Book Review: Vanish

Vanish (Firelight #2)

By: Sophie Jordan

Published By: HarperTeen

Publication Date: September 2011

Page Count: 294

Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or IndieBound

Source: Purchased by Reviewer

Audience: Young Adult - Fantasy

This was as fantastic as Firelight! The books in this series are such quick reads - I read Firelight in a matter of hours, and this one only too me 5 hours too!  

Vanish follows the aftermath of Firelight very closely, and I would really recommend reading them very close together. In fact, I think I might have to instigate a reread of both books before I head on to Hidden, which is the final book in the trilogy due out this Autumn. What I really loved about Vanish is that there was a lot of pace and excitement. I was never quite sure how things would turn out, although I wanted Jacinda and Will to find a way to be together very badly. 

The focus in this book shifts from the 'outside' world shown in Firelight, into the draki pride, and we get a first hand look at just how annoyed they are with Jacinda's actions from Firelight. She gets to feel the brunt of their displeasure, and she is also forced to make nice with Cassian, the son of the pride's Alpha. I found the whole 'arranged partnership' idea quite distasteful but it was alleviated by Cassian himself. He actually isn't a bad guy, even though I wasn't happy at all that he started to develop a serious role in Jacinda's life and I started to feel quite riled up by the idea that he might muscle in on Will! (I know that it is an excellent read if I start fuming away at interloping characters!)

The ending was really just so exciting that I literally can't wait for Hidden to come out. There was quite the cliffhanger and a very real possibility of people dying in the next one. I have to keep my fingers (& toes) crossed that Reading Lark will get an ARC, because otherwise I have no idea how I will cope with waiting so long for the conclusion! 

Summary:

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?