In the faux-documentary style of The Blair Witch Project comes the campfire story of a missing girl, a vengeful ghost, and the girl who is determined to find her sister–at all costs.Once a year, a road appears in the forest. And at the end of it, the ghost of Lucy Gallows beckons. Lucy’s game isn’t for the faint of heart. If you win, you escape with your life. But if you lose…. Sara’s sister … lose….
Sara’s sister disappeared one year ago–and only Sara knows where she is. Becca went to find the ghost of Lucy Gallows and is trapped on the road that leads to her. In the sleepy town of Briar Glen, Lucy’s road is nothing more than local lore. But Sara knows it’s real, and she’s going to find it.
When Sara and her skeptical friends meet in the forest to search for Becca, the mysterious road unfurls before them. All they have to do is walk down it. But the path to Lucy is not of this world, and it has its own rules. Every mistake summons new horrors. Vengeful spirits and broken, angry creatures are waiting for them to slip, and no one is guaranteed safe passage. The only certainty is this: the road has a toll and it will be paid.
Sara knows that if she steps onto the road, she might not come back. But Becca needs her.
And Lucy is waiting.
more
Wholly original, haunting, and a page-turner!
Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall is a part found footage documentary and part local lore ghost story. It is told primarily through flashbacks of the different participants, evidence collected/description of what is contained in files and through the different POVs.
Sara is trying to find her sister Becca who disappeared following the clues of a local missing person/ghost story that occurs on a paranormal road hidden in the forest. After a year being emotionally cut off and burying herself in the items Becca left behind Sara convinces some friends to enter the forest on the anniversary of Becca’s disappearance and bring her home. Let’s just say everything goes awry after that and the teenagers encounter ghosts, monsters and murderers during their trip on “the road”. This is not for the faint at heart or someone that wants a thriller where everyone ends up safe and okay by the end. When retelling their story there is a lot of missing information from the survivors and it becomes apparent that not everyone returned the same.
Although I did enjoy the spookiness and dark themes of this book I found it went on a little long in the middle. I kind of wanted the journey to hustle along so that I could get more into the current timeline and get resolution on what happened and to whom. I also found the ending a little confusing and wasn’t sure what I missed? Maybe I’m just clueless but this is never the feeling you want to walk away with.
In the end this one was a 3.5 for me.
WOW. It’s been a long time since I’ve read such an original, engaging, scary book! I don’t want to ruin a thing, but suffice to say if you love ghost stories, fantasy, other-worlds, and great dialogue, this book is for you! It was SO creepy and completely un-put-downable. I didn’t want it to end! Eerie, haunting, amazing!
This was a great book that kept me reading when I should have went to bed. Very descriptive and engaging with great character development. I highly recommend!
A must-read if you enjoyed The Call . I blew through this in one night and it made me late for work the next day. It gets five stars from me for that alone.
This book jumps right to it and doesn’t stop until the last page. It is absolutely relentless where the only quiet moments are the interviews being conducted after the “incident”. The different settings the characters go through are weird and twisted, and the monsters are grotesque in the best way. I was so engrossed in the action that I barely thought to question the hows and the whys of the Road, and I was so happy with the way the lore built up to a monster of almost cosmic horror proportions. Are you left with a few unanswered questions? Yes, but that’s kind of the fun of it, right?
Some reviews critique the number of characters in this story, and I don’t disagree. It starts out with a lot. My own take is that this book does what many horror/spooky books do and introduces more than what they intend to fully utilize so they have some “expendables” to establish the stakes (i.e. have someone non-essential to kill off early on). While I don’t exactly like that on principle, it didn’t bother me here. Personally, I followed who was who with ease and was not distracted by the crowd, but that won’t be true for everyone. Regardless, they don’t keep those numbers up for long anyway…
Told in cell phone records, photographic and video evidence, clinical notes, and first person narrative, Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall presents an absorbing, scary story. Teens headed by a grieving sister undertake the potentially deadly journey along a mysterious “road” that only appears once a year. There are rules to survive the experience, though, rules many of them break. But Sara’s determined to find her sister, the beloved Becca, who disappeared on a similar journey the previous year. The group encounters perils and horrors along the way. Some prove their inner strength, loyalty, and bravery. Others face personal guilt. Friendship and love sees some of them to the end of the mysterious road.
Riddled with references to a myth from Brittany but with the feel of a modern urban legend, Rules for Vanishing is cinematic in its approach to story telling. The imagery is as lasting as it is disturbing. I couldn’t help rooting for the main character, Sara. I found myself baffled by some of the decisions of the group, but people in such an extreme circumstance make questionable decisions.
This well-written book leaves questions and an obvious open-end that promises further journeys, be they along Y’s mythical road or populated with its pitiable inhabitants.
This is one of my favorite YA horror stories that I’ve read recently. This story about a girl who’s determined to save her sister, no matter the cost, is unputdownable. The world-building is really, really, REALLY good. The way the story is compiled (as if in an investigation after the fact) adds an extra layer of suspense and tension. And the ending? I’m still thinking about it, weeks later. If you dig ghost stories, YA horror, and sister’s who will walk through fire for each other, this is the book for you.
I wanted to read something thrilling, spooky and bizarre enough so that I could focus my anxiety on a book and not my life. This worked for that!
I read it in an evening (I am a slow reader) and it took me about 40 pages to really get into it, but after that, I lost myself in the pages and it became a real page turner.
It’s CREEPY. And sad. And WEIRD. It was also confusing though, and not a good confusing, which is why it lost a star.
I feel like this had WAY WAY WAY WAYYYYY too many side stories and plots goin on. Which wouldn’t be a huge problem, except that the side stories were interesting on their own, so I couldn’t get a full taste of all of them being in one book. That, combined with the fact that NOTHING is figured out in the end… this ending will not satisfy you, guaranteed. Feel free to ask questions while you read, but your questions will not be answered. I hate that in a … I feel robbed kind of way. Anyone wanna walk me through the endings please?
I didn’t love the writing style. I don’t mean the docu style or whatever. I mean the actual writing. I couldn’t explain really why I didn’t like it. Too much telling, not enough showing maybe? But then again, it’s a weird ride so I think the telling was there to attempt to make some things more clear?
I think this would have been a great trilogy: 1. Book of the city 2. Book of Miranda 3. This book, book of the road. It was just a lot of info jam packed and not in a way that satisfies in the end.
But — I did like the storyline. And I did want to keep reading. And it did move my anxieties elsewhere (it’s 2:45 AM and I’m afraid of ghosts, not my tragic life woooo). I didn’t find this book THAT predictable because it was so weird in some parts. I also read a review of someone saying this was predictable because you always expected something bad to happen after the calm. From my perspective, this book was a whirlwind of bad things happening one after another. I didn’t trust this book — which i am satisfied with, because I do think that was intentional and adds to the story. I don’t remember any calm after the storm? Lol can those portions be highlighted for me? This was a messy swirling of smoke and delusion. The whole thing was a twist and a turn.
There is also a lot of representation in this, which is always always always a bonus; racial, sexual, even handicap representation.
Yeah so, overall, I liked the story. It’s a good book and I can’t argue that. I didn’t love the writing style. And the ending was just … ? Thanks for the wild ride without any point to it??? like I get on a fun roller coaster and am usually like “yeah! That rocked!” This feels like a roller coaster that doesn’t make any sense, ends abruptly, and you don’t really think about afterward. Haha I’m serious, help?
I’m rating this at 4.5 stars. It really should be 5 stars but the last 50 pages left something to be desired for me; there not bad, just could have been… more.
This story isvextremely well written, full of twists and turns. As a reader, if you are going to try and guess the ending (as you might, its not that hard), or parts of the story, you need to pay attention to the smallest details. I was pleasantly surprised at how many details there were throughout the story. In my opinion, not a word was wasted in the writing.
Is is scary? Not in the least. It’s a really good “ghost” story and it would make an amazing movie. I LOVED the format, its all found footage. It has a distinct feel that adds to the atmosphere.
The ending… well I can’t explain without spoilers so I will say I am staisfyed, but still feel slightly bummed. It could have been so much more, but I guess it does fit the structure. There is room for another story here. Recommended.
Do you want to know where Lucy went?
She went to play the game.
You can play, too.
Find a partner.
Find a key.
Find the road.
You have two days.
Sara Donoghue is bound and determined to find her missing sister, but that will not be an easy task to accomplish. Once a year a path appears in the forest and Lucy Gallows calls out, wanting desperately to be found. Sara’s sister, Becca, went looking for Lucy on that road a year ago; she never came back. Maybe, with some help and some luck, Sara can navigate the road and find her sister.
Rules For Vanishing is a creepy, twisted tale that definitely hooked me right away. Using a mixture of first person narration, interview transcripts, text messages and more, Kate Alice Marshall weaves quite the dark and original story. I love that this novel has not only a strong female lead, but the other characters are themselves extremely diverse. I only wish more attention was given to the sixth gate; I felt like it was almost skipped over.
Rules For Vanishing comes out September 24th. Check it out if you enjoy a twisted tale…and you may want to bring a partner.
Thank you Viking Books and BookishFirst for an ARC of Rules For Vanishing, given in exchange for an honest review.
YA horror is a fun genre for me. This a ghost story with teenagers. For teenagers. So going in I’m well aware of that. So I’m not going to knock off points for it not really scaring me. I’m an adult who watches and reads heavier stuff. That being said, This was a good book and I don’t regret using my Bookish First points to get an ARC.
I have found that I enjoy books have transcripts ( or descriptions of videos, texts, etc etc.) included along the chapters to help bring you into the situations more. The entire book doesn’t read this way so it’s not too much either.
I only had two issues..they weren’t enough to make me stop reading but still worth noting…There are a lot of characters in this book. There could have easily been one or two less. My other is issue that it felt like the author tried to add one of every type of teenager you could think which isn’t bad at all..but in this case came across as less authentic as I think it was supposed to.
All in all a good read and I think it would definitely have it’s intended reaction were a teenager to read it.
Rules for Vanishing I read my ARC that I received from Bookishfirst in two days. I couldn’t put it down. I snuck it in at work, in the car before driving from work to daycare, into dinner, and late into the night. It was so haunting and alluring. Once I started I couldn’t put it down. The world building that Kate Alice Marshall creates is spellbinding. It gives me “The Hazel Wood” vibes (By Melissa Albert) and I’m here for it.
Urban legend has it that a road can be found in the woods and it calls to some people. If you find the road, you have to follow the rules it sets or else you die, or worse, you become a permanent and grotesque figure on the road warning or helping people who keep stumbling upon the road out of curiosity and stupidity. The rod takes you into another world, one where nothing is as it seems and rules must be followed and memories can not be trusted. Fortunately, several of the main group people that the story focuses on, were able to record video while on the road, which helps to clear things up afterwards when the memory tries to block or change.
This book was spooky but not horrory. Her descriptions didn’t totally convince you what the horrors looked like and so, as a reader, you couldn’t really imagine them. The first time I was like “oh shit– This is spooky–” was when the main character breaks one of the rules and goes to make it right but she is in the dark. She reaches for her friend’s hand and grabs it only to hear his voice behind her looking for her in the dark. Who the F’s hand did she grab?! Eek.
I got super confused with all the characters and trying to keep up with who was who and who was “with” who. But I realize that’s probably the point so that you feel like the characters do— mixed up and not realizing if you left someone behind or if they were even there to begin with. That being said, it would be hard to read this book and pick back up after several days and repeat that pattern; you would have to do a lot of rereading to figure out where you were in the story.
The ending left me unsatisfied. It was rather choppy and I felt like Marshall threw the ending together so it could just be finished. Am I missing something that other people are catching? I kept thinking that everything was going to be answered and some huge reveal was coming, but then nothing– and then the end– in a bad way too, like not looking forward to a sequel kind of way.
When I got this book in the mail, I was a little busy. But, I read the first bit out loud to my kiddos and immediately wanted to keep reading. They wanted me to keep reading also. When my husband got home later that day, I had him read the first bit as well. Let’s just say, this story grabs you from the very first page and before you know it, you’re further into the book than you had anticipated to read.
This story sucks you in and doesn’t let go until you are done. Then you end up with a book hangover, wanting more and more.
Kudos to author Kate Alice Marshall!