[Review] Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 10/03/2015

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Pages: 368

Source: For review
Genre: YA (16+) - Contemporary

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes
♪ Mr Probz - Waves ♪

My Rating: 

Intense, captivating

My thoughts

I can say with absolute certainty that I have said this in the past but I have no reservations against repeatedly saying it for ever-- Lauren Oliver can do no wrong. I went into this book expecting something akin to a Gone Girl for teen readers/audience, and in a way I was sort of right. Reading this new book that had been written by one of my more favoured contemporary authors I was struck with something like déjà vu--of the best kind. Because, like Gone Girl, Vanishing Girls surprised me, captivated me, provoked me to think about issues and topics that hadn't previously been on my mind. It is bold. It is a lyrical masterpiece in the young adult genre (as are all of her other novels). It is relateable and remarkably human and beautifully disastrous and just a book of the best kind.

In Vanishing Girls, sisters Dara and Nick were inseparable until the accident that tore them apart. Now Dara has a permanent reminder by the scars on her face, thus ending her popularity. Then, on her birthday, she disappears. Around the same time another young girl, Madeline Snow, has been reported missing and it is all over the news. Nick believes that there may be a connection between the two disappearances and she is going to do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of it, no matter what.

[Review] I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Goodreads

Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 16/09/2014

Publisher: Dial (Penguin)
Pages: 371

Source: Bought
Genre: YA (14+) - Contemporary

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes
♪ Jessie J - Sweet Talker ♪

My Rating: 

A masterpiece

My thoughts

Jandy Nelson's debut novel, The Sky is Everywhere, was one of my absolute favourite debut novels of 2010. Its strong depiction of the ailing effect of music and love in the midst of a grieving period in a young teen's life quickly landed the author a place on my list of authors I will follow no matter what. In that book she showed a unique sensitivity and delivered a beautifully-woven story that I could not forget.

Her sophomore title, I'll Give You the Sun, surpassed her debut by far. I cannot even begin to describe how invested I had become with the story and the characters; everything was so powerful, so emotional, so beautiful. Contemporary YA will always be my home genre and I think I'll Give You the Sun just confirms to me that Jandy Nelson can do no wrong.