Book Review :: Rules for Vanishing, by Kate Alice Marshall

Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall
ISBN: 9780593115428
Published by Walker Books
on 2019-09-24
Genres: Horror, Mystery, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Source: Walker Books AUS
Find at Walker Books AUS
Goodreads

Once a year, the path appears in the forest and Lucy Gallows beckons. Who is brave enough to find her--and who won't make it out of the woods?

It's been exactly one year since Sara's sister, Becca, disappeared, and high school life has far from settled back to normal. With her sister gone, Sara doesn't know whether her former friends no longer like her...or are scared of her, and the days of eating alone at lunch have started to blend together.

When a mysterious text message invites Sara and her estranged friends to "play the game" and find local ghost legend Lucy Gallows, Sara is sure this is the only way to find Becca--before she's lost forever. And even though she's hardly spoken with them for a year, Sara finds herself deep in the darkness of the forest, her friends--and their cameras--following her down the path. Together, they will have to draw on all of their strengths to survive.

The road is rarely forgiving, and no one will be the same on the other side.

Last updated on 19 March 2023

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase with one of these links, I recieve a small commission at no additional cost to you. Read the full Affiliate Policy.

My thoughts on Rules for Vanishing

I have to say straight from the get-go that I don’t often read horror books or ghost stories. I might read a book that has ghosts in it, or supernatural elements, yes, but not one that has a genre descriptor of ‘horror’ on Goodreads. That was until I got a sneak peek of this book from Walker Books Aus and I was hooked. What happened to Lucy? What happened to Becca? What is happening in general?!

Little Lucy, dressed in white

Gave her mother such a fright

Walked into the woods one day

Where she went no one can say

Down a road that no one found

Or are her bones sunk in the ground?

How many steps did Lucy take?

One, two, there, four…

Despite all of that, I read Rules for Vanishing in one sitting, it was that good. I was so captivated by the idea and the ghostly flavour to it, and the ‘what will happen’ next feeling on every single page that I rocketed through it. The story itself is creepy; a young girl, lost in the woods, never found but has become a legend in the town. Then another girl, Becca, goes missing, and her sister Sara is determined to get her back. The squad of teens who go into the woods, following instructions set out in a notebook, is an odd collection of characters, but somehow they set off on this journey through the darkness together.

Do you want to know where Lucy went?

She went to play the game.

You can play, too.

Find a partner.

Find a key.

Find the road.

You have two days.

Each turn through the dark reveals another horror on their path, but it wasn’t so scary that I was going to get nightmares – it is Young Adult after all. It’s creepy but not ‘I’ll never sleep again’ creepy if you know what I mean. The horror aspects are definitely more low-key than that of say a horror film, but the fear factor is still there.

The way it’s written is really creative. It’s a mixture of first-person accounts from Sara, who is writing her testimony of events. Then interspersed are transcripts from recordings of Sara and a few other characters who are talking to a Dr Ashford, as well as newspaper articles, video transcripts from the teens’ phones, text messages, and interviews.

“What happened in the Dark?”

There were a few things throughout the book that I figured out or ‘called’ as the story went on but I won’t tell you what they are for fear of spoiling the story for you. What I will say is that it’s a wild ride, and I don’t think I was quite prepared for it. However, it’s a great read and even if you’re not into horror or ghost stories, it’s pretty tame, so you can probably safely give it a go.

Have you read Rules for Vanishing? What did you think?

---

I received a free copy of this book from Harper Collins NZ and Walker Books Aus in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my review, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.