The Vanishing Game

by Kate Kae Myers

The bond between twins is unmistakable. For Jocelyn and Jack, that bond was all they had. But now Jack is dead. Then Jocelyn receives a letter from Jason December-the code name Jack used when they were children. Only one other person knows about Jason December: Noah, Jocelyn's childhood crush. But Noah isn't the one contacting Jocelyn. Together they decide to return to Seale House, the frightening foster home where all three of them lived together. Seal House has more secrets than they could have ever imagined. And it suddenly seems possible that Jack faked his death, that the letter and the riddles that follow are cryptic clues leading to his real whereabouts. But someone else is looking for him-someone dangerous. Jocelyn and Noah must race to find Jason December. That is, if he's alive.

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Paranormal, Thriller, Horror, Fantasy, Romance

384 pages, Paperback

First published February 14, 2012

About the author

Kate Kae Myers lives with her family in Boise, Idaho.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was going to get a full-throated five star howl from me...but that ending... it was as if the winner of the miss universe pageant, still smiling her vaseline-assisted smile, took a sudden, proud dump on the runway.

i just... i can't....

wow.

here's the thing - i realized once i got to work the other day that i had planned poorly, and the book i had brought with me would be finished on my lunch break, so i needed to borrow something from work that would tide me over, because i do not like looking at people on the subway. it is unpleasant. so i grabbed a bunch of books from the YA new releases section that i knew nothing about, and this is the one that made the cut.

and at first, it was fanfreakingtastic.

is her writing flawless? no, not by a long shot, but i was so caught up in the momentum of the story, it mattered not one bit. this is totally the kind of book i would have devoured in my youth, and i was thrilled to see that it still had the same enjoyment for me. seriously - word puzzles. love them. love. them. when i was little, i burned through all those peggy parish books about liza, bill, and jed where they would receive elaborate clues and follow them to treasure. they were the best thing ever. and every easter, the easter bunny would come to my house and distribute clues throughout my house which would lead me to my easter basket. the easter bunny was a big fan of puns, if i recall. and i loved that feeling - the moment when i figured out the clue, and i would race to the location of my next clue. i was always a little saddened when i got to the end of the hunt, but was quickly consoled by delicious easter chocolate. mmmm...

and last year or whenever, when i discovered the westing game, it was such a wonderful nostalgic burst of that feeling - the voyage of discovery, of solving the clues as i read. wonderful.

and this gave me that feeling. a girl who has survived a life of parental neglect and who came up through the foster care system, having been placed in a truly horrible group home, loses her twin brother in a car crash. three weeks after his death, she receives a letter that could only have come from him, filled with clues that lead her back on a journey through her past, as she reconnects with a boy who was in the group home with her, and they try to figure out if her brother is still alive, and what he is trying to tell them. word puzzles abound! logic puzzles abound!! love story abounds!! but who cares about that part.

it is all about the clues, leading them on a genuinely fun (for me - not them; their situation is frequently perilous) journey, as the mysteries of their connected past and their bizarre present unfold. so fun. love it.

and then.

ddduuuuuummmmmmppppp.

wow. i mean, there were inklings of IT throughout. and i guessed half of IT, because IT was not hidden or anything, but the second half of that twist? twisted lemon juice in my eye and i cursed it. i suppose it isn't the worst ending ever - it does tie up all of the loose bits, so i couldn't feel cheated per se, but i just had to laugh and laugh. it was unfortunate, because all of the mystery parts were so much fun and such a joy to me! it was like getting to my easter basket and finding it completely gluten-free. carob?? CAROB???

so - yeah - read this book and enjoy the parts that are great, but understand that at the end, you are going to be the one mopping up that runway. wear gloves.

come to my blog!

[TheBookSmugglers · Rating 1 out of 5]

Original review posted on The Book Smugglers

**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. We feel that the book is so ridiculously bad, we need to despoil it in order to save our readers. Just a friendly Public Service Announcement.**

Ana’s Take:

I am not going to sugar coat it: this is the worst book I’ve read in a long, long time. If I sound angry, it is because I am: I spent my well-earned money on this, I spent my precious hours reading it and all of it just feels really wasteful to me. I am not naive enough to expect that all books will be incredible but it appears I do still foster the hope that a book will at least be readable. I found The Vanishing Game SO badly written, I barely registered the plot or the characters. This does make me angry – where was the editor of this book? How can a serious publishing house SELL this stuff? I refuse to count as a positive the fact that the book has no spelling mistakes. Standards: I can has them.

The prose is barely serviceable: it is all tell, not show, and the telling is extremely clumsy:

“My twin, Jackson Harte, and I were the only children of our mother, Melody.”

“His unwillingness to accept my theories caused my sense of purpose to falter”

“I grabbed the blow-dryer, working on my hair. It was long and shinny.”

“I reached for the knob and felt my adrenalin take a hike, since what lay below was scarier to me than the fire starters in the other room.”

“Had Corner Boy’s hostile ghost somehow managed to transport me, or had I fallen into a strange fit and traveled up here like a sleepwalker? Panic surged through me, and I turned around.”

It relies on extremely cheesy metaphors and wordings that seriously, made me LOL many times reading this book:

“My mouth fell sober”

“Light-hearted, I began falling down the deep well of love”

“And in the meantime, why set me up to fall in love with Noah all over again, only to have him stab me in the heart like I was a vampire and he was Van Helsing?”

“For a few seconds my confidence that my brother was still alive wavered like a candle frame in a cold draft. But then I mentally sheltered that hope, unwilling to let Noah’s faithless logic extinguish it.”

“Since then, everywhere I went the pain of losing him went with me. It wore me like a backpack, slapping a rhythm of heartache against my soul with each step.”

It has many passages that are completely illogical if you think of it:

”The shooting from last night went through my mind again, more terrifying than my nightmare, and once more I wondered who the dark man at the end of the alley was. How had he happened to be there just as Georgie’s knife was ready to rip into me, and why had he killed him? There seemed to be no answer.”

There IS an answer. She just doesn’t know it.

“Any theories?”
“Maybe one, but it’s really out there.”
I leaned forward, intrigued. “Tell me.”
“A couple of times I wondered if someone in the house had abilities”
“What kind?”
“Maybe some sort of mental powers”
“I just don’t see how that makes sense,” I said. “From everything I saw, it seemed to me that the problem was Seale House itself. It was like the more controlling and mean Hazel got, and the more dangerous Corner acted, the more the house became that way too.”

Yes, because THAT makes more sense?

“I braced my body against the blast that would bring more pain and disfigurement than I could imagine.”

If she can’t imagine it, and it hasn’t happened yet, HOW CAN SHE KNOW WHAT WOULD IT BRING?

And so on so forth.

Beyond the writing though, I also had problems with the story, the content, the characters, everything. The blurb promises a “shocking twist” in the end. Not so much. I not only saw it coming from miles ahead, I also think this “twist” is as full of holes as a Swiss cheese.

There is also a significant amount of hate on girls here that made me super uncomfortable: any girl who was not the main character was “vain”, “nasty”, “silly”, “boring”. Also, you will be pleased to learn that the only reason why Jocey was not abused by her mother’s boyfriends growing up is because she was not beautiful. No, seriously. This is an actual thing in the book:

“Now, at almost eighteen, I admitted there’d been a plus to my unattractive looks back then. Considering all the men that drifted in and out of Melody’s life, if I’d been pretty like my mother I’d likely have gone through much worse stuff than I had. But because all they saw was a tall, scrawny kid that could’ve passed for a boy, they left me alone.”

And also this (when referring to a BITE MARK in her arm):

“Probably just a form of stigmata. Fear and guilt will sometimes cause a person to self-mutilate.”

Stigmata: I do not think it means what you think it means.

Listen, the book is so bad that not even the appearance of a NINJA (no, seriously) and of Surprise!Telekinetic powers saved it from being deleted from my Kindle as soon as I collected those quotes above.

Thea’s Take:

I really, really hate it when Ana and I pick up a book and are super excited to read it, only to find that it…well…sucks. I’m sorry, and I wish I could be diplomatic with The Vanishing Game, but it is appallingly bad. It’s so bad, I wondered if the first draft was posted on NetGalley in lieu of second pass or whatever stage in the publication process from which that the publisher decides to create ARCs. Ana actually *bought* the final book just to make sure we weren’t reading some half-baked early version, embarrassingly and erroneously released.

Unfortunately, Ana found that the final product being sold was, shockingly, the same as the ARC. This, dear readers, is no bueno. I have made note of a few of my favorite passages from the book (excepting the ones that Ana has already detailed), because I believe the showing is so much better than the telling.

Please, observe:

"Strange shadows streaked his numb face like tears on a mannequin."

"At the back of the pizza place I scooted into the corner of a dimly lit booth. Couples and a few families were scattered throughout the place, eating or talking. I envied their associations and their pizza."

This is my new favorite catchphrase. I love a 17 year old girl that thinks to herself – I envy your associations…and your PIZZA.

Furthermore, Ana’s note about the attitude towards female characters is actually nausea-inducing. Take for example this passage:

“Get out of the way, beanpole,” Monique said. “You’re blocking the view.”

Nessa laughed. “yeah. Be considerate of us normal-sized people.”Two other, Tabby and Geena, joined in with jeering comments. I turned to look down at the four petite girls with their long hair and shimmering eye shadow. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were still in the restroom stuffing your bras with toilet paper.” A few of the boys laughed, including Jack and Noah. Nessa’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t even wear a bra, do you, freak?”

“Nope.”

“I don’t think you ever will. In fact, I think you’re just a boy who dresses like a girl.”

“At least I’m not a girl who dresses like a prostitute.”

I don’t think I have the words to express my utter horror, disgust, and RAGE at this kind of mentality being spewed in this book. Granted, the main character is actually insane (SPOILER ALERT – but kind of obvious) and has her own slew of personal perception issues, but I can’t help but feel that this pervasive attitude towards girls that like to wear makeup and dress in attractive clothes is indicative of a much larger problem. This derision towards other females, THIS makes me see red. Not only is it dismissive, but it also perpetuates the stereotype that girls who like to wear makeup or go out, or wear short skirts are akin to prostitutes.

The computer hacker aspect of the plot is utterly ridiculous. It is so ridiculous that I need to reiterate in caps: UTTERLY. RIDICULOUS. You know that scene in Jurassic Park when Lex has to reboot the system to lock the doors and she goes, “IT’S A UNIX SYSTEM. I KNOW THIS!” Yeah. The Vanishing Game is kind of like that (sans the awesome dinosaurs, of course).

There’s an honest to god NINJA that appears in the late chapters of the book, which is also amazingly crazy ridiculous. The “twist” is indeed made of swiss cheese, as Ana says. I recently watched the lamentable horror film The Ward, which feels almost exactly like this book- full of flawed story logic and with an utterly predictable plot twist that was cool back in the 1990s (you know, when Fight Club came out).

There are many other quotes and many other problems, but I can’t muster the strength or power of will to detail them. Suffice to say, The Vanishing Game is a very, very bad book.

[Giselle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mystery, suspense, romance, heartbreak, all rolled into one little novel. This was quite the mind-boggling read. If you enjoyed Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, I was often reminded of it when reading The Vanishing Game. We're taken on an intense, fast paced scavenger hunt where Jocey has to solve clues her brother left for her after his supposed death. These riddles are really clever and I had lots of fun figuring out what they lead to.

What stands out the most in this novel, is how baffling it all is. After the first 25% of it, I was severely creeped out with my eyes bulging out of my head, my mind screaming WHAT IS HAPPENING? until I finally needed a break and set it aside. From the beginning, we're thrown right into this mystery full of puzzle after puzzle that keeps blowing a tiny bit of your mind each chapter you read. You think you have it figured out, but then you turn the page. It's fast moving and highly suspenseful.

The writing is pretty simple and to the point. Nothing to write home about, but the story is so engrossing that you don't really notice it very much. I found the romance a bit out of place, though. It feels forced at times, and obvious for the most part. It's almost necessary to have it included, in a sense, because we're made to expect it, but it doesn't really give any extra charm to the story; there are no real sparks between the two. Although, I think this may be due to the fact that the book is so dark and disturbing, their apparent crush on each other is never in the forefront of our thoughts. I still really enjoyed both characters. They make a great team and you never know what's going to happen next to either of them. A third character, and the one that is constantly kept at the heart of the story, is the Seale house. This exceedingly eerie house seems to have a mind of its own with freaky happenings no one's been able to explain. It gives out this unnatural vibe that I would never want to step foot into. I definitely got the creeps every time the scene involved this abandoned foster home. My heart would pound until they finally left, but it was always exciting.

The ending is certainly heartbreaking, and positively mind blowing. I would have never figured this out no matter how hard I tried. However I'm still not sure I'm 100% satisfied with it. I loved that it took me by surprise which rarely happens. I relished in how well thought out it was; It's one of those endings that will make you want to reread the whole thing again in a new light. But there are still some things that were quickly explained of which I craved for a better understanding.

Overall this is probably one of the best YA mystery/thriller I've happened upon. It easily kept me absorbed in the story, not knowing what would happen from one sentence to the next. If you're looking for a good YA mystery/thriller, this has become the first one that I would recommend.

--
For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads

[Mlpmom (Book Reviewer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest I really wasn't expecting this story to be creepy but yet as I was reading the first few chapters I couldn't help but be thankful that I had started reading it in the middle of the day when it was still light out and the shadows in the room couldn't reek havoc with my imagination.

I wasn't really sure what was going throughout this book. I will admit that the author had me stumped.
Was the house haunted? Were their demons? Ghosts? Was Jocelyn doing it? Cole? Someone else?
What in the world was with Seale House?

Like I said, I didn't see most of it coming. I will however say this was a pretty good psychological thriller of sorts. I loved all the mystery and clues and yes, even the mysterious happenings that didn't quite all come together until the very end.

Truly, this read was brilliant. The author is brilliant.

I think anyone that enjoys a good creepy mystery read will absolutely adore this book.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four Stars: An exciting, thrilling page turning mystery that will keep you guessing until the final pages. 

Jocelyn is still reeling from the death of her twin brother,Jack. Two weeks earlier, he perished in a car crash. Jocelyn is slowly trying to pick up the pieces, until an unexpected letter arrives in the mail.  The letter is signed Jack December.  An alias, her brother used as a kid when he left her clues for treasure hunts.  Jocelyn drops everything and grabs onto the slim hope that somehow Jack is still alive.  She quickly finds herself plunged into a exciting and dangerous hunt to solve the puzzle that hopefully leads to Jack.  Unfortunately, the trail of clues starts at the one place she vowed never to return, Seale House.  Seale House is her former foster care home, where she and Jack lived for a brief time when they were twelve.  For the most part, her time there was horrible.  She has blocked out her memories of many of the events that occurred while living under that dark roof.  Now, she finds that in order to unravel the clues and find Jack, she must sort through her memories of the past.  Her first step is to contact Noah, another former inhabitant of Seale House, who was once Jocelyn's and Jack's best friend.  Will Noah help her after their unfortunate parting?  Can she unravel the clues in time to find Jack? 

What I Liked:
*If you are looking for a thrilling mystery novel that will keep you riveted, then I highly recommend you pick up The Vanishing Game.  This book is an exciting page turner, filled with plenty of mystery, intrigue, twists and a bit of creepiness.  The story will keep you engaged and guessing on the final outcome to the very last pages.  Hang on for the ending, it packs a big surprising punch! 
*I thoroughly enjoyed chasing down all the clues with Jocelyn and Noah. I was amazed at the creativity and ingenuity of many of the pieces of the puzzles, solving this mystery was not an easy feat for Jocelyn and Noah.  
*I liked uncovering and understanding the keys to Jocelyn's past, especially when you get to the end and see how all the pieces fit.
*I appreciated the creepy aspects of the book.  I wasn't sure if there were ghosts or some other kind of paranormal element. There are definitely some scenes in this book that are a bit scary, which adds to the overall mysterious theme of the book. 
*This book is full of surprises.  There are so many plot twists.  This book is a page turner.  You will keep reading just because you can't wait to see what happens next! 
*I admired the characters of Jocelyn and Noah.  Both of them showed remarkable courage and fortitude, in spite of the difficult burdens of their pasts.  I liked watching the two rediscover and rekindle their old friendship. 
*The ending.  Wow! It certainly will surprise you.  It has a bit of an Alfred Hitchcock type feel to it.  Hold onto your butt! Those final pages will blow you away! 

And The Not So Much:
*Following the trail of clues was definitely one of the highlights of the novel, but there were a couple of times I have to admit that they were a little far fetched.  No matter, it was still lots of fun.
*This book employs flash backs to explain some of the occurrences in Jocelyn's past and how they connect to the puzzle.  I liked the use of this technique but there were occasions when the insertion broke up the flow of the story.
*While I was astounded at the final revelations and the solving of the mystery, I can't say that I completely bought into the final explanations, such as the bite marks.  It definitely stretched beyond believability.  It was still a great twist though. 

The Vanishing Game, is a terrific debut novel.  If you are looking for a book that is exciting, thrilling and engaging, then you will love this one.  Set aside some time to read it, because once you immerse into the mystery, you will find yourself reading fast and furiously to solve the mystery.  Hang on for an astonishing finish, that may leave you scratching your head.  Kate Kae Myers is an author to watch.  I can't wait to see what else she has up her sleeve.  

Favorite Quotations: 

"Life is a series of shallow breaths.  And in any breath, everything can change."

"Since then, everywhere I went the pain of losing him went with me.  It wore me like a backpack, slapping a rhythm of heartache against my soul with each step."

"Shadows began to glide in and out of the windows like dark, filmy bats."

"The flames etched his face with flickering tattoos."

"During the last few years I'd tried to forget what it had been like when life took a group of frightened children through the looking-glass, into a world of lunacy."

"Hey, Captain Solo, I'm a big girl now and can handle myself outside the Millennium Falcon."

"Light-hearted, I began falling down the deep well of love. I hoped with all my heart that nothing happened to ruin it."

A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Bloomsbury USA Childrens via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 
Originally posted at: http://rainydayramblings.typepad.com/

[Tanja (Tanychy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review also posted at Ja čitam, a ti?

Even though, I'm always going on about how I want to read some mystery stories, I never to. Why? Well, first they usually aren't that mysterious and well I do watch plenty of TV crime shows, so I kinda of need a break sometimes. But it turned out that a real mystery has found me now. Go figure.

Speaking about OTP! So, it's not a strange thing that I love damaged characters in my stories, so when I got to meet Jocelyn here we clicked from the start. There is just something in that girl that I'd love to hug. She is been through hell and back, and you can see it. She is not your kickass strong girl all the time, she is, to put it simply human. Right after she got back and met with Noah I was instantly captivated. It's just match made in heaven. I really loved how they got back to living with their past and getting to know each other again. Well, I kinda went all squee and ahhh whenever they appeared on the page together.

Mystery is mysterious! Yeah, you don't hear this a lot, but honestly I couldn't predict absolutely nothing here. I just kept reading and whenever some big twist happened I just had to stop. It's everything from slowly revealing their past to the all Jack's mystery clues game. Not to talk about the ending, which is simply mind-blow.

Throw in some really good writing and nice organization, when you get past revealed little by little and twist happening one at the time and well you won't be surprised to see my rating. I had no idea that I'd grow to love this so much. But I'm so happy I did. Hopefully you will too.

[Sabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minority reviewer here... but in a good way!



1) The Story: The main leads Jocelyn and Noah go through different clues to find Jocelyn's brother.

People compare it with author's other book Inherit Midnight but they are totally different. This one's a thriller and that is a family adventure mystery.

Pros:

1. Exciting Premise: I haven't read something like that and the premise grabbed my attention.

2. The Character: Both the main leads, Jocelyn and Noah had the right personalities to find a missing character using their mental and physical strength.

3. Noah: The Male lead definitely deserves a star, especially for him. He was both sweet and smart.

4. The Ending: Loved it! It blew my mind! Couldn't guess the twist.

Con:

The book is just a little slow at the start but after the initial 10-15%, you get the thrill!

[Kelly (Diva Booknerd) · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.divabooknerd.com/2015/01/t...
The Vanishing was completely unexpected. I found myself immersed from the first few pages, and unable to tear myself away. It follows the story of Jocelyn, grieving the loss of her twin brother Jack who was tragically killed. Growing up in the neglectful and abusive orphanage, both relied on Noah for guidance and to keep them safe. But an incident caused Jocelyn to flee, landing the twins in a loving foster home while they lost track of Noah's whereabouts after the orphanage fire. After reconnecting, each night Jack communicated with Noah online, working within The Internet Security company and bonding over late night conversations.

When Jocelyn barges back into his life, Noah reluctantly joins the search for Jack's next clue. Wavering between the thrill of the adventure and not daring to believe his friend is still alive. But with a rogue former employee on their tails, the race to decipher the clues left by Jack will put both their lives in danger. Jocelyn was a likable character, although scared, she was determined to face her childhood fears in order to find her brother, despite her own life being in danger.

Noah verges on surly and hasn't seen Jocelyn since the night she fled, but allows her to bring him along on the dangerous and deadly adventure that will see them cross borders, and contact children of the former home whilst bringing the two childhood friends together again. It was thrilling, reminding me of a mild, young adult version of The Da Vinci Code. I couldn't put it down and read long into the early hours of the morning.

Unlike young adult thrillers such as We Were Liars and Dangerous Girls, The Vanishing has not only the element of surprise, but the suspense will keep you on edge from cover to cover. At times the writing felt a little unpolished, but doesn't distract from the storyline. I simply loved it. Enthralling and heart stopping suspense that will last long after the final page is turned.

[Tanja Berg · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a waste of ink! This book is so bad I'm not even sure it's worth five minutes writing a review. I kept reading hoping for the TWIST at the end that held so much surpise. Sadly, I guessed the "twist" somewhere around page 20, so if I was disappointed reading this uninteresting mess, that's nothing with how I felt when I got to the end.

Jocelyn has lost her twin brother. He has left her clues and so she goes back to the horrible Seale house where they were foster kids together to unravel them. She meets Noah, who was with them in the house, and he helps her.

I did not give a hoot about Jocelyn or Noah at any point in this story. They do not seem real or particularly interesting. If they had been blown to bits in a car bomb at the end of the book I would have hardly raised an eyebrow. If it had happened in the middle of the book at least I would have been saved from wasting my time on this drivel. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. It's not worth your time, trust me.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

As soon as I first heard about this one, I KNEW that I HAD to read it. The summary made it sound like a delightfully creepy YA thriller. The cover was gorgeous as well as eye catching. In addition, this had been compared to The Lying Game by Sara Shepard, a book I had read and loved last year! Thankfully, The Vanishing Game ended up being just my kind of book! Full of thrill as well as plenty of twists and turns, it kept me guessing until the very last page, something that rarely occurs!

From the first page of this one, I was instantaneously hooked, because Myers threw a curve ball straight up front: Jocelyn's brother is dead...but is he? That question kept The Vanishing Game moving until the very, very last page, because not only did it lift that plot line as well as others fully off the ground, but it also created lots and lots of character development, something I love just as much as excellent plot lines!

However, before I get too far into that, let me talk a little about the characters in this one. First, Jocelyn was an interesting character from the start. I truly never knew what to expect from her, especially towards the end, but that was part of what made it so much fun! However, two things I did know for sure were not only did she love her brother but she also loved Noah, the boy who has kept her heart racing for years even if he never seemed to notice. Talking about Noah, I really enjoyed reading about him as well. He was the total reformed bad boy with quite a few secrets of his own, so once him and Jocelyn meet up to research the death of her brother as well as the letters from the grave, the story really got going.

As I've mentioned before, I really enjoyed the plot line of this one. Kate Kae Myers truly knows how to weave a great YA thriller together as well as the perfect cast of mismatched characters that never fail to bring a few surprises with them as well. While I would love nothing more to go on and on about the plot, I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, because part of what made this book as good as it was not knowing anything, trust me.

Creepy as well as frightening, The Vanishing Game is the perfect book to curl up with late at night, but word of warning: it won't let you go until you finish, and even then, I'm sure you won't manage to get that much sleep. ;)

Highly, highly recommended!

Grade: A+

[Asheley T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

(a similar version of this review can be found here at Into the Hall of Books: http://www.intothehallofbooks.com/201...)

I recently read The Vanishing Game in one sitting and admittedly was a little creeped out. It was a suspenseful mystery story aimed at a younger audience, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. There was a twist at the end that totally threw me for a loop and it has taken me a few days to work through my my thoughts.

Here they are:

1. The Characters.

**Jocelyn. Twin to Jack, bounced in and out of foster care since leaving her mother's care.
**Jack. Jocelyn's twin, killed in a car accident which devastated Jocelyn.
**Noah. The twins' best friend while they were residents at Seale House, a foster care home.
**Seale House. I'm making the foster care home a character because it truly seems to be alive. It is downright creepy at times but always interesting. I never knew what this house was going to do. Kinda awesome and definitely dark.

At times, Jocelyn seems to be a smart character and I suppose she really is. I mean, she is the one with the faith to kick-start the whole search for her recently-deceased twin brother, so she gets some points for that. But I like Noah the most. Noah seems to have risen above his circumstances and has made a life for himself; he was doing just fine until Jocelyn showed up at his door talking crazy stuff about her dead brother maybe/possibly being alive. Even so, he gave her a chance and before too long he had established a faith in her reasons based both on her gut feelings and concrete evidence. Noah is mysterious and calm, thinking before acting impulsively. With Noah, I almost felt like there was more to him than I knew while I was reading, which pumped up his mystery. You guys know how I love a mysterious character, right?

2. Mystery. This is a book that is completely outside of my normal genre. I think I would actually call it something like a thriller/ mystery/ suspense with some paranormal thrown in. It definitely has some of all of those things on the inside. In terms of its mystery aspect, I felt like I was given a ton of clues - one right behind the other - and some of them were even left for me to decipher for myself, which was a little fun. I felt like I had to make some of my own decisions with this book, which was just outside of my zone. It was different and unexpected, but thrilling nonetheless.

3. Adventure. The way this book was written - the release of clue after clue after clue - led Jocelyn and Noah on a scavenger hunt to find...something. Interestingly, they weren't really sure what they'd find at the end of the hunt. Would Jack be alive? Did he leave something somewhere for them? But it was a fun adventure and I think that fans of adventurous-type stories will love this aspect of the writing. This part of the story structure was very well-written and smartly done.

4. The Setting. The setting took place at times inside Seale House, which was dark and creepy and awesome for a setting. Loved it. The rest of the setting was in the northern US and parts of Canada, which admittedly I have not read too much about. It was fun to read new places and visualize the descriptions given during the clues in the scavenger hunt, and I can imagine readers living in the Watertown and Canadian areas mentioned will find this a real treat.

5. Plot-Driven. This is a very plot-driven book (vs. character-driven) in my opinion, so fans of action sequences: rejoice! Basically, there was never a dull moment. There were gunshots, bombs, fights, bites, choking, and other things of that nature. There were also some freaky paranormal occurrences mostly - but not always - revolving around the Seale House. I love action and found this highly entertaining.

6. The Ending. Friends, I was a bit confused the entire time I was reading this book. But I kept on, and the ending PAID OFF. I normally am pretty good at figuring things out early, but I didn't this time and WOW.

The Vanishing Game was one of those books that I had to sit on for a few days and ponder. In fact, I still think I'm pondering it. It is really well-written and smart. Fans of the mystery and suspense genre will undoubtedly eat it up, especially if you like to read books for a younger audience.

I think older middle grade and young adult readers will handle this book just fine despite its dark tone and the factor of creepiness. The adventure inside is perfect for these readers as well. The twist at the end is astounding and left me wanting to talk to someone about the book like, right now. I recommend The Vanishing Game to readers looking for something truly fun to read. It was creepy and dark and psychological, and that is always fun.

*I borrowed this book as part of Around The World Book Tours in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions. I received no compensation for my review.

[Veronica Morfi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new exciting thriller that will leave you thinking about it for a long time after you are finished reading it.

The Vanishing Game leads us on a crazy scavenger hunt after clues that Jack has left his sister Jocelyn. Jocelyn thinks her brother has been dead for three weeks but then she receives a letter from him containing a clue, just like he used to do when they were on foster care at Seale House. The first thing she does is reunite with an old friend, Noah, together they used to solve the clues Jack left them and now they are about to do it again for one last time. But they are not the only ones after Jack. Haunted by the demons of her past and all too real enemies of her present, Jocelyn has to stay alive first, before she finds her brother.

I really love this book. I can't describe how much I love it. Everything about it was perfect. Scavanger hunting is one of the things I am dying for, all these clues Jack left were so smart and mysterious, I was trying so hard to solve everything, but some of them required specific knowledge that only Jocelyn and Noah had. I also love the fact that Noah and Jack are programmers, since I am one too. Next thing this book has in a great amount is the memories of Jocelyn when she and her brother were still living at Seale House with Noah and all those other kids, I think they were some of the best parts of the book. And of course I adored the ending...didn't see that coming! Really brilliant!

This book never had a dull moment. If I wasn't trying to figure out a clue, I was reading about Jocelyn's unique past or I was in the middle of a action scene. Such a brilliant read! Can't wait to see more from the author.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable, creepy, loaded with twists young adult read. What an awesome debut by this author. Furthermore, I think the book was clean enough even for a younger teen audience.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

As soon as I read the description for The Vanishing Game I just knew it would be a book I would have to read. Needless to say I did enjoy the book.

The Vanishing Game surprised me a little. I'm not sure why but I didn't think this book would be a dark mystery, I thought it would be lighter. I was definitely wrong in that sense.

As I read deeper into the mystery I found myself wondering what was going on and being drawn into the story so much so that I felt like I couldn't put the book down. I also started to question some of the things that were happening. Certain events made me wonder just exactly what was really going on.

The characters were interesting. I thought that Jocelyn was really intriguing but I also didn't feel as though I could relate to her so much. However, for me characters never really make the story, I was far more interested in the mystery. On a totally unrelated note, her and Jack get a little bit more love from me in that we share the same birthday. Yeah, incredibly biased I know, but we share the same birthday and their birthday has a tiny bit of significance in the book so that's pretty awesome too.

I liked that within The Vanishing Game there were clues leading up to the final event. I'm not going to lie, the deeper the mystery went the more I got sucked into the story and just didn't want to stop reading. I got to the big reveal and was like, ummmm? What? Really? The summaries all say that there is a twist at the end and me being me was like, yeah well I always guess these things. Ummm yeah, not in this case. Yeah, not going to lie, I was pretty thrown by the ending.

Overall, I would definitely recommend The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Myers for those fans of mysteries. Also, for anyone wanting to be knocked backwards by the twist ending. I'm still reeling over how things ended.

[Fanny · Rating 5 out of 5]

¿Cómo se puede describir al libro perfecto?

Este libro me encantó como pocos logran hacerlo, es una mezcla de todo lo que me gusta en una buena historia: romance, intriga, y esa manera de narrar del escritor(a) que hace que te mantengas al borde del asiento y quieras deborar página tras página mientras creas mil y una teorías en tu cabeza de qué es lo que secederá, o el porqué está ocurriendo lo que está ocurriendo. Debo admitir que jamás me pasó por la mente lo que se descubre llegando al final de la historia, mis suposiciones (algunas) eran un tanto exageradas, pero no del todo alejadas de lo que sucedía.

Recomiendo este libro al 100% si así como yo, te gustan las historias tal y como mencioné arriba. Definitivamente Kate Kae Myers se ha convertido en una de mis escritoras favoritas y estaré ansiosa de leer más obras de ella :D

[happily_reader_after · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huh. It could really have been better. I really loved Inherit Midnight so I was expecting something like that. It WAS a quick read, so that was nice, but overall it wasn't great, and the ending was awful.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book! Great unexpected twist at the end! I look forward to reading more books by this author.

[Brigusz92 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Where should I start? I love mysteries, I love solving puzzles, codes, etc. I love supernatural things, telekinesis sounds cool and I usually like stories about mental disorders. And yeah, I love ninjas! But you can't put everything in the same book, it doesn't work! If you wrote 3 separate books, it might be fine, at least the story might be more entertaining. But this book was, with all due respect, a big pile of 💩, maybe a dinosaur could save it from a complete disaster. (Just kidding, please don't write it!)

As for the writing... I thought, the worst book I'd read this year would be New Moon - but this was even worse, congrats, it's a really big deal! Firstly, the main character is tall, as a young girl she was "ugly" because of her short hair but she's no longer ugly. She's not like the others, she doesn't look like a prostitute like the others. (Yup, if you wear make up and have girly clothes, you're definitely a prostitute, we girls / women already have enough complexes, just create more for the young adults.) She's tall. She's not like everyone else. And I almost forgot to mention she's pretty tall!
She's into this guy, they have their own drama, running away from a stupid ninja and from creepy/scary places but they still find time to eat because this guy is always damn hungry and she always forgets to eat but she should eat more!
If you're here for a mystery and a good story, don't read this book, please, IT'S A TRAP (and it's a crap!)!

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was kinda on the fence with this book but the ending really saved it for me. I kept wanting to put this one down but something about it stopped me and I just kept reading. I really liked the Jason December and all the clues Jack left for Jocelyn. I didn’t know who to trust by the end of it. About page 200 or so is where I really got into the story. I think I will hang onto this one for a little while longer and read it again in the future.

[Christine (KizzieReads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars. I took a bit away because the ending was just okay. Also, too many stumbling blocks were figured out way too easy. The suspense was great, and seeing the background really helped, but sometimes it felt like something was missing. It was so easy for them to figure out the puzzles, but you didn't know why until after. But it happened all the time. Hard to put into words without spoiling things, but I just found things a bit too easy.

[Erica Henry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm so disappointed by this book. I enjoyed the beginning and was all excited to find out what happens, but then that ending...wtf! Hours completely wasted. 😔

[Caitlin Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Vanishing Game is a little different than what we normally read and review here on the blog. The book has a bit of romance, but it's secondary (or thirdly, even) to the mystery and suspense of following the clues and finding out whether or not Jocelyn's twin brother is alive, or has faked his death and gone into hiding.



The book centers around Seale House, a foster home that Jocelyn and Jack lived in when they were children. Living in that house is the stuff of nightmares, and once they got out of the house, Jocelyn tried everything she could to block those memories. Jocelyn and Jack were placed in a new foster home, and lived happily there for awhile until Jack died in a tragic car accident. It's been three weeks, and Jocelyn is barely managing to go on without him. She arrives home from school one day to a letter written from a place she never wanted to see again, and from someone she thought was dead.


While living in Seale House Jocey and Jack became best friends with another boy, Noah, and the three were inseparable. Jack would design these elaborate games, where Noah and Jocey had to follow clues to receive the prize at the end. His code name, Jack December. The letter that Jocey receives is from Jason December, and it's post dated after Jack died. Desperately hoping her brother is really alive, she travels back to Watertown and the awful memories in search of Noah, her childhood friend and the only other person that can help her decipher the clues. Not only must they contend with an unknown enemy following their trail, Jocelyn and Noah must confront their haunting memories and finally lay the ghosts in Seale House to rest. The big question remains, is Jack really alive?


I was actually supposed to read this about a week ago, but I kept hemming and hawing and putting it off. I mistakenly read a few reviews on Goodreads before I started reading, and the excitement I felt sort of waned when I figured out that the romance wasn't the primary storyline. Or even a secondary storyline, really. I finally couldn't put it off any longer and I grudgingly started reading. I was immediately sucked in by the mystery of Jason December. I became so enthralled in fact, that I decided I didn't give a crap about the romance and I was an idiot for looking at other reviews before making up my own mind.


I really, really enjoyed The Vanishing Game. It was sad and heartbreaking, and I can't believe all that Jocelyn had to endure in her short life. Her memories of everything that happened in Seale House were horrifying. My heart broke for these kids, and I think it's tragic that any child should have to live in such an environment. I loved the relationship between the two siblings, and how they stuck together through every hardship life through their way. The depression and utter bleakness that Jocey felt after Jack died was written so well that I felt like I had lost my twin or something. I also liked how Noah and Jocey didn't just jump right back into their old friendship like they hadn't been separated for years. They had some issues to work out first, and the initial awkwardness was a bit more realistic and believable.


The ending. Oh, the ending y'all. I never really could tell whether or not Jack was alive, and I did NOT expect the shocking twist at the end. I never, ever, ever would have guessed the book would turn out the way it did. I'm not one to guess the ending anyway, since I'm just not smart like that, but I don't think anyone could have figured out what turn the book was going to take. The first 3/4 of the book was captivating, but that twist is what pushed The Vanishing Game into a truly great read.


My Summary: This is one of those rare books for me where my focus was more on the story - the mystery, suspense, who is sending the Jack December letters, whether or not Jack is alive - than the individual characters. All the elements of the story blended together and the author has given us a book that you absolutely have to finish or you can't move on with your life. It was nice to have a little break from reading mostly romance novels, and it was a break that I didn't even know I needed. If anything, you have to read this book just so you can read the twist at the end. Be prepared to be amazed!


My Rating: A

[kinkini · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have so many complaints about this book, I don’t even know which one to start with. Let’s make a list to organize:
- forced prose
- genuinely unlikeable main character
* constant displays of “im not like the other girls”
* constant reminders of her height and that she’s pretty now
- so many different genres squeezed into one book
- the “puzzles”
- incorrect understanding of magical abilities (also why was magic necessary)
- useless backstories
- the fucking ending

okay, let’s get into it. first, the prose. jesus christ, the writing was so forced and bad. it felt like the author was trying so hard to describe every little thing in the surroundings and environments, that their were entire paragraphs of just flat unnecessary descriptions. I actually have a direct quote from the book to prove this point,

“we walked past shops and cafes. red and white maple leaf flags hung from balconies and flagpoles, and cars inched down the packed road as drivers searched for places to park. all kinds of shoppers and tourists passed us. a dark skinned man wearing a sombrero and a suit made entirely of zippers got a nervous glance from a woman in a tailored business suit. we heard a bagpipe playing; in the distance was a guy in a kilt and full scottish attire. people stopped to watch him plan and put cash in his copper bucket. a block long flower market, its framework heavy with bright hanging baskets, caught my attention. workers with watering cans and misting bottles catered to the plants, and the sweet scent of flowers drifted on the breeze.”

IM SORRY?? was any of this description absolutely necessary? if you really wanted to talk about the surroundings that badly, two sentences saying there were lots of people and it was a flower market would have sufficed. like were we trying to hit a word count? if only this much attention was paid to the plot maybe the book would’ve been better. i have so much more to say about the prose but I’ll leave it here.

alright, let’s get into jocey. can I take a minute to just reflect on how much I hated her throughout the course of this entire book. she spent so long convincing the reader about how she was different from other girls and that she fit in better with the boys (i think there actually might’ve been a direct quote from her monologue like that). every mention of any other girl or woman in this book was framed in a way that made our mc the victim, and that every other girl was slutty.

“'oh, I’m sorry, I thought you were still in the restroom stuffing your bras with toilet paper.' a few of the boys laughed, including jack and noah.”
“‘at least I’m not a girl who dresses like a prostitute.’”

don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the other girl was being nice to jocey at all. but there’s no reason to write a book where every single interaction your mc has with other girls into a negative spiel where she has to “comeback” at them in such a bad way. and then the addition of “a few of the boys laughed”, pleaseee be so fr. what did they do next, did they all start cheering and clapping their hands too? did they start chanting jocey’s name because she’s one of the boys too? at least try to make a character that doesn’t seem like it’s out a middle school wattpad 1D fanfiction (AND IM A GIRL WHO SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON WATTPAD AS A TWEEN I KNOW MY WATTPAD PROSE) with a character like jocey, it’s really important that as an author, you write her to be likeable to the reader, but that just didn’t happen here. I don’t even want to get into how many times her height and attractiveness was mentioned. jesus christ.

to the point of so many genres in one, it really feels like the author took all of the genres and tropes she liked, tossed it all into a washing machine and put it on spin. i was so tired when a new genre was being introduced. now, I have no issues with a book being ~mutlifaceted~, but when the execution is so bad, there’s really no saving it. we started off with your average mystery, then romance was added, then we saw adventure mystery (which is how I describe mystery but when puzzles/riddles are introduced into it and it’s not looking at newspapers and talking to witnesses), then there were the flashbacks (which usually make more sense in literary fiction but here it was being used to give us backstories), then we got murder, then company conspiracy, then action (with literal bombings and guns), then fucking magic/fantasy for some godforsaken reason), and then at the very end we also got psychological thriller (if you can even call this that — feels insulting to my beloved genre to call this book a psych thriller but there’s no other way to describe it). can someone even justify this many genres that are mish mashed together so horrifically?

okay, the “puzzles” that jack was leaving for them. im sorry but they were so far fetched it was just ridiculous to try to link them together. linking some random last name from a canadian memorial to a fucking STREET in their hometown just because they both say “flower” in it, is fucking insane. it’s pointless, and again, they’re the type of connections you would see in a creative writing prompt from an 8th grader.

I’m a person who loves magic, WHEN IT IS WRITTEN CORRECTLY. like, you can’t just give a random mc telekinetic abilities and go “yup that’s perfect there. that makes perfect sense.” there was no buildup to it, i mean obviously I started to suspect something potentially magical when people kept getting hurt by objects around her, and jocey would be like “bUt i dIdNt dO aNyThInG”, but there was no world building or explanation as to how she had these powers and why no one else had them either. as an author, you cannot just plop one single magical character into an otherwise normal book and expect it to flow. and on the topic of telekinesis, that, by definition, is the ability to move things with one’s mind, it is NOT the ability to randomly set things on fire and/or extinguish them. now, you could write it chemically, and be like, she extinguished the fires by removing the oxygen in the air surrounding the fire to choke it out, but there was no mention of that. and when people touched her to hurt her, they would just burn??? that’s not telekinesis. respectfully, if you insist on making someone magical, do it fucking right.

the useless backstories was something that really pissed me off. i thought the secret to finding jack, and following all those ridiculous puzzles, would have something to do with their childhood and that was why the backstories were being introduced at all. i know, stupid me right. but evidently the real reason of jack going missing and all those puzzles, had absolutely no fucking thing to do with their childhood or any of those memories that she kept having. none of the kids from their childhood were relevant in any way to the plot and overall direction of the book and resolution. what was the reason? this book really could’ve been maximum five pages long.

the ending. I’ve mentioned it earlier in this review, but the psychological portion of this book was so pointless. there was no reason for any of that. it debunked absolutely everything that had previously been in the book. the entire book was a wild goose chase for every character involved, and while that would be a cool concept in a book, in this one, it just wasn’t executed properly.

and what sucks most of all is, if the author had just stuck to one genre, the book probably would’ve been great. if the book had just been the psych thriller, that “plot twist” ending would’ve been decent. if the book had just been the adventure mystery and they ended up finding jack, that would’ve been decent too. but no. you had to try to have it all in one book and fucked it all to hell.

now for some honorary cringe quotes:

“I didn’t understand how Noah could think about food when we had an unsolved clue.”
“to his credit he tried to be a gentleman and keep his eyes on my arm. I knew this wasn’t easy, since I was wearing a low-cut lavender sports bra.”
“at least i’d already emailed the english essay.”
“he was studying me more than the screen.”
“’are you happy noah?’ ‘don’t start playing head games with me. you won’t win.’”
“‘you listen to me. you’re the most remarkable person I’ve ever known. since you’ve grown up, you’re beautiful, yes, but I don’t really care about your looks. never have. It’s your head and heart that’s always gotten under my skin like nobody else could.’”
“’still biting your nails, i see.’ ‘no calories, at least.’”

and my personal favorite,

“I turned and ran into the fog, not looking back.”

[Chapter by Chapter · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read what The Vanishing Game was about, I immediately felt drawn in (and I hadn’t even read the first page yet *shocked face*). To me, it sounded like some sort of psychological mind game mystery novel where the reader would be guessing and guessing until BOOM! You face the dark truth of what is really supposed to be happening in the novel. However I will tell you later on in the review if this novel was as mind tricky as I believed it to be.

So first off, I absolutely fell in love with the beginning of the novel. It starts with a prologue that is just haunting and begins to explain the relationship between the main character Jocey and Jack. Jocelyn being the tomgeek main character (look up the word seeing as how I learned it from the novel itself; cool word by the way) and Jack being her deceased brother. But from the start of the novel, we are also lead to believe that maybe, just maybe, Jack might still be alive. That caught my attention completely. That and the fact that we also get thrown into watching Jocey stalk Noah and end up being choked by him before uttering the words “Third Freak”. Strange? A little bit. Engaging? Completely.

What I did loved about Myers writing style was the way we really got to see the way the main character thought more than most novels, meaning that instead of constantly being drowned in setting details (Ex: Look how blue that wall is, it’s so blue that I was thinking of the sky or the color of some flower I smelled when I was six.) Instead we got to see so much thinking and I found that so exciting! I could really feel the emotions that Jocey felt when she thought of her brother Jack or the way she felt when she began to fall for Noah.

I couldn’t resist the mystery that came with the plot...what is Seale House really? A now burned down haunted house? Is there a monster in the cellar? While I won’t give you the answers to those questions (you can find them when you read the novel) I can say that the mystery that came with the plot was just great. All of the Jason December clues and letters that Noah and Jocey came across had me going into my complete Riddler mode (Yay for Batman references!) hoping that I could find out the clues before the characters did. Of course, I was incapable of doing so *sad face*. Let’s also add in the fact that I loved that how to understand the plot and Jason December letters, you get to see flashbacks of the hell that Noah, Jack and Jocey had to endure when they lived in Seale House. With each flashback I could feel by heart get wrenched or I would end up scowling when I saw how cruel Hazel ended up being.

The only major issue I had was that occasionally I would end up losing interest in the plot when I would feel like it was starting to lose pace but (yes a big but) right when I would begin to notice that I was losing interest, Meyers would drop a new twist or cliff-hanger on me, leaving me begging for more to read.

You won’t believe the ending that had me both gasping and frozen from being so shocked, that you’ll end up finishing the novel with complete satisfaction. All in all, a great read especially for fans of mystery and thrillers. I personally hope for a movie…

[Kyleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say, when I first started reading this, I was severely creeped out. Fifty pages in and I couldn't stay up too late reading this at night. The author definitely plunges you right into the story. When Jocelyn first receives the letter you can only infer from the synopsis as to what it really means. The beginning kind of jumps abruptly from the letter to Jocelyn trying to find Noah. Everything is explained when Jocelyn tells Noah about what has been happening. Not a day back in her childhood town and her car has already been stolen along with most of her possessions. Noah is her only hope of getting back on her feet and finding out whether or not her brother is still alive.

Facing the horror of Seale House is more difficult than Jocelyn ever expected though. Not only is she starting to hallucinate and black out while in the house, but some of Seale House's nightmares might be real. When some troublesome kids run her out of the house she comes face to face with one of her childhood friends from Seale House. Except it isn't a happy reunion, he wants to kill her. But he is the least of her problems. Someone else is out there stalking her, waiting for the right time to get to her.


As Noah joins her on her search for Jack, they discover the first set of clues. Their childhood games of hiding clues has now turned into a race to find Jack before whoever is chasing them catches up and finishes the job. As the identity of their pursuer is discovered, the company Jack worked for is implicated in the whole mess. Did Jack fake his own death to hide? Or does he have something the company wants?

I have to say I was completely sucked in from beginning to end. I couldn't say for sure what was going on the entire book. I did end up guessing the plot twist, but I honestly didn't think I was right. I was just throwing out completely ludicrous plot twists in my mind and ended up guessing it. Though I have to admit I was NEVER for sure. There seemed to be so much contrary evidence. For one minute I was sure Jack was dead, the next that he was alive, and the most of the time I just plain didn't know. Definitely kept me on my toes the entire story.

I really liked Noah too. Despite all the shit going on around them, Noah and Jocelyn connect. He wasn't your typical heart throb. He was a very complex character and I loved his tough guy attitude and yet he was incredibly smart. Usually computer programmer and taekwondo don't mix, but I liked it XD


I really liked the ending as well. It wasn't picture perfect, if you get my meaning. It still had a good conclusion and Jocelyn was trying to move on and live her dream. I definitely would say the author left a possible opening for a second book, but I don't really know where she'd go with it. I just think that Jocelyn's story isn't over yet. This was definitely a refreshing read. Haven't read something that got me this spooked in a while. The clues were fantastic and clever and just really added to the mystery of the story.

[Nafiza · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know, I went into The Vanishing Game expecting very different things than I found there. Is that a satisfactorily ambiguous comment or should I try again?

(Aside: I keep on thinking how much I want to see more of Miyazaki's works while I'm trying to write this.)

I found it difficult to get into the book initially. Major obstacles came in the form of awkward characterizations. One of the notes I took while reading is: "It's strange that Jocelyn uses "I" when saying "I was ten" since she is talking about her brother and it would seem natural for her to say "we were ten."" Maybe this just indicates my picky nature as a reader but it was little details like that that detracted from my reading experience. There is also a fair bit of pathos and telling instead of showing. I'd say the first quarter of the book goes on in this manner.

But then somehow the pace picks up and things start looking better. It might be that I am a sucker for mysteries but I really liked the sense of adventure, tension and intrigue colouring the latter half of the novel. The urgency in the wild goose choose, the clues and then the little flashbacks to the lives the main characters led as foster kids in the care of a very careless foster parent. (Careless might be a lenient adjective. Cruel and malicious, abusive amongst other descriptors might serve better.)

The culmination of the novel is very, very interesting. I wasn't expecting it but at the same time, I didn't feel that the novel prepped enough or gave enough clues to pull it off a satisfactory manner. It was very interesting, I will give you that. And once the awkward parts in the characters are smoothed out, they make for compelling people but, at the same time, maybe it is because I'm reading an ARC, I felt that some other details could be reworked to make the novel stronger than it is. And it plenty strong.

The author's forte is in the snippets she writes that give glimpses of other peoples' lives. She can say a lot with few words and I look forward to watching her grow as a writer.

Oh right, would I recommend this novel? Certainly. It's not a paranormal but a thriller and I do so appreciate a thriller once in a while. We have too few of them around in the YA genre.

[Charlotte Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Jocelyn follows clues apparently from her dead twin, Jack, in and around Seale House, the terrifying foster home where they once lived. With help from childhood friend Noah she begins to uncover the truth about Jack's death and the company that employed him and Noah.

Review:
This is a book that will have you thinking and pondering different scenarios even while you're reading it. So much that I, while pondering, just could not put it down. I had to keep going. I had to find out the truth.

Even from the first page I was pulled into Jocey's world. Firstly wondering what had happened to make her sneak into Noah's car and stay hidden rather than let him know she was there. Noah was her and brother Jack's best friend while they were foster kids at Seale House. A house that to present day still gives Jocey nightmares.

But things are quite right when Jocey gets into Noahs car. She's received a letter from Jason December, a code name for her dead brother, and its a name that only Jocey, Jack and Noah know about. Of course, Noah eventually finds Jocey and from here on in the plots thicken and thicken, the puzzles keep coming, and the back story fills in the details as this mystery, and very intriguing suspense story continues.

I did get it (you'll know what I mean) about 80% into the story. And I realised I'd read all the clues but hadn't put them together. The characters from Seale House and all the history suddenly made sense, and the whole story was absolutely believeable right until the final page.

This book is creepy, horrifying, heartbreaking, but equally brilliant at the same time. I can't even begin to think how the author came up with all the tiny details that made this book such an amazing read.

The only reason I'm marking this down a star and not giving it 5 out of 5 is the small paranormal aspect which felt like it was thrown into the story just to make it a little more quirky. It wasn't really necessary, there were certainly ways of explaining such things without it.

Overall, I'm so glad I read it. It will have your mind thinking about the story for days after, and if that happens you know you've read a good book.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not the right week for this book. I was supposed to be packing, moving and cleaning, but instead the only thing I wanted to do was keep reading! I finally stayed up late last night to finish the book.

Teenager Jocelyn, living in a foster home in New York, is mourning the death of her twin brother, Jack, in a car accident a few weeks earlier. But suddenly she receives a letter which appears to be from him. The letter contains a clue which sends her back to Seale House, the creepy children's home she and Jack had escaped five years earlier. She enlists the help of Noah, another boy who had been at Seale House with them, and together they start working their way through Jack's clues.

Even though this is a YA book, let me assure reluctant readers that (a) this is a standalone book and you won't have to wait for a sequel to find any plot resolution, (b) there are no vampires (THANK GOODNESS!), and (c) the book is plot-driven and very suspenseful (instead of being just a thinly-veiled teen romance). The ending didn't wrap everything up quite as neatly as I hoped it would--after I finished the book I kept wondering, "But why did they..." and "But how could..." and "She sure had a lot of freedom for someone who..." and "What was up with that chick with the chain, anyway?" But that's the beauty of the book: things aren't tied up nicely and the ending raises even more questions.

Definitely recommended. I see some other reviewers have been comparing it to Nancy Drew novels, but the only similarity I saw was that there was a girl solving clues. This book has much more substance and suspense than any Nancy Drew book I can remember. It's more like Dean Koontz lite.

[The Reading Countess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I'd do if I met Kate Kae Myers, the author of The Vanishing Game. Would I hug her for writing a hard-to-put-down book that reminded me at times of the Nancy Drew books of my youth or punch her in the gut for the surprise twist of an ending that I never suspected?

Jocelyn and her twin brother Jack have had to brave it alone for most of their teen lives. Bounced around from home to home and finally landing in a foster home, their only family has been the two of them. But Seale House, the foster house they find themselves in at twelve, seems to hold some secrets. Despite forging a friendship with another apparent foster kid at Seale House, the environment is unstable and dangerous.

Fast forward five years, and Jocelyn is on a mission to find her missing brother with the help of estranged Noah. But something, or someone, keeps getting in the way of the trail of clues Jack leaves the duo. Will the pair discover the truth in time?

The Vanishing Game is one book that makes the reader keep coming back for more. Not only are most of the chapters ended on individual cliff hangers (ala Nancy Drew), but the entire plot keeps one guessing...until the end when the reader slaps him/herself on the forehead and wonders why the twist wasn't apparent from the very beginning.

As an adult reader of a young adult book, some of the events in the book seemed at times implausible; but I'm not the target audience. I think this one will most definitely keep my readers on edge and make them not only read it once, but twice after discovering the true secret(s) behind The Vanishing Game.

[KWinks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this read. It is a mystery, a paranormal suspense, and a book about secret codes all whipped into one. Jocey is one of the strongest and smartest heroines I have read in a good, long while. She can take care of herself pretty well, but there is an undertone of a slightly unreliable nature to her (she did just lose her twin brother to a horrible car accident).
The Seale House is very strange, but not as strange as the things that happened to the foster children that lived there. Something may be "living" in the basement, and it bites.
On top of the haunted house/haunted past plot we are faced with the return of Jocey's dead twin brother's alter ego, the mysterious, code writing "Jason December".
I loved the codes, and I loved the tour of Watertown and parts of Canada.
I was (am) a little unsure of Noah. I do not feel that I understood that character at all.
What impressed me deeply was Myers ability to connect me to these children. She gives the right details at the right time to make me really feel like I was at Seale House. This is good stuff.
Much of the past appears as tiny snippets of flashbacks, and at first that annoyed me, but I realized they were little peeks of the big picture.
Overall, this is a really mature read I would recommend to my adult friends and to teens who can handle the "harder" stuff. It is not a light read and requires the patience of a saint because reveals are looong in coming, but the suspense of the story will get you there.