Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall is a part found footage documentary and part local lore ghost story. It is told primarily through flashbacks of the different participants, evidence collected/description of what is contained in files and through the different POVs.
Sara is trying to find her sister Becca who disappeared following the clues of a local missing person/ghost story that occurs on a paranormal road hidden in the forest. After a year being emotionally cut off and burying herself in the items Becca left behind Sara convinces some friends to enter the forest on the anniversary of Becca’s disappearance and bring her home. Let’s just say everything goes awry after that and the teenagers encounter ghosts, monsters and murderers during their trip on “the road”. This is not for the faint at heart or someone that wants a thriller where everyone ends up safe and okay by the end. When retelling their story there is a lot of missing information from the survivors and it becomes apparent that not everyone returned the same.
Although I did enjoy the spookiness and dark themes of this book I found it went on a little long in the middle. I kind of wanted the journey to hustle along so that I could get more into the current timeline and get resolution on what happened and to whom. I also found the ending a little confusing and wasn’t sure what I missed? Maybe I’m just clueless but this is never the feeling you want to walk away with.
In the end this one was a 3.5 for me.
Sara is trying to find her sister Becca who disappeared following the clues of a local missing person/ghost story that occurs on a paranormal road hidden in the forest. After a year being emotionally cut off and burying herself in the items Becca left behind Sara convinces some friends to enter the forest on the anniversary of Becca’s disappearance and bring her home. Let’s just say everything goes awry after that and the teenagers encounter ghosts, monsters and murderers during their trip on “the road”. This is not for the faint at heart or someone that wants a thriller where everyone ends up safe and okay by the end. When retelling their story there is a lot of missing information from the survivors and it becomes apparent that not everyone returned the same.
Although I did enjoy the spookiness and dark themes of this book I found it went on a little long in the middle. I kind of wanted the journey to hustle along so that I could get more into the current timeline and get resolution on what happened and to whom. I also found the ending a little confusing and wasn’t sure what I missed? Maybe I’m just clueless but this is never the feeling you want to walk away with.
In the end this one was a 3.5 for me.