Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A haunted wood, a mysterious road that appears and disappears, the legend of a missing girl; these were the things that first attracted me to this story.
I got so much more than that, parts I am still trying to wrap my brain around.
Told through interviews, written statements and found footage, this story tells the tale of Sara, whose sister, Becca, went missing a year prior.
The mixed media pieces together her quest to find her sister and the people who go along with her.
This book reminded me a lot of Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl, mixed with the Jim Henson’s The Labyrinth.
I did listen to the audiobook for this and unfortunately, I think that had an effect on my overall enjoyment.
Honestly, the audio was a little hard to track all of the characters and keep them all straight.
That paired with the dreamlike quality of all that occurs on the road, I felt confused for the majority of the middle portion of the book.
I think if I had read the physical copy it would have been easier to follow along with the character dialogue of the found footage and interviews.
Overall, I think this is a solid YA Horror novel with a very dark and spooky premise. It definitely solidified my belief that you must always beware of hitchhikers on the road.
