The Vanishing Game Review

The Vanishing Game 
by Kate Kae Myers
Expected Publication 2.14.2012
From Goodreads:

Jocelyn's twin brother Jack was the only family she had growing up in a world of foster homes-and now he's dead, and she has nothing. Then she gets a cryptic letter from "Jason December"-the code name her brother used to use when they were children at Seale House, a terrifying foster home that they believed had dark powers. Only one other person knows about Jason December: Noah, Jocelyn's childhood crush and their only real friend among the troubled children at Seale House.
But when Jocelyn returns to Seale House and the city where she last saw Noah, she gets more than she bargained for. Turns out the house's powers weren't just a figment of a childish imagination. And someone is following Jocelyn. Is Jack still alive? And if he is, what kind of trouble is he in? The answer is revealed in a shocking twist that turns this story on its head and will send readers straight back to page 1 to read the book in a whole new light.

My Thoughts: Okay, I know it's still early February, but I'm officially claiming The Vanishing Game as my favorite read of this month!  It's rare for a YA book to really shock me by it's ending, but Myers pulled it off brilliantly.  There are clues along the way, but I was on the wrong trail most of the book. 

Jocelyn is an amazing character- she's smart, a survivor, and brave enough to tackle the horrible ghosts of her childhood in order to find out what happened to her brother.  The flashbacks showing Jocelyn and Jack's upbringing- from their crazy mom to their fellow foster kids in Seale House, are heartbreaking.  But my favorite part of the book (besides the ending), was Jocelyn and Noah's relationship.

In a complete breath of fresh air, Jocelyn's relationship with Noah seems to build slow, even though now that I think about it the timing was probably over only a few days.  But it feels like a slow build, and it creates some nice tension between the two of them.  Jocelyn's girlhood crush on Noah is tempered by the fact that the last time she saw him he promised to kill her if he ever saw her again.  And he does attack her when he first sees her, but in his defense he didn't recognize her and she was doing a creepy/stalker routine instead of just going up to him and saying hi.  Noah is not a perfect young man, he doesn't sprout poetry at the drop of the hat and he doesn't sparkle or have fey blood, he felt like a real leading man and not just fantasy.  There might not be a Jace or Edward in your future ladies, but there are Noah's in this world. 

Another aspect that I really enjoyed was getting to see some of the other residents of Seale House in the present, especially Dixon and Beth.  I honestly could have read an entire book based just on Jack, Jocelyn and Noah's years in Seale House.  Although a lot of the creep factor of the house is explained at the end, I'm still curious about all the kids that might have passed under it's roof. 

The book is also full of riddles and codes, which while I admit that I personally suck at them, it' great to see books aimed at girls showing girls enjoying math, and not just English and Art. 

I officially moved yesterday, and I managed to read The Vanishing Game amidst much personal drama in my life.  It was a wonderful escape from the endless packing, stress, and sore muscles from moving.   That's a mark of a good book- one that's able to completely capture your mind.

The Vanishing Game gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

The cover of The Vanishing Game gets a Midnight Book Cover Rating of:

I like the double image of the house, and the differences are open to interpretation.  I thought it fit the book pretty well.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this arc through Around the World Arc Tours in exchange for my honest opinion.