The Vanishing Place

Thank you so much for the earc to review! All opinions are my own.

This was a quick and easy read, that was written in verse. While the poem part was hard to like at first, it did grow on me. I love the idea behind the story and using the Bermuda Triangle in the story was a cool aspect (I don't think I have read a YA book that has featured the Triangle). The cover is very beautiful and drew me in. The title did the same.
I like the idea behind the story, although, I feel it would have done better as a non-poem novel. The book ended suddenly and I felt like I was missing half the story and I wanted to know how things ended. The characters were one dimensional and came off as annoying.

In the end, I was addicted because I wanted to know what happened. The ending felt rushed and then it ended and I had no answers. There are definitely some pros and cons, but either way I am glad I got to review and read this book.

First things first, CLIFFHANGER!!! Moving on. This book is written in verse, which I thought added to the story itself. It was a quick read, and it keeps your interest. There isn’t any slow, boring parts that make you want to put it down. It is very well written. There are four characters and the story switches through each ones point of view as the storyline progresses. I personally didn’t like how it ended, but that is just because of the major cliffhanger. She definitely has to write a second book so we can have answers. Overall, I loved this book. I would definitely recommend it.

This is a novel written in verse, from four perspectives. Each details the fateful night four teens found themselves aboard a small ship in the centre of a large storm. The resulting shipwreck forces them to fight for their daily survival, on the small, uninhabited island they must now call home until rescue arrives.

The premise was thrilling and the narrative quickly jumped into the action. I found it more interesting to note the emotional transformations that were wrought from the character's new reality, rather than the details of their survival, which were bare and basic.

This was a thrilling read, which kept me guessing right until the end. I didn't really gel with the blunt conclusion, that gave no hint as to what exactly was occurring and what the future held for these teens, but I remained engaged prior to this. I would have appreciated some padding to the story, as it felt like much of what transpired was glossed over, but did enjoy the straightforward poetry style and what it did deliver, throughout.

I've said it before and I will say it again.

Books are my favorite form of entertainment, and though this book only kept me entertained for the length of a movie, I still enjoyed it.

Let me start with what I liked about it.

<b>The prose in this book was reminiscent of <u>Crank</u> and I really enjoyed it.</b> The structure of the poetry really added a fresh element to a story I feel I've heard/read/seen a million times. Emminizer added to the plot by breaking up certain sentences in a way that more common prose wouldn't be able to do. I've always loved stories told in this way and <u>The Vanishing Place</u> was no exception.

<b>The story itself was fun and because of how short it was, I'm very glad that it didn't get caught up in minute details that sometimes stories written in this way do.</b> Everything about this story was fast paced. Even the growth (or maybe changing into savages is a better way to classify it) happened quickly. Though the actual time frame of the story took place over weeks, Emminizer glossed over the unimportant parts to keep the reader interested. If the story were written differently, I would have loved to see the slow burn of hatred that developed between Nate and Jay, but within the context of the story as it was written, I think the speed was well executed.

Now let me highlight the two things that really bothered me about this story.

<b>WHY DO YA BOOKS ALWAYS HAVE TO HAVE A LOVE TRIANGLE?</b> Seriously, as much as I love this in the right context, it bothers me so much when this trope gets thrown in to a setting in which it does not belong. This story started out as a story of terror and learning what and who you become when your very survival is threatened. I get that adding a romantic aspect can sometimes humanize characters in situations such as this and make readers feel for them (for instance, it gives them something to fight for that makes you root for their survival), but the whole story was focused around the boys fighting to be the one who saved them and then RANDOMLY at the LAST POSSIBLE SECOND, it turns into a battle for Eva's affections. WHY?! This upset me so much.

<b>Also, I love cliffhangers as much as the next person but this was arguably ONE OF THE WORST CLIFFHANGERS I HAVE EVER READ!</b> Here is the cliffhanger I was hoping for: They remained trapped on the island, unsure if they would be rescued. Here is the cliffhanger I got: Someone is maybe dead, The End. Not only does this cliffhanger not finalize ANYTHING about this book, it feels as if Emminizer simply got tired of writing this book and just ended the story in the middle of a thought. I get that she is trying to leave you wanting more, but this book takes the cake. It doesn't just leave me wanting more, IT LEAVES ME WANTING AN ENDING. Like, HELLO?! Could you finish the book please? Give me something other than "I see her swimming to shore." This ending just felt like three seasons of a TV show that ended in a cliff-hanger and then never got renewed for season four. Get it together and finish the book. Or at least write a second one.

Anyways, I gave this book (3) stars because I enjoyed it but I hated the ending. The ending ruined a lot about this book for me. If you don't like cliff-hangers, do not read this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and West 44 Books for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After meeting Jay and Nate, Brooke and Eva are excited about their night boat trip with the boys. Especially Brooke who thought this could possibly be a romantic rendezvous for all involved. However, shortly into their trip things take a turn for the worst. Instead of romance, survival becomes the main motivation.

This is one of the few action adventure stories I’ve ever read written in verse. However, it is very well done. For such, a quick read this gripping tale never seemed to slow down or drag. Written from each of the characters own POV, the reader gets to know each character as an individual while they experience this harrowing, life altering event.

I really did enjoy this book. However, I think I might be the oddball because I also enjoyed the ending. It didn’t feel like a cliffhanger to me. It felt more like a true understanding of the mystery that is the vanishing place. It felt like real finality.

This is a great action adventure with just a dab of mystery. I would gladly recommend this for teacher classrooms, for reluctant readers, and for middle schooler's in general.

First off, this book is way too young for me. I often love YA, but everything about this book is just too YA, including the way it's written - in verse. I didn't know about the formatting and style before I requested it on NetGalley. I imagined it as a sort of island-Hunger-Games, with the perils of nature thrown at shipwrecked teenagers. Instead, it was basically one long poem about the Bermuda Triangle.

That's not to say I don't think The Vanishing Place will have its fans. The writing is crisp and lyrical, and often literal, with the words falling, skipping and SHOUTING all over the pages. The premise itself is quite haunting - what if the teens have slipped through to another time, another place, another dimension? Can they ever escape? Or will they keep circling back to the island, like a shark around a pool of blood?

While The Vanishing Place wasn't strictly to my taste, it's a quick and engrossing read, and I definitely recommend for new readers, young adult fiction fans, and anyone who enjoys a non-traditional format.

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher!

It was the blurb rather than the cover that attracted me most to this book. The way the blurb hints that there is something “other” that keeps the teenaged characters stranded on an island when they are shipwrecked made me want to learn more.

The book begins with two teenaged girls listening to the parents of Brooke getting drunk. Brooke has talked her friend Eva into sneaking out to see the two boys they met earlier who have promised to take them out in a boat. Brooke is the skinny, beautiful, confident and more talkative of the girls with Eva, the curvy, less confident one dragged along for the adventure. The two teens make their way to meet Nate whose fathers boat they are going out on and his friend Jay. Unfortunately, none of the teens are used to drinking much alcohol so quickly become intoxicated. The weather turns bad, the sea becomes rough and the boat is wrecked with the four teens finding themselves washed up in the shallow water next to an island none of them recognise.

The book is told from three points of view starting with Eva, who is thinking about the Three rules of survival, A person can survive: 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food. Then Eva looks around and see’s that only three of them have survived Brooke’s body is laying broken over the remainder of the boat.

We learn more about the three different characters by how they handle being stranded on the island. Nate is an organiser, a checker, and a planner. He counts the hours, days, weeks they are stranded. Every morning he checks on and counts the dwindling supplies/equipment they have.

Jay’s initial reaction is to get angry with Nate, demanding to know where they are, why Nate got so drunk he didn’t realise they were drifting off course. Yet Jay seems to accept the situation they are in much quicker than the other two. Jay seems quite quickly and easily resigned to living the rest of his days on the Island. He doesn’t believe they will be rescued, when an “escape” attempt ends up in near death and them back on the Island he seems to think its “fate” that they are in a “Vanishing Place”.

I did enjoy reading the book, learning about the different characters and personalities. It was a shame Brooke was “killed off” it would have been interesting to see what she would have brought to the group dynamic.
I’m not so sure about the three teens handled the death and dealing with Brooke’s body….should they have tried burying her, …should they have kept the body somewhere on the island for if/when they were rescued….I’m not so sure I would have immediately thought of burning a best friends body!
It’s quite strange that the two perhaps perceived as quieter characters are the ones that become more confident in their own abilities and take charge of the situation they are in, making the best of it. For Jay life on the Island is an improvement on his life at home, so he doesn’t feel the need to try get back everything he had before he was shipwrecked. Whereas the more confident Nate just keeps trying to find ways to escape the island to get back to his life as the popular guy at school and the company of others, back to civilisation. Eva ends up being happy with either eventuality as long as she isn’t alone, she is happy to make the best of a bad situation.

My immediate thoughts upon finishing reading this book were that this book was yet another great short read, that is classified as Hi-Lo and prose/poetry which not so long ago would have been a genre I would have just dismissed and not even thought of reading.
To sum up The Vanishing Place was an interesting, different kind of read with an eerie quality to it. The book is initially based on four characters but is told through the points of view of three of the characters. Great short read, perfect bit of escapism to read with a cuppa.

The Vanishing Place is a YA verse novel aimed at reluctant readers. It is a quick, easy read with plenty of white space. The story is told from the POV of the four main characters: Brooke, Eva, Nate, and Jay, who leave on a secret boat ride off the Florida coast and end up stranded on a mysterious island. The story will appeal to fans of Hatchet and Lost - it is a story of survival with an edge of the supernatural (the characters believe they are somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle).

I enjoyed the story and characters, although I did wish the ending had a bit more closure.

Opinions: What?!?! Excuse me?!?! I almost can't describe my feelings about this book. It was shocking, heart-wrenching, and climactic, yet so simple and bare! The Vanishing Place was the fastest read I've had all year - not because of its length, but because of how immersed I was while reading! Every page was not only a piece of poetical art, but a piece of a puzzle that shows no image. It's like the pilot of "Lost" except there's no second episode, just a massive cliffhanger! In a way, there was no plot, but lots of imagination on the reader's end, therefore emotions are necessary while reading The Vanishing Place! Teen readers will love this book because it's a mystery with no clues, a psychological thriller with very little drama, and a terrifying ending without any monsters. I am impressed with Emminizer's creativity and craft with this one!

My Favourite Thing: I love how ominous The Vanishing Place is! Like I mentioned above, lots is up to the imagination and most of the character's struggles are read between-the-lines, creating a mysterious and sinister atmosphere. But when you look at the text itself, it's straightforward and impassive! Emminizer's craft and writing style was key to the emotional connection between the readers and the book.

My Least Favourite Thing: This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but a comment that needs a place. I seldom read poetry voluntarily, so reading this book in verse was stepping outside of my comfort zone. Personally, I did not prefer it, but that doesn't mean the book was bad! Obviously, I'm keen on Emminizer's writing style, I simply don't like the fact it's in verse.

Total Rating: PG-12+
Language: PG-12+
Adult Content: PG-12
Violence: PG-13

Recommended For and Similar Reads: This is a quick and simple yet eerie and daunting read for teenagers and mature preteens! It is very creative and leaves a lot up to the reader, meaning you can make The Vanishing Place what you want. If you've watched "Lost", "Catching Fire," or "Cast Away," you should give this book a shot! If you're like me and aren't too sure about the poetry aspect, I would go for it anyway, because it's a quick read and the poetry made it fun. Give it a try!

The Vanishing Place is a short book about four teens who's fun sailing trip turns into a nightmare, when they're shipwrecked on an island.  Battling the elements, food shortage and their own minds, for survival, they need to find a way to get back home.  

I really enjoyed this story, but honestly, I wanted it to be longer.  I needed a bit more than it gave.  They'd barely made it to the island when it felt like it was all over and I was finishing the book.  I'm a sucker for mysterious castaway type stories, so I enjoyed the struggles the characters faced and the truly scary situations they found themselves in, but I just wasn't a fan of the choppy, almost poetic format of the writing.  I couldn't relax into the story as much as I would have if it was in a novel style. 

I definitely don't want to put anyone off though - it is a fast past, gripping story that's worth a read!

I didn't really know what to expect when I started The Vanishing Place. I really enjoyed this book and was left wanting more. It is definitely a quick read and I recommend giving it a try. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

What an interesting book. I love poetry and it was definitely that. And I am obsessed with the Bermuda Triangle. This book had both of those. A captivating short poetry read regarding a group of friends stranded on an island facing some decisions no friends should ever have to face. Such a page turner, did not want to put it down. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you so much to West 44 Books for giving me an advance reading copy (ARC) of Theresa Emminizer's The Vanishing Place in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.

Written in free verse, The Vanishing Place is told through the four perspectives of the four friends washed ashore in an unfamiliar island after a rough night at sea. Two sisters, two best friends. One dies, one does not want to leave, one wants change, and one wants to leave. Will they ever be rescued in The Vanishing Place?

I’m not sure if it was my ARC copy but it ended when the story has reached the tip of the wave. I was looking forward for more when I was met with the acknowledgement page. Will they get out of the Vanishing Place? What is the Vanishing Place all about? I thought it was fast paced, the tension between the characters built up beautifully until it ended. Was that intended or was it only my copy? Because if it was intended, that would be a loss. I think the story has so much potential. Each backstory of the characters are solid, giving them each agenda that pushes them to fight for survival. I also would like to see what The Vanishing Place is all about, and if they would really die in that island or get rescued. As I said, it had so much potential and I really hope it’s just my copy that was cut abruptly.

What I didn’t like was how Eve was automatically pulled into a love triangle. Was that really necessary? I mean sure, after weeks of being stuck in an island with two boys and one girl, they’re bound to have no choice but to be familiar with each other and attend to their human needs. I guess it’s logical? Although the story did not dwell on it too much.

I think the delivery of the story was nice. I haven’t read any book with a similar delivery. I actually didn’t know this would be a poem until I read it. No regrets on that though. I recommend this book to anyone who loves fast paced mystery/thriller books (I think it’s mystery/thriller). Meanwhile, I only gave 3 stars due to the copy I received. I’m not sure if that was how this story is supposed to end but I disagree. Until then, it will only get 3 stars from me.

I found this to be an enjoyable read, keeping me on my toes throughout. The storyline was written well and flowed seamlessly. I look forward to reading more by this author!