Back in 2019 when I read RULES FOR VANISHING, I was on the edge of my seat, wishing I could push the audiobook playback speed faster just for the sake of devouring the story faster. Marshall's writing has so much momentum - made more evident with short chapters, the different bites of various mediums, and an epic growth of suspense - I tore through these First Look chapters.
I was also really pleasantly surprised to see Dr Ashford and the Ryder sisters again, whom we met in RULES FOR VANISHING. I love that sense of continuity without this necessarily being a "sequel". Theres still a little bit of suspension of disbelief required when Sophia's journal reads like a professionally-written novel, but that's something that anyone who's used to epistolary or multi-media books can understand and see beyond.
Marshall also brilliantly uses imagery to set the tone of the setting. In the boat, Sophia describes the sounds of the ocean - a repeating sibilant S - and the words themselves work to give dimension to the moment. This is someone who knows how to set a scene.
I was also really pleasantly surprised to see Dr Ashford and the Ryder sisters again, whom we met in RULES FOR VANISHING. I love that sense of continuity without this necessarily being a "sequel". Theres still a little bit of suspension of disbelief required when Sophia's journal reads like a professionally-written novel, but that's something that anyone who's used to epistolary or multi-media books can understand and see beyond.
Marshall also brilliantly uses imagery to set the tone of the setting. In the boat, Sophia describes the sounds of the ocean - a repeating sibilant S - and the words themselves work to give dimension to the moment. This is someone who knows how to set a scene.