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Ethical Vampire #2
The Year of Disappearances
It was the year of disappearances. The honeybees were the first to go.
Ariella Montero is no stranger to the dark side of life. Half human, half vampire, she spent her first thirteen years in exile from both societies. When her best friend was murdered, Ari ran away to begin a new life in Florida. But, one by one, the people and things she cares most about keep disappearing. And Ari may be next.
She can hypnotize, she can read minds, and she can make herself invisible, but can she escape her stalkers? Ari's special talents are severely tested as she moves on — from a vampire community in the Sunshine State to college in Georgia to the primeval maze of the Okefenokee Swamp. In contending with the politics of vampire and human cultures, Ari comes face-to-face with zombies that are infiltrating America, as well as demons and shadows that haunt us all.
Ariella Montero is no stranger to the dark side of life. Half human, half vampire, she spent her first thirteen years in exile from both societies. When her best friend was murdered, Ari ran away to begin a new life in Florida. But, one by one, the people and things she cares most about keep disappearing. And Ari may be next.
She can hypnotize, she can read minds, and she can make herself invisible, but can she escape her stalkers? Ari's special talents are severely tested as she moves on — from a vampire community in the Sunshine State to college in Georgia to the primeval maze of the Okefenokee Swamp. In contending with the politics of vampire and human cultures, Ari comes face-to-face with zombies that are infiltrating America, as well as demons and shadows that haunt us all.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published May 6, 2008
24 people are currently reading
1119 people want to read
About the author
Susan Hubbard
25 books191 followersSusan Hubbard, born in upstate New York, is the author of two collections of short fiction, both winners of national prizes, and four novels. The Society of S was published in May 2007 by Simon & Schuster, and The Year of Disappearances, a sequel, was released in May 2008. The U.S. paperback edition of The Year of Disappearances was published in 2009.
The third volume in the Ethical Vampire series, The Season of Risks, was published in July 2010.
Hubbard's books have been translated and published in more than 15 countries. Her short stories have appeared in TriQuarterly, The Mississippi Review, The North American Review, America West, Kalliope, Ploughshares, and other journals. She is coeditor of 100% Pure Florida Fiction, an anthology.
She has received teaching awards from Syracuse University, Cornell University, the University of Central Florida, and the South Atlantic Adminstrators of Departments of English. She has been awarded residencies at Yaddo, the Djerassi Resident Artists Project, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and Cill Rialaig.
Hubbard has led writing workshops at universities and arts programs across the United States and the United Kingdom. A former president of Associated Writing Programs, she has served as an assessor and curriculum consultant to several colleges and universities.
Hubbard currently is a Professor of English at the University of Central Florida. She is an advocate for animal rights, social justice, academic etiquette, and literacy. Her hobbies include running, salvaging, and collecting items of questionable taste.
The third volume in the Ethical Vampire series, The Season of Risks, was published in July 2010.
Hubbard's books have been translated and published in more than 15 countries. Her short stories have appeared in TriQuarterly, The Mississippi Review, The North American Review, America West, Kalliope, Ploughshares, and other journals. She is coeditor of 100% Pure Florida Fiction, an anthology.
She has received teaching awards from Syracuse University, Cornell University, the University of Central Florida, and the South Atlantic Adminstrators of Departments of English. She has been awarded residencies at Yaddo, the Djerassi Resident Artists Project, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and Cill Rialaig.
Hubbard has led writing workshops at universities and arts programs across the United States and the United Kingdom. A former president of Associated Writing Programs, she has served as an assessor and curriculum consultant to several colleges and universities.
Hubbard currently is a Professor of English at the University of Central Florida. She is an advocate for animal rights, social justice, academic etiquette, and literacy. Her hobbies include running, salvaging, and collecting items of questionable taste.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews
August 2, 2010
I read
The Society of S
, the first book in this series of "ethical vampire novels", last year and it instantly became one of my favourite reads all year. I especially recommend it for people who aren't keen on romantic vampire tales, or horror ones either - though fans of paranormal romance and horror are just as likely to enjoy this. Hubbard has taken a slightly different path from all the other vampire writers I've read to date, and has created one of my favourite fictional worlds.
There's always the problem, when reviewing the next book in a series, of how to talk about it without completely spoiling the first/previous books. Especially with this one, which picks up where the last one ended. But I will do my best to avoid spoilers.
Ari is a half-breed in a world where vampires live alongside humans, secretly and discreetly. Most survive on a tonic so that they don't need to feed off people; in fact, the entire vampire society is very modern and scientific. Ari, who narrates, is only fourteen - both her parents, Sara and Raphael, are vampires, but her mother was mortal when she had Ari - and Ari was home schooled by her scholarly, old-fashioned father; as a result, Ari's education is more classical than her peers, and also more advanced, though she's never heard of Elvis and doesn't know a lot of things about modern society.
Now living with her mother and her mother's friend Dashay in Florida, Ari is just as lonely as before but quietly interested in making friends. She awkwardly befriends two rather stupid girls in the town of Saratoga Springs, Autumn and Mysty and, rather reluctantly, Autumn's brother Jesse, but when Mysty goes missing Ari finds herself to be just as much a suspect as Jesse. Yet Mysty isn't the first person to disappear - as well as other people, bees and birds have also been disappearing. It is the year of disappearances, and Ari is considered a suspect by some and a target by others.
Because Ari is only fourteen - though she often seems much older - many people consider this series to be Young Adult. It's not. In fact, it annoys me that any novel with a teen-aged protagonist is automatically assumed to be YA. You will not find Hubbard's book in the YA section. Not Fantasy either. It's fiction, like Christopher Moore is fiction. By all means, teens can read these books, but they're not the target audience.
It's also worthwhile to point out that this isn't a genre novel, and doesn't come with the tropes familiar to genre novels, especially vampire ones. It's refreshing, in that respect, though I enjoy the others too. What you get is a carefully and realistically created world in which vampires exist, vampires who can go out in the sun (but with lots of sunscreen because they burn easily), eat normal food and can have families - they just choose not to, for ethical reasons. Many also choose not to drink from humans, again for ethical reasons. In fact, they are greatly concerned with living ethically.
This theme is what makes Ari, as the protagonist, a clever construct: she's still growing, still feeling her way through the vampire-human world, still discovering her ability to hypnotise people, read their thoughts etc as well as the reasons why she shouldn't. There are other groups of vampires in this world, who look down on humans, but Ari is not part of that group.
The novels also weave in degradation of the planet, deforestation and other environmental concerns - in fact, it's intrinsic to the plot. While it doesn't have the clean, focused plot of the first book, I found that the deceptively scattered-looking plot of The Year of Disappearances, woven in amongst Ari's continuing coming-of-age and maturation, was gripping. Hubbard writes with a very steady, evenly-paced momentum, like a gently flowing river that has few rapids or sharp corners but offers plenty to do and see while moving inexorably onwards. I love the way Hubbard writes. It's simple and straightforward, but not simplistic or boring.
Ari is a mixture of childlike naiveté and mature wisdom - she doesn't think like a "typical" teenager and she doesn't talk like one either, but she feels just right to me. I find her refreshing, familiar and understandable. It's true of most books, I think, that if you don't bond in some way with the characters then the book itself tends to fall flat (maybe "high brow" literature and the classics are different, but we are less forgiving of contemporary stories). If you don't connect with Ari or anyone else, you probably won't think much of the story and the way it's written, either. For me, I can sit down and read it in a day if I have one to spare, and be totally caught up in Ari's world. There's plenty here for me to chew on.
There's always the problem, when reviewing the next book in a series, of how to talk about it without completely spoiling the first/previous books. Especially with this one, which picks up where the last one ended. But I will do my best to avoid spoilers.
Ari is a half-breed in a world where vampires live alongside humans, secretly and discreetly. Most survive on a tonic so that they don't need to feed off people; in fact, the entire vampire society is very modern and scientific. Ari, who narrates, is only fourteen - both her parents, Sara and Raphael, are vampires, but her mother was mortal when she had Ari - and Ari was home schooled by her scholarly, old-fashioned father; as a result, Ari's education is more classical than her peers, and also more advanced, though she's never heard of Elvis and doesn't know a lot of things about modern society.
Now living with her mother and her mother's friend Dashay in Florida, Ari is just as lonely as before but quietly interested in making friends. She awkwardly befriends two rather stupid girls in the town of Saratoga Springs, Autumn and Mysty and, rather reluctantly, Autumn's brother Jesse, but when Mysty goes missing Ari finds herself to be just as much a suspect as Jesse. Yet Mysty isn't the first person to disappear - as well as other people, bees and birds have also been disappearing. It is the year of disappearances, and Ari is considered a suspect by some and a target by others.
Because Ari is only fourteen - though she often seems much older - many people consider this series to be Young Adult. It's not. In fact, it annoys me that any novel with a teen-aged protagonist is automatically assumed to be YA. You will not find Hubbard's book in the YA section. Not Fantasy either. It's fiction, like Christopher Moore is fiction. By all means, teens can read these books, but they're not the target audience.
It's also worthwhile to point out that this isn't a genre novel, and doesn't come with the tropes familiar to genre novels, especially vampire ones. It's refreshing, in that respect, though I enjoy the others too. What you get is a carefully and realistically created world in which vampires exist, vampires who can go out in the sun (but with lots of sunscreen because they burn easily), eat normal food and can have families - they just choose not to, for ethical reasons. Many also choose not to drink from humans, again for ethical reasons. In fact, they are greatly concerned with living ethically.
This theme is what makes Ari, as the protagonist, a clever construct: she's still growing, still feeling her way through the vampire-human world, still discovering her ability to hypnotise people, read their thoughts etc as well as the reasons why she shouldn't. There are other groups of vampires in this world, who look down on humans, but Ari is not part of that group.
The novels also weave in degradation of the planet, deforestation and other environmental concerns - in fact, it's intrinsic to the plot. While it doesn't have the clean, focused plot of the first book, I found that the deceptively scattered-looking plot of The Year of Disappearances, woven in amongst Ari's continuing coming-of-age and maturation, was gripping. Hubbard writes with a very steady, evenly-paced momentum, like a gently flowing river that has few rapids or sharp corners but offers plenty to do and see while moving inexorably onwards. I love the way Hubbard writes. It's simple and straightforward, but not simplistic or boring.
Ari is a mixture of childlike naiveté and mature wisdom - she doesn't think like a "typical" teenager and she doesn't talk like one either, but she feels just right to me. I find her refreshing, familiar and understandable. It's true of most books, I think, that if you don't bond in some way with the characters then the book itself tends to fall flat (maybe "high brow" literature and the classics are different, but we are less forgiving of contemporary stories). If you don't connect with Ari or anyone else, you probably won't think much of the story and the way it's written, either. For me, I can sit down and read it in a day if I have one to spare, and be totally caught up in Ari's world. There's plenty here for me to chew on.
August 9, 2009
Finally, intellectual vampire fiction! The writing style captured me from the first page: clean, vivid writing that moves from scene to scene flawlessly, while making you want to linger and savor. Here we have vampires with such a wealth of knowledge they make the Twilight vampires look like small children. There is not the angsty action and romance of Twilight; it has a slower pace with memorable atmosphere and building suspense. It's the Jane Eyre of vampire fiction, and I loved it, up until the last ten pages.
I was so surprised that this book has received so little attention and no one knows about it, until I came to the end where it was made clear. If this is truly the second book in a three-part series it's excusable, but if the series ends with this book it fails entirely. The ending is sloppy; the mystery we've spent two books reading about is not solved and threads of the entire story are left hanging. As of yet I've found no announcement for a third book except a vague "there may be" on a video on the author's website, but I'm still hopeful, because I would love to read another in this series, and if there is someday a satisfying end, this will be one of my favorite series of all time.
I was so surprised that this book has received so little attention and no one knows about it, until I came to the end where it was made clear. If this is truly the second book in a three-part series it's excusable, but if the series ends with this book it fails entirely. The ending is sloppy; the mystery we've spent two books reading about is not solved and threads of the entire story are left hanging. As of yet I've found no announcement for a third book except a vague "there may be" on a video on the author's website, but I'm still hopeful, because I would love to read another in this series, and if there is someday a satisfying end, this will be one of my favorite series of all time.
January 31, 2022
Me leí el primero y fue una completa basura, si me leí este segundo fue porque lo compre en pack junto al primero y no iba a malgastar el dinero. Cierto es que me arrepiento mucho de haberlos comprado porque estos libros no hay por donde cogerlos. Si el primero era una completa basura imaginaos el segundo, que rollo. No enganchaba nada y lo único que deseaba era acabarlo y mandarlo a la basura. Tengo entendido que hay un tercero pero hasta aquí llega límite, una pena que no llegara a disfrutarlos.
September 21, 2014
Original Review Date (Posted on www.paperbackswap.com): 10/3/2010
This book is sincerely in a league of it's own. It's not a love story, it's not violent and it's not a gore filled blood and bite kind of book! It's the coming of age book for a half mortal half vampire trying to find a place in modern society. VAMPIRES are still secret. There are in fact three different sects of vampires. Where does ARI fit in these societies? Where does she fit in this world?? She is still trying to find out...
She is a freak to mortals... AND a freak to VAMPIRES. She was born to a mortal and has a Vampire father. She was raised by her father, home schooled, told that she had to tell people that she had Lupus so that she can be a hermit in her father's house.
In this book she is forced to find herself because she has a knack for befriending people that either go missing, or are found dead...
The Year of Disappearances is a wonderful followup book to The Society of S. BUT if your looking for action packed story lines, this isn't the book for you. It's for the EDUCATED VAMPIRE LOVER looking for a wonderful novel. It's a great break from the norm! I highly recommend it!!!
This book is sincerely in a league of it's own. It's not a love story, it's not violent and it's not a gore filled blood and bite kind of book! It's the coming of age book for a half mortal half vampire trying to find a place in modern society. VAMPIRES are still secret. There are in fact three different sects of vampires. Where does ARI fit in these societies? Where does she fit in this world?? She is still trying to find out...
She is a freak to mortals... AND a freak to VAMPIRES. She was born to a mortal and has a Vampire father. She was raised by her father, home schooled, told that she had to tell people that she had Lupus so that she can be a hermit in her father's house.
In this book she is forced to find herself because she has a knack for befriending people that either go missing, or are found dead...
The Year of Disappearances is a wonderful followup book to The Society of S. BUT if your looking for action packed story lines, this isn't the book for you. It's for the EDUCATED VAMPIRE LOVER looking for a wonderful novel. It's a great break from the norm! I highly recommend it!!!
June 26, 2010
Life seems to be getting back to normal for Ariella Montero—or at least as normal as it can be for a fourteen-year-old half human, half vampire. But trouble has a way of following Ari wherever she goes. Living at home with her mother Mãe, Ari relaxes into a routine of helping rebuild their home, going into town, and occasionally hanging out with her new friends. Everything is fine until one of her friends disappears. Suspicion points at Ari, whose friend Kathleen had been murdered. To escape this unwanted attention, precocious Ari enrolls in college, but trouble stirs up again with another of Ari’s friend is found dead. Ari has been trying to protect herself, but it isn’t enough. One by one, the people around Ari that she cares about are disappearing. Will she be next?
This second installment in the Ethical Vampire series shows all the intellect, adventure, and skilled writing that was introduced in The Society of S. It continues Ari’s story where it left off and takes the reader away on a winding, complicated, but addicting tale of everything from growing pains to vampire politics. And it works marvelously well. Hubbard really is a fantastic writer for being able to combine all these elements with her thoughtful style and still make the story interesting. I continue to love Hubbard’s superb characterization, particularly with protagonist Ari. Unfortunately, though, I was slightly irritated with the plot itself. Ari does experience a series of dangerous and intriguing ordeals, but for some reason, I was always waiting for something even bigger and more terrible to happen, which never did. This may be attributed to Hubbard’s style of writing, which is more sensible than emotional. Nonetheless, I enjoyed The Year of Disappearances very much and look forward to more of Ari’s story.
Readers who enjoyed The Society of S will want to pick this book up, as will fans of Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer.
reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com
This second installment in the Ethical Vampire series shows all the intellect, adventure, and skilled writing that was introduced in The Society of S. It continues Ari’s story where it left off and takes the reader away on a winding, complicated, but addicting tale of everything from growing pains to vampire politics. And it works marvelously well. Hubbard really is a fantastic writer for being able to combine all these elements with her thoughtful style and still make the story interesting. I continue to love Hubbard’s superb characterization, particularly with protagonist Ari. Unfortunately, though, I was slightly irritated with the plot itself. Ari does experience a series of dangerous and intriguing ordeals, but for some reason, I was always waiting for something even bigger and more terrible to happen, which never did. This may be attributed to Hubbard’s style of writing, which is more sensible than emotional. Nonetheless, I enjoyed The Year of Disappearances very much and look forward to more of Ari’s story.
Readers who enjoyed The Society of S will want to pick this book up, as will fans of Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer.
reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com
April 2, 2013
Well, parts of this book were interesting, but it isn't an improvement over the first book in the series, The Society of S. What is with the rash of vampire novels that carry the writers' own belief systems thinly veiled in the plot? First Twilight and now this... It feels more like reading "fun" propaganda than an actual novel. Is the intended audience (young adults) supposed to be so overwhelmed by the "coolness" of vampires that readers are supposed to blindly swallow all of the other messages? It just ruins what would have otherwise been a good story - well, an alright story, in this case, I suppose. The ending absolutely fall apart, and if this series continues, it will be continuing on without me as a reader. I do not care for the characters at all, so I cannot bring myself to care about what happens to them.
October 2, 2013
No conocía este libro ni la saga. Me lo prestaron a leer y cuando comencé no entendía mucho ya que se presentaba a la protagonista como si la conocieramos (obviamente después supe que este era el segundo libro de Ethical Vampire).
El libro en sí, es entretenido. Pero es muy juvenil (por lo menos para mí). Me lo prestó una alumna de 13 años, así que debí imaginarme pero aún así lo leí para después hablarlo con ella y que podamos dar nuestros puntos de vista.
Quizás si leyera el primero entendería mucho más, pero no creo que lo haga. Tardé 2 días en leerlo y a pesar de que es entretenido no me dejó con la boca abierta.
2.5/5
June 8, 2008
Wonderful imagery and prose, overall. Great characters revisited from the first book, though I would have liked more of Ari's father.
The book didn't feel finished--felt like it was awaiting the sequel to arrive, kind of like Tolkien's Two Towers. Don't know if the Shub's already working on the follow-up, but I hope so because this one didn't leave me feeling sated in terms of the questions it provoked.
A good read regardless. And the Shub rocks.
The book didn't feel finished--felt like it was awaiting the sequel to arrive, kind of like Tolkien's Two Towers. Don't know if the Shub's already working on the follow-up, but I hope so because this one didn't leave me feeling sated in terms of the questions it provoked.
A good read regardless. And the Shub rocks.
January 20, 2009
Don't bother. Stupid and ludacris, WTF? This is suppose to be a novel about vampires, I'm confused, the vampires in this book are totally toothless. I like my vampires evil. There was no drinking of human blood, no sleeping in coffins, no not going out into the sunlight, no stakes in the heart, nothing that had anything to do with vampire lore. Seriously, where are the soulless demons we love to hate, the terror, the EVIL? Again I say, don't bother.
November 15, 2013
This book was tolerable but overall disappointing. The storyline doesn't really go anywhere, and the only thing I appreciated where the little quips of interesting facts, unrelated to vampires.
Supplemental:
I have to point out that this is a YA (Young Adult) novel, and that some of the issues confronted by the main character (drugs, environmental issues, etc) may be interesting for the target audience, but I'm too old to appreciate the message.
Supplemental:
I have to point out that this is a YA (Young Adult) novel, and that some of the issues confronted by the main character (drugs, environmental issues, etc) may be interesting for the target audience, but I'm too old to appreciate the message.
June 16, 2008
I loved most of both The Year of Disappearances and The Society of S but felt that both built up my anticipation for things to be revealed or resolved at the end and then didn't fulfill my expectations at all--the ending here felt very sudden and unfinished, I really hope it was leading up to a third book with a satisfying conclusion
Read
September 23, 2013The Society of S was a stronger novel. The characters were not as vivid and the ending was wrapped up too quickly, with no real explanation.
April 5, 2023
I picked up this book at a free little library and had no idea it was the second book in a series before finding it on Goodreads. That said, I don't think the first book is necessary to read in order to read this one. I will admit, I definitely felt too old to read this book and am likely about 10 years older than the target age range. And the book's age, having been published in 2009, definitely shows. Phrases like "the Internet" and "Web site" made me cackle while reading.
When it comes to the actual content of the book, not much really happens. Ari learns a few things and goes through a few experiences, but nothing ever felt riveting and it never felt like a page-turner. I stuck it out since the book is less than 300 pages, but it was unsatisfying to not have much solved and for most revelations to be mentioned for a few paragraphs, maybe a page, and then to never be brought up again.
The biggest gripe I had with the book, as well as with Susan Hubbard, is the complete and total acceptance of writing a 14 year old dating a college student whose age we never know, but could easily be between 4 and 8 years older than her. What was even worse was Susan writing an adult, political figure openly flirting with said 14 year old which included, but is not limited to, him inviting her on a boat and island with him.
It doesn't matter that Ari was pretending to be older than 14 or that she looked older than her age. Susan wrote these into the plot intentionally and it was abhorrent. Sure, a real life 14 year old might not bat an eye when reading this book, but to so openly normalize such relationships is disgusting.
What keeps this book at 2 stars for me is the concept of vampires and the lore behind them, but that's about it.
When it comes to the actual content of the book, not much really happens. Ari learns a few things and goes through a few experiences, but nothing ever felt riveting and it never felt like a page-turner. I stuck it out since the book is less than 300 pages, but it was unsatisfying to not have much solved and for most revelations to be mentioned for a few paragraphs, maybe a page, and then to never be brought up again.
The biggest gripe I had with the book, as well as with Susan Hubbard, is the complete and total acceptance of writing a 14 year old dating a college student whose age we never know, but could easily be between 4 and 8 years older than her. What was even worse was Susan writing an adult, political figure openly flirting with said 14 year old which included, but is not limited to, him inviting her on a boat and island with him.
It doesn't matter that Ari was pretending to be older than 14 or that she looked older than her age. Susan wrote these into the plot intentionally and it was abhorrent. Sure, a real life 14 year old might not bat an eye when reading this book, but to so openly normalize such relationships is disgusting.
What keeps this book at 2 stars for me is the concept of vampires and the lore behind them, but that's about it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 13, 2021
Es una novela aceptable. No me gusta, pero tampoco me disgusta. Su argumento parece muy débil, más como una historia de hechos y cosas, sin la forma principio-desarrollo-fin a la que estamos acostumbrados. Hay un hilo conductor, pero desaparece repetidamente y el final carece de consistencia. Esto parece una "novela de transición" entre "La sociedad de la Sangre" y "The Seasons of Risks", el tercer libro de una saga sobre vampiros morales. Pero este libro también tiene algunas cosas buenas, brillantes, ágiles, con cierto sentido del humor, lo que hace que algunos hechos sencillos sean más interesantes. El vampiro descrito aquí es completamente diferente a los vampiros al uso, lo que hace que la propuesta sea interesante para algunas personas, pero inaceptable para otras. Por otro lado, se aprecia claramente el aspecto ecológico de la autora, lo que implica que el ser humano es un depredador que arrasa y agota a sus víctimas, la tierra. De este hecho surge una teoría interesante sobre lo que un clan de vampiros pretende hacer con el futuro de la humanidad. No entusiasmará ni fascinará a la gente, pero la velocidad de lectura es rápida. Al final, la historia se debilitó mucho y la última página terminó con la sensación de "¿Es esto?" Cuando se publique el tercer y último libro en español, lo leeré por supuesto. Soy incapaz de dejar sagas sin terminar.
February 26, 2018
I was excited to read this book because I thought the whole ethical aspect of being a vampire was really intriguing and the story in the first book had grabbed my attention. However, I found this one to be a bit dull and creepy.
The writing is repetitive in the lecture about how people need to wear sunscreen and the descriptions were the exact same from the first book.
The creepy part is that the main character, Ariella, is a young teenager and there is a romance involving her and a much older gentleman who is not only older in a human age range, but is also much, much, much older in a vampire age range. It just comes off as pedophilia and creeps me out. (There is no actual sex in it at all, though.)
The writing is repetitive in the lecture about how people need to wear sunscreen and the descriptions were the exact same from the first book.
The creepy part is that the main character, Ariella, is a young teenager and there is a romance involving her and a much older gentleman who is not only older in a human age range, but is also much, much, much older in a vampire age range. It just comes off as pedophilia and creeps me out. (There is no actual sex in it at all, though.)
January 26, 2022
No hay mucho q pueda decir. No me gustó el primer libro y no me gustó este tampoco. Lo leí únicamente xq ya lo había comprado - algo de lo q no termino de arrepentirme.
Digamos q fue más fácil de terminar xq ya no estamos únicamente centrados en Ariella, ahora hay gente desapariciendo por todas partes xq hay alguna clase de conspiración. Pero nuevamente, aunq se supone q es thriller, no hay suspense. La trama es plana y ni siquiera es original. Tenemos series al estilo The Walking Dead de sobra.
Digamos q fue más fácil de terminar xq ya no estamos únicamente centrados en Ariella, ahora hay gente desapariciendo por todas partes xq hay alguna clase de conspiración. Pero nuevamente, aunq se supone q es thriller, no hay suspense. La trama es plana y ni siquiera es original. Tenemos series al estilo The Walking Dead de sobra.
March 24, 2024
The Year of Disappearances traces Ariella Montero's fourteenth year, during which she is accused of lying, cheating, and murder (twice). Her education continues, but instead of literature, science, and math, she learns folklore, the art and craft of journalism, and most important, the nature of personal demons.
This was a good continuation of the Society of S and I really enjoyed listening to it. I find Ariella's character likable if not a little naïve, but I suppose that is the point as she is only 14. I also really enjoyed that expansion of Malcom's character which makes the reader unsure if he really is the villain in this tale. I've just hunted down the last book in this series and can not wait to dig into it. I'm curious about this new drug the vampires have introduced to the humans and how this will all play out.
This was a good continuation of the Society of S and I really enjoyed listening to it. I find Ariella's character likable if not a little naïve, but I suppose that is the point as she is only 14. I also really enjoyed that expansion of Malcom's character which makes the reader unsure if he really is the villain in this tale. I've just hunted down the last book in this series and can not wait to dig into it. I'm curious about this new drug the vampires have introduced to the humans and how this will all play out.
October 10, 2017
Got this out from the library shortly after finishing "The Society of S", but found myself bored at page 64. Bored with the characters, the narration style, the overall pacing. The sense of having to wait till the very last pages to solve the mystery and earn a brief but unsatisfying epilogue. Just not a vampire series for me after all.
May 16, 2024
3.3 stars
I was definitely more engaged with this one than the first book in the series and enjoyed the plot movement any lyrical writing style, but it was very heavy-handed in its environmental messaging and it made a big deal out of certain things, like contaminated water, that didn't develop into anything. I am interested enough to finish it out, but not sure if I'd recommend it to anyone.
I was definitely more engaged with this one than the first book in the series and enjoyed the plot movement any lyrical writing style, but it was very heavy-handed in its environmental messaging and it made a big deal out of certain things, like contaminated water, that didn't develop into anything. I am interested enough to finish it out, but not sure if I'd recommend it to anyone.
February 27, 2021
Es lo suficientemente interesante como para que quisera saber que pasaba, pero no paso nada básicamente. Por otro lado siento que se extiende demasiado en temas que no aportan nada a la historia. En resumen, me aburri bastante 😑.
February 7, 2019
Took me 3 days to read. Addictive.
March 11, 2020
boring and pretty pointless
March 19, 2021
I don't know why these books aren't more popular. They keep getting right into the center of my skull.
April 7, 2021
I thought Hubbard collaborated crime, paranormal, and fantasy into a genre of her own in a way that makes the story compelling, and the plot unpreictable.
June 29, 2021
Nada como la emoción del primer libro, pero esta parte no se queda atrás por mucho.
September 8, 2022
No es de los mejores libros que he leido, se hizo tedioso en algunos momentos y llegaba a puntos que senti que me faltaban cosas por leer o me faltaba información.
June 2, 2024
No me gustó nada, en primera persona y muy al estilo Wattpad, ni lo acabe.
September 14, 2024
Really enjoyed this take on the vamp community; it was a bit different and compelling
September 28, 2024
DNF ... llegué a la pág. 140 salteando muchísimo texto. Muy aburrido. Me molesta cuando quieren hacer que los vampiros sean lo menos vampiros posible.
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