I was thrilled at the opportunity to read an advanced copy of The Art of Vanishing. The author is lovely, and I was so excited to hear about her first book being published!

The premise of the book was original and so much fun!

I loved reading about Jean's world and meeting other characters along the way. I almost found myself wanting to rush through Claire's chapters because of how much I was drawn to Jean and his world. I also thought it was interesting how the author used the pandemic as part of the storyline. It was unexpected, but it worked so well, and I loved how these chapters dove into some of the characters in the art and showed them letting loose and having fun throughout the other pieces.

What kept me from rating this a 4.5/5 is how quickly Jean and Claire fell in love. I would have loved to see just a little bit more from them before diving right in. However, overall, this was a fun read and one I'd recommend, especially for anyone who enjoys the art world.

I look forward to more from Morgan Pager.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the gifted ARC

The premise of this book was so charming, and I liked the dual POVs, but I couldn't get over how clunky the writing was. I kept waiting for the story to flow as artistically as the paintings from the book's setting, but it never quite got there. I liked the concept more than the execution.

It was a bit hard for me to connect with this story as it was a slow moving plot centered somewhat around COVID. I really liked the premise and the characters, but the writing fell kind of flat for me.

I really loved the premise of this book and the magical realism of it. As a lover of art, I wish I could walk into paintings like Claire. I was obsessed with her adventures through all the paintings. They were such an amazing, unique setting for a book, and truly so beautiful. But as much as I loved those background elements, I struggled a bit with the story itself. I found the beginning of the romance, and the beginning of the book as a whole, fast for my taste. The romance did grow on me a lot, and I ended up really liking Claire and Jean as a couple. I also liked that we got to know them as individuals, though that came quite a bit later in the story. They both had strong development in the end. As for the external conflicts in their relationship, I really liked the second one, but I did not like the first. Unfortunately, the second was resolved a lot faster than the first, and felt rushed. I also liked the ending, though it was a bit bittersweet. So overall, there was a lot about this book I enjoyed, but certain elements kept from loving it. Though I would still recommend this book.

The Art of Vanishing presents an utterly captivating premise: paintings that come alive when no one is watching, with inhabitants who have been observing the world from their frames for centuries. Morgan Pager's debut novel introduces us to Jean, trapped in a painting for over a hundred years, and Claire, the museum's newest night employee who discovers she can actually enter the artworks surrounding her. Their growing connection across these different realms held so much promise, and the lyrical writing truly shines in the early chapters as we discover this magical museum through both perspectives.

Where the novel struggles is in its pacing and execution. The alternating viewpoints between Jean and Claire create an interesting narrative structure, but the story takes time to find its footing. Just as the magical elements begin to truly enchant, the novel pivots into the pandemic era, which felt like an unexpected and somewhat unwelcome intrusion into the whimsical world being built. While I understand the thematic relevance of isolation and connection across barriers, I found myself wishing for more development of the characters' relationship before this external conflict appeared. The dialogue occasionally feels stilted rather than revealing of the characters' distinct personalities, leaving me wanting more emotional depth despite spending considerable time with both protagonists.

Despite these critiques, there's something genuinely special about the concept and certain moments of Pager's writing that kept me engaged throughout. The exploration of art as both sanctuary and prison creates fascinating tension, and the author's evident passion for museums and artistic history enriches the narrative. While I found the ending unsatisfying and some plot developments jarring, I genuinely enjoyed the journey and would certainly read more from Morgan Pager in the future. For a debut novelist, there's impressive ambition here and enough magic to make this worth recommending to those who love stories where art and reality beautifully blur. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this intriguing debut.

The story felt like it dragged on a little and the end felt a little incomplete. It definitely gives Night at the Museum feels

I wasn't as much of a fan of this as I thought I would be. I love the concept - it's very unique, and I enjoyed seeing the paintings and understanding where the characters came from. I just feel like the characters themselves fell a little flat. Well written, just not for me.

I really wanted to like this book more, but it was kind of slow and uninteresting to me. The characters were kind of predictable and lame.

If at any moment in your life you wished you could have hopped into one of Bert’s whimsical side walk chalk drawings in Mary Poppins or peruse a museum when it comes to life at night like in Night of the Museum then this glittering debut must land in your hands.

I thought I had known what I was signing up for when I started The Art of Vanishing by Morgan Pager but what was delivered was more than I could imagine. I loved the smaller page count and was in Awwww by all she covered… art, love, loneliness and new beginnings. This felt very much like a love letter to museums and the world of art as a whole. The more I sit and remember bits the more I’m kind of sad it’s over. I would love to know what Jean and Claire are up to.

This also gave me major Barbie vibes or maybe Greta Gerwig vibes and what an adaption that would be.

Thank you Ballantine and Random House
Releases 7/1

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**Features:**

- "Night at the Museum" meets whimsical romance
- Explores the power of art and learning to open up
- Unique perspectives on life during the COVID pandemic

**Synopsis:**

Jean has been stuck in a painting for over a hundred years, staring at the same book and watching people pass by his canvas. But he isn’t the only one. All of the works by the old masters in the museum are alive. Despite traveling the world through his fellow paintings, Jean is still struck by the museum’s newest employee: Claire. From the moment she entered the museum, Claire knew there was something magical about it. Jean and his painting caught her eye as soon as she entered and it is not long until their mutual attraction leads Claire to discover that she can enter the art pieces around her. But just as Claire finally found someone to open up to, the pandemic strikes. As Jean and other paintings try to piece together what is happening outside the museum walls, Claire is trapped at home and forced to navigate her complicated life in the real world.

**Thoughts:**

This book has a heartwarming, whimsical concept that I loved, but it fell flat in its overall execution. The story switches off between Jean’s and Claire’s perspectives and we kick off with a really intriguing introduction from Jean where we slowly come to realize he is inside a painting. Both his lyrical way of introducing himself and the things he notices when Claire first enters the scene promises an intriguing story as the characters first had to learn about each other at a distance before Claire fully enters Jean’s world. Unfortunately, this book quickly starts to suffer from many of the same issues a lot of debuts do and quickly loses a bit of its magic.

Despite all of the time we get to spend with Jean and Claire, I never really felt like I knew them. We get to see their budding, love at first sight romance and how their interactions help broaden each other’s worlds. However, a lot of the dialogue felt stiff and to the point rather than helping highlight the characters’ unique personalities and motivations. Ultimately, I felt that greater patience was needed in really developing the story and allowing things to build and unfold in a more natural way. Once the COVID lockdown hits, the story offers some interesting, unique ideas and some of the earlier flaws are less noticeable. Overall, this was a book that I had a fun time reading but has some missed potential.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you for this ARC! I adore magical realism. I'd say it's my favorite genre.

The concept for this book is so interesting. I wish the execution had lived up to it. I really struggled to get into the book because I didn't find the prose or dialogue to be immersive or quite what I was hoping.

I'd read more from this author and looking forward to what ideas she comes up with next.

This book is amazing! Such a delightful concept that a person could hop right into a painting and travel through so many new worlds. I don’t read a lot of magical realism, so this felt new and fresh to me. I did feel a little sad that there could be no traditional happenings ever after situation, but the reasons it wouldn’t work are plentiful and the author resolves the story in a satisfying manner. I’ll be looking out for her next one!

I’m so sad to be out of the world of Jean & Claire! What an amazing debut with such a different and exciting concept. The author tried to tackle a lot with this book- genre-bending and topics/themes throughout the book but overall was well done. It gave the characters backstory. For how much we heard from Jean, I do wish I knew more about his past as I feel we know so much more about Claire. Such a fun read - highly recommend!

The synopsis of this book did not quite align with my reading experience, unfortunately. This is such a high concept pitch - a woman falls in love with a character in a painting? Sign me up! Unfortunately, most things from here felt under developed and bland. I never really learned much about Claire outside of the young single mom stereotype, and that made it hard for me to root for her and her romance. I enjoyed the traipsing through the paintings and was fine suspending disbelief here - it was fun! The beginning of Claire and Jean's relationship was charming - a la the main characters in The Ministry of Time, but Claire was so unexplored as a character and her time with Jean felt repetitive with nothing new learned. I also was disappointed when Covid was a plot point in the book. I do think this book has a reader home, but it may be more in the YA speculative romance readership rather than readers of adult novels.

Thank you to Ballantine Books for the ARC!

First of all, it pains me to write this review, because this was a hiiiiighly anticipated read for me. But this bb is surviving on excellent marketing alone. Woman falls in love with a man in a painting is an excellent premise, but the execution here leaves so much to be desired.

By 20% I don’t know A THING about our FMC, Claire, other than that she does not live alone, she’s extremely pumped to have gotten a janitorial job, she’s tiny, and she rocks a messy bun.

By then she has entered Jean’s painting multiple times, and though they’ve walked and talked “night after night” and “conversation flowed easily,” we readers don’t actually get to hear those juicy conversations.

Soon after, Claire says there’s just something about him, she can show him all pieces of herself, etc etc but again, we haven’t gotten to experience that. Why do you keep returning night after night? What about the conversations endear you to each other? At nearly a quarter of the way through the book, these are the things I need to know! I want to be hooked!

By 28% their “lips are moving greedily” and I just…I can’t. Zero build-up. Zero personality, backstory, banter, tension, or vulnerability precedes this kiss. Like, give me SOMETHING!

DNF around 40% :(

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Very interesting premise, but I don’t think it took advantage of its potential.

Jean is a figure in painting by Henri Matisse (also his son, as it’s a family portrait). During the day, he’s frozen in the painting, watching museum goers and tour groups, and at night he and other figures move through paintings. He’s drawn to the new night custodian Claire, a young woman who loves to look at art and notices the paintings move. One night, Claire plunges into Jean’s painting and enters his world. As they get closer, outside forces begin to strain their relationship.

The idea is interesting, of being able to enter art and travel between them, but it wasn’t explored enough for me. It mostly describes entering paintings, but what about sketches, or prints, or more abstract art, or art styles from around the world. There’s so much potential and even small museums have a variety of art and media, but this didn’t take advantage of that at all. Plus the magical aspects were confusing, like I wasn’t ever sure if Jean was supposed to be a real person before he became art (that’s what it sounded like was implied) or if he was “birthed” when he was painted in existence, or why Claire was one of the only people with this power. I would’ve been fine without an explanation if the book didn’t try to come up with something vague near the end, but because it did it now bothers me.

The writing could’ve been better. It wasn’t quite atmospheric, but not that introspective, and the dialogue felt weak. Some lines of it made me roll my eyes because it sounded very unnatural, and there was no subtext to look for. It was easy to read though, so I’ll give it that. Claire and Jean, though they had interesting powers and especially Jean has an interesting perspective as a figure in a painting, were kind of bland as characters. And Jean sounded a bit inconsistently modern for being like a century old. Nothing really that interesting to peel back that I wanted to continue reading about. As a result the romance was a bit lackluster too, and very much an instalove situation. The other relationships the two main leads have, particularly Claire’s, could be more developed if the reader was supposed to feel some emotional weight with it.

The book isn’t that long, but even then the middle kind of dragged out and skipped a lot of time, so the pacing could have been better. It should also be noted that the covid pandemic was a major plot point, so beware of that if it bothers you. I could kind of see the parallels the author seemed to be drawing with Jean’s isolation and Claire’s isolation, but I wonder if it was really that necessary to have when there were many other directions to go. I did think the ending was probably as realistic and nice as this book could’ve had.

I love museums, and art, and art museums, so this premise was so interesting to me, but I was a little disappointed overall with this.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballatine for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The premise of this book seemed so fun and magical. Sadly, it bored me to tears. It's a quick read, thank goodness, where nothing really interesting happens. The characters are dull and the romance between Jean and Claire is incredibly dull. There's no humor. Aside from an occasional curse word, this book is so tame and wholesome my elementary students could read it. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

I loved the concept in theory, but the execution did not resonate as strongly as I had hoped. Greater insight into Claire’s life outside her work would have deepened the emotional impact. With limited character development, I struggled to invest in the story or believe in the “instant love” between Claire and Jean. I appreciated the novel’s ambition and creativity, but ultimately, it left me wishing for greater depth and character complexity to match its bold narrative concept.

“The Art of Vanishing” is a magical realism novel about a museum night janitor who discovers that she can step into the world of paintings, which leads to a romantic relationship with the subject of a painting.

The premise of the book is what dragged me in. It is such an incredibly intriguing premise, but it fell very flat for me. It’s not a bad book, but the dialogue was not doing it any favors. It’s labeled as an adult fiction but it read as a very YA book to me. The pacing was a bit wonky. The romance felt rushed and lukewarm at best.
The museum lore is well thought out and you can tell the author has a real appreciation for the art in art museums. I was hoping for more lore on the magic part, got half way through and there was nothing. I just could not get through it. The plot line in the middle of the book turned me away from the book very fast. I do not think that this book is for me. DNF

“Life in Jean’s world was a fairy tale, a conglomeration of colors and laughter and sunshine.”

Such a magical story!

I loved Jean & Claire so much. The world inside the paintings was so interesting. I really enjoyed the contrast between the world in the paintings and the real world, and it was interesting to see how the people in the paintings reckoned with the pandemic and the museum being shut down.

At times the pacing felt a little off to me, but otherwise I really enjoyed this!