Let me just say that I really love a good horror novel, and deeply appreciate one that can bring something new to the scene all while leaning on familiar tropes/set-ups, in this case, the found-footage style of the Blair Witch project. "Rules for Vanishing" has all the familiar tones of a woodsy, local folklore-based horror story but Kate Alice Marshall is in complete rule of her world and has created something altogether new. It reminded be a bit of Vandermeer's Southern Reach trilogy, but it a much more accessible way. This book is downright chilling at times, to the point where I wasn't letting myself read it before bed because of some of the images Marshall conjures up. Seriously, it's not your average creepy girl wandering the woods book - "Rules for Vanishing" has a much higher-stakes game its characters must play, with very strict rules, and it creates a terribly and darkly readable book.
I really thought this was gonna be a full 5-star read for me, but there were a couple things holding it back. The main thing is that this book has a pretty huge big cast of characters, who we get introduced to VERY fast, in rapid succession, and there isn't much done to delineate them (aside from a couple "main" players"). It's actually pretty important readers know who EXACTLY is who; it ties right into plot points, but I struggled to keep names straight. I think it would have helped to have more attention given at the beginning to making distinct characters instead of sort of introducing them in a big blur.
Secondly, there is a mythical aspect of this book (no spoilers) that would have been much stronger if readers had been introduced to it a little earlier on. It comes up at a couple moments, but at the end it becomes WAY more important and there wasn't much foreshadowing to it, which would have been nice.
Finally, although the ending was pretty good, it honestly paled in comparison to the rest of the novel and I think it was a little predictable. I would have loved to see a more unexpected ending!
All in all, "Rules for Vanishing" is one of the most well-written, unique, and CREEPY YA horror stories I've read, and I definitely want to read more by Marshall. ( )

I loooooooved this!
Super spooky, high stakes and has you continuously guessing!!!
My advice to anyone who wants to read this: pair the audiobook with the physical book. Great experience! ( )

If I had to describe this book in one sentence it would be - A Demented Wizard of Oz -

The characters were a little underdeveloped but I didn't mind because this book is more plot driven than character driven. I loved the mystery and lore of the Road, along with the local legend of the missing girl, Lucy. It is creepy and gory in a way that books labeled 'YA' usually aren't. It was refreshing actually.
This could have been an adult novel if the main characters ages were changed, but I don't think it would have worked as well. Being teenagers, I felt that the characters had a better ability to just kinda roll with the fantastical things that were happening to them. If they were adults there would have been a whole lotta "This can't be happening!!1!" and the book is already long enough without all that extra stuff, although the format is probably the cause for the length. There are text conversations and interview transcripts interspersed with regular narration.
Initially, after finishing, I thought that I would have liked a little more clarity from the ending, but now I think the ending is a perfect mix of "Where are they now?" and mystery. ( )

Well usually this kind of format engages me but sadly this book was weird and lacked cohesion.

Normally I love novels that are made up of interviews, journal entries, police reports etc but this just didn't hold my interest. The reason was that none of it really flowed together. It was like the writer had thought of some creepy little scenes and stuck them together and called it a novel. So yes, there were some creepy parts but overall the story was disjointed. I can't explain it anymore than that. Nothing seemed to make sense or quite fit for me. For example the bird/neck scene was super eerie and gross but for me it just came right out of left field. This happened repeatedly. Anyway, lots of people have loved this so I think it is just a case of not for me. ( )

I've got fairly mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, it was a fun, fast read, and the plot pulled me along throughout. The middle of the book was fantastically creepy, and I loved every page. On the other hand...I wish there'd been more character development and that the voices of the different characters hadn't felt so interchangeable. This partly because there were so many (maybe more than the book needed), and partly because the plot moved so fast and they were so indistinct from each other in many ways. I also didn't particularly care about them as a result of the lack of character development, and normally that's the sort of thing that will make me lose interest in a book completely. Here, though, that didn't happen because the plot was so compelling.

The end did lessen the experience of the book for me, though. It's tough to talk about without giving it away, but I saw (one of) the major twist(s) coming, and the end in general was incredibly rushed. I also didn't like the way the author extended it in a way that made it feel like she was just aiming to drag new readers into her next book instead of just focusing on this one, which was essentially a stand-alone. So...I don't know. Mixed feelings, as I said. ( )