A book you won't want to vanish

Vanish
By: Sophie Jordan
Reported by: Juli Helms
Source: NetGalley
Release Date: September 6th, 2011

To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.

Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?

In bestselling author Sophie Jordan’s dramatic follow-up to Firelight, forbidden love burns brighter than ever.

Romantic, beautiful, this follow up to Firelight is, unbelievably, even better than the first. I want to make clear here that I was actually a little reluctant to start reading this series. I'm not exactly sure why, but dragons have not always been my thing. I am so, so, so glad I gave it  a try. I liked Firelight, and I was hooked enough to read Vanish, but Vanish... Oh my goodness, it was amazing. Sophie Jordan outdid herself.



The bumpy road of the plot started from the very first chapter. I remember reading Firelight and thinking repetitively, I can't believe how much Jacinda's life sucks! It was the same feeling in Vanish, except... it was bearable. I understood Jacinda's pain, her actions, and I could really relate to her. Yet despite all of the horrible things that happened in her life, her faith never truly dwindles, no matter how much she wants it to. I really enjoyed learning more about the Darki world and Jacinda's thoughts on them, and I'm glad Sophie Jordan added even more depth into the characters. None of the characters were one-dimensional. Even the most minor ones had a personality, a depth often missing in so many books nowadays, and not just YA.


The romantic tension rose to a whole new level, too, in Vanish. I couldn't leave my hotel room and had to keep reading it on my lap top even during vacation. It was that good. Sophie Jordan did an excellent job of portraying both boys of the love triangle. A good love triangle, to me, is often one where you can sway towards one side with a scene, and immediately recoil to the other in the next. This was how it was like for me. I actually started to sway towards Cassian, even if a little, but then Will came back and... Wooooooot. I won't spoil it for you, but that was pretty exciting.


Firelight exceeded my expectations, but perhaps that is because I wasn't expecting too much out of a dragon book (I will now! Thank you, Sophie Jordan, for showing me that dragons can be truly a wonderful YA read, too). Vanish will blow you out of your mind. I am definitely anticipating the third book now. Ah, that's the sad thing about ARCs. Now I have to wait even longer. But I'm happy with the ending Sophie Jordan chose for Vanish. It wasn't as big of a cliffhanger as Firelight (which would have driven me crazy if I didn't have Vanish), instead, it is the perfect mix of intrigue and contentment. 

STARRED REVIEW