The Vanishing Place by Zoe Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars**
After a murder in the New Zealand bush, and a witness who looks like a ghost of the past, Effie decides she must return to her home country, a place she’d sworn never to return.
Effie grew up in the bush, caring for her younger siblings, raised by parents who completely cut them off from the rest of the world. It was a hard existence, and the children experienced things that would make you toes curl. It’s left permanent scars on Effie’s psyche.
Effie’s been living her adult life in the UK, far from the places of her earlier traumas. When she gets a phone call though, from someone from her past, telling her of this young witness, who looks just like a younger version of herself, she has to return.
She needs to put this to bed. She needs to actually find out what happened to her family, and perhaps help this young witness in the process. In order to do so though, Effie’s going to have to face the demons of her past all over again.
I read this at the wrong time, I think. I didn’t vibe with it all. Though reading the synopsis, you’d think I would. Unfortunately, I was bored for the majority of the story. The writing is great, so it’s not that, and I did appreciate the depth of it, but it just wasn’t for me right now.
Many of my Book Friends, whose tastes normally align with mine, loved it, so def don’t take my word for it. I honestly think it was just the wrong book for me in the moment.
I never connected with the characters in a way that would establish the empathy I think is needed to truly enjoy a story like this. I needed to be invested in Effie and her past, and sadly, I just wasn’t.
It was refreshing to read a story set in New Zealand and I did enjoy the audiobook narration as well. I also think the author did a good job of taking us back-and-forth between past and present without making it confusing or convoluted.
I think there’s a lot of heart in this story, unfortunately my ice cold heart just wasn’t receptive to it at this time. i would definitely be open to reading more from this author in the future though.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I would recommend this to Readers who enjoy more Literary Thrillers, particularly with a strong focus on the family.