"Vanishing Girls" by Lauren Oliver

3 of 5 stars.

The Basics: Nick gets into a car accident with her sister Dara and she can't seem to remember what caused the accident or what happened afterward. After moving back in with her mother (since she's been living with her father), Nick gets a job at a local theme park, FanLand, where she is reconnected with her old best friend, Parker. Things changed between Parker and Nick after Parker started dating Dara. Though Dara is the rowdy one in the group, Nick is striving to make a connection with her sister since they have not spoken since the accident.
Among this all, 9 year-old Madeline Snow is missing. She supposedly disappeared after being left in the car when her sister and friend left her in the backseat of the car to run into an ice cream parlor. Eventually, Dara goes missing too and Nick seeks to figure out what kind of trouble Dara has gotten herself into.  

My Thoughts: This is an unpopular opinion, but I disliked this book. I wouldn't give it a 2 or 1 rating because it wasn't awful, it just seemed disjointed. I was left with more questions that answers by the end of the book. Towards the end, before the plot twist was revealed, I already had a feeling that Dara actually did die in the car accident. But that twist left me trying to figure out how the rest of the story made any kind of sense. For instance, when Dara and Parker went to the car and Parker called out Nick's name, was that all in Nick's mind? I don't get it. Also, when Dara wrote the note in her diary telling Nick to come find her, what was that about? Did Nick imagine/ make that up?
And then what was the plot point of Madeline Snow being missing? Was it so that Nick would eventually realize that Dara was dead?
This was just a weird freaking plot. I didn't like it.

~Remember, teachers read fun stuff too!