Name: The Disappearances
Rating: 3.956521739130435 (23 reviews)
ISBN: 9780544879362

Emily Bain Murphy

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.

The Disappearances

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).

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.

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.

The Disappearances

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