The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy ~ Blog Tour: #bookreview #giveaway

July 1, 2017 

 

Welcome to my stop on The Disappearances Blog Tour organized by the Fantastic Flying Book Club! I have a book review and giveaway for you today. Click here to follow along with the other stops. 

Title: The Disappearances
Author: Emily Bain Murphy
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Release Date: July 4, 2017
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magical Realism
Source: Copy for review 

My Rating:  

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Kobo 

Synopsis

What if the ordinary things in life suddenly...disappeared?

Aila Quinn's mother, Juliet, has always been a mystery: vibrant yet guarded, she keeps her secrets beyond Aila's reach. When Juliet dies, Aila and her younger brother Miles are sent to live in Sterling, a rural town far from home--and the place where Juliet grew up. 

Sterling is a place with mysteries of its own. A place where the experiences that weave life together--scents of flowers and food, reflections from mirrors and lakes, even the ability to dream--vanish every seven years.

No one knows what caused these “Disappearances,” or what will slip away next. But Sterling always suspected that Juliet Quinn was somehow responsible--and Aila must bear the brunt of their blame while she follows the chain of literary clues her mother left behind.

As the next Disappearance nears, Aila begins to unravel the dual mystery of why the Disappearances happen and who her mother truly was. One thing is clear: Sterling isn’t going to hold on to anyone's secrets for long before it starts giving them up.   

The Disappearances is a dreamy, ethereal story in which a young girl and her brother discover their mother's secrets after her death. The idea of losing ordinary things, things that all of us usually take for granted such as the ability to see your reflection in a mirror, had me intrigued. Once I began reading, there was a huge surprise waiting for me straight away that isn't revealed in the synopsis so I won't reveal it here, either. Let's just say it was really cool!    

Murphy writes beautifully, allowing the reader to slip into the story as easily as a swimmer glides through the water of a pool. Aila and her younger brother Miles were written well. It isn't easy to write characters who are grieving, especially young ones, but I felt their emotions like they were my own. I lost my mother to cancer when I was young and tend to gravitate toward books with characters who have also lost a parent. Stories like this allow me to grieve in my own way when no one else wants to see or hear me do it.

While grief is one of the themes in The Disappearances, it is only a part of the story. I was eager to find out what was causing something new to disappear every seven years. I couldn't imagine losing my sense of smell or the ability to dream even though I know I take them for granted. I loved the mystery that kept me turning the pages and trying to figure out where the clues would lead me.  

One of the many beautiful aspects of this novel is how life affirming it is to me. When I wasn't reading this book, I couldn't stop thinking about how much beauty there is in the most ordinary of things. I don't even stop to be grateful for these things, or if I do it's a rare occasion. 

I guarantee Aila's story in The Disappearances will make you stop and think about how lucky we are to be human and have the ability to experience all that we can. This book has done that for me, and it can for you, too. 

About the Author

Emily Bain Murphy grew up in Indiana, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, and has also called Massachusetts and Connecticut home. 

She loves books, Japanese karaoke, exploring new cities, and anything with Nutella. Her debut YA fantasy, THE DISAPPEARANCES, will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2017. 

Murphy currently lives in San Francisco with her family and is at work on her second novel. 

Connect with the Author 

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook 

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