Emily Bain Murphy

When Aila and her brother are sent to stay with her deceased mother's oldest friend they think they are going to find refuge. What they find instead is a town beset by a curse, and a population sure that their mother has something to do with it. Every seven years something goes missing in this town: the stars, reflections, the ability to dream, the sound of music ... And it is the eve of another 'disappearance'. As Aila struggles to find out what is happening, she finds that the truth is the answer to the town's woes, and facing that is where the future lies. Set in the midst of a teenaged girl's mourning over the recent loss of her mother, The Disappearances is a mystery made up of literary clues, a mother's buried secrets, and a seven-year curse. Most of all, it is a story about finding beauty, hope, and magic in the world after losing someone to death - the most formidable Disappearance of all. (Publisher's web site).

The Disappearances

A mesmerizing tale about a fifteen-year-old girl who moves to a town where every seven years there is a disappearance, and she must find a way to break the curse before it's too late.

Mellanie Ann Duque

The first time I read the book’s synopsis made me jump! Why? Because it has to do with My great love,Shakespeare. Yes! No other than the great playwright William Shakespeare. I’ve been adoring his works for how many years now and knowing that this books has a Shakespeare twist is just so wonderful to hear! Another bonus here is, it is a historical fiction book which is my fave Genre of all. If you love historical fiction this one is great.

Okay so let me tell first the thing that I sightly dislike about the book, not that I really hate it or what but I just found it really confusing at some point. The thing that really confused me was there are lot of characters being introduced on the few chapters of the story. And, I have to stop for while to familiarise myself with a new character being introduced, it was really hard to catch up when there are characters being introduced like in one bam!. (Or maybe I was the only one like this lol) but I still managed to continue reading it after all.

There’s the thing in this book that will keep you turning the pages which is great there are no boring parts I guess? Because the two main characters were so cheesy together (lol you should really read this one!) and all the mysteries put up are on point they will drive you crazy and wanting for answers.

And of course the amount of literature the author have put is really amazing!! It was epic! The book will make you fall in love back for the classic ones. It was full of mysteries, poetry, and magic!

One of the things I love about this book is the Variants which is super enchanting and will make you wish you have something like that in real life. I still can’t imagine how did the author came up all these ideas, how did she connect Shakespeare’s life in it. I swear I even look back on my old Shakespeare books just to look for few clues.

All in all I highly recommend this gem to all!

Susan 

This book is a historical fiction that is about the disappearances of things we take for granted. From smells to stars, things have gone missing from the people of this book. After figuring out quickly this book was not at all what I thought it was, I was excited to see where it took me. For once, I knew almost nothing going in. 

The mystery behind it and the ties to Shakespeare make this book worth reading. I had theories about what caused the disappearances but I never even got close.

Olivera Mitić

If you give me a book where the plot promises that senses will disappear, I will want to read it and I WILL compare it to the movie Perfect Sense (which is just one perfect movie that nothing will be able to surpass, I'm sorry). 

That being said, this book should have just been called "The Disappointments". It was okay-ish while it, at the same time, ruined the potential it promised in the synopsis. 

And like... if you write a Shakespeare centered book (or a book where his works and his actual existence play a huge role), at least have the basic human decency to set it in England.

Ruth Parker 

This was a spur of the moment purchase. I saw it on the shelf of my local bookstore while looking for something totally different (segue - I did not find the book I wanted but I took home a few I hadn’t even heard of!) and was hooked by the description. 

This could be considered a historical story, set in the 1940s North America, with links to the idea of witch hunts. The main characters are sent to the town where their mother grew up and soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery where things we take for granted every single day, such as dreams, smells and even the stars, disappear every seven years. No one knows why, no one knows how and no one knows what will disappear next. 

This was a great YA book and I managed to overlook the historical aspect of it as really it could have been written about a slightly backwards American town nowadays. 

A great book, a good read, well worth picking up!

K.J. Haakenson

It’s interesting to see how an author’s writing changes over the years. I thoroughly enjoyed Emily Bain Murphy’s “Splinters of Scarlet” last year. In fact, it is one of my favorite books of all time. With this in mind, I thought for sure that I would enjoy the author’s other work - her debut novel. I was sadly mistaken.

“The Disappearances” is set during the early 1940’s and is about a young girl and her brother who have to move to a mysterious town where things (like stars, reflections, smells, etc.) disappear every 7 years.

Unfortunately, it just got messier from there. The aesthetic and world/magic building where all over the place (i.e. a throwing star contest for some reason?), I frequently got names and people mixed up, and I frankly had no clue what the main trajectory of the story was until later in the story than hoped. The main character was hard to like and the occasional journal entry from a mysterious POV actually got more disturbing as the book went on. Also, Shakespeare’s work was integral to this book so my little to no knowledge of the bard put me at a major disadvantage.

“The Disappearances” had a great idea but failed at the execution by cramming to much into a story and yet doing too little for the plot. It tried to be quirky when what I really wanted was a good solid story.

The main reason I didn’t DNF was that the author’s writing style is truly excellent. Her prose is beautiful and engaging, even when the story is not. I kept reading just to see if everything wrapped up, to see if everything made sense in the end. And although some things were explained, the ended fell flat and was disappointing.

I had a hard time rating this book since I wanted to love this book SO bad. But I didn’t enjoy reading it so it’s definitely a 2 star for me.

Lisa Beasley

This book was like a fantasy mystery and although it did take me a while to get into it once I did it totally had me hooked. The characters are fun and interesting, the story intriguing and mysterious and I really liked the writing style. Overall a solid read.

Molly Sanderson 

How do you know what you are missing if you can't remember having it? Every seven years something disappears in the remote town of Sterling: people's reflections, the stars in the sky, the ability to dream. Aila realises that her mother may be to blame for the curse. But some mysteries are buried very deep and some secrets want to stay hidden - and one young woman's desire to uncover the truth may not be enough to save Sterling from the past. A beautifully told story of love, loss and finding the truth - no matter how difficult that may be. Emily Bain Murphy grew up in Indiana, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. She loves books, macarons, Japanese karaoke and exploring new cities, and is a long-time volunteer with Love146, a non-profit that fights child trafficking. Murphy currently lives in San Francisco with her family, where you can find her working on her second YA novel - somewhere between the bakery and the beach.

The Disappearances

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