seizes these shades of grey and has her characters walk in them effortlessly. She allows her characters to stumble, and make mistakes. These mistakes only serve to make them more developed. They become real, almost to the point that you feel the author breathed life into them through her words. The quiet moments that make up this novel are all the more arresting because of her on point characterization. It's a slower, quieter novel but the emotional punch is the satisfying reward for patient readers.

The mystery of the ghost narrator, and how their story ties into that of Maggie and Pauline is spun bewitchingly. Unraveling this mystery is part of the novel's charm, so I will not spoil anything. I will however say that Jodi Lynn Anderson masterfully unveils her story's secrets with pitch perfect timing. She gives just enough to keep you reading until the finale when everything comes crashing down and all the puzzle pieces fit together.

An achingly beautiful novel about friendship, love, and betrayal. Jodi Lynn Anderson has once again tore my heart to shreds with her beautiful prose, and unforgettable story. I would gladly wait ten years for her next novel, especially if it's just as moving and stunning as this and Tiger Lily, but hopefully I won't have to.