Reviews with content warning for Murder - Rules for Vanishing

I had a hard time getting into the style of writing at first, but I’m glad I stuck with it. I almost stopped reading at around 18% because the way the interview, text, and video portions were written was very tedious to me at first. However, it picked up around that point and I couldn’t put it down. Super mysterious story that keeps you guessing.

The ending kind of confused me a little bit, and I’m not really sure what happened? I think everything got mostly fixed but the report/found footage mysterious style of the ending especially made it a little hard to piece together.

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hamfanjay's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book had a good cast of characters and good plot but I do feel like it got a bit confusing. I do like the different mediums used throughout the book (written statements, interviews, camera footage). There was a great amount of plot twists that weren’t expected and events that really made you think. The ending was interesting; I do feel like it was a little rushed but it did tie some loose ends.

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rogueblackwood's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5 stars.
This book is a trip!! There's even a specific trope that I usually hate but it works here well.

I usually hate an unreliable narrator, but in this case, she is unreliable but not on purpose. It was quite well done!

And while the ending may leave some upset with its lack of definitive answers, I liked the way it lets you figure out or guess what happened. If gave me Head Full of Ghosts Vibes as far as the ending goes.

I do agree with the Blair Witch reference for the style of storytelling but once you're in the woods it really feels very Silent Hill-esque in many ways! I can't wait to read the next book. I've seen that this is a series in a way that the investigators are the same in this and the Our Last Echoes.

And anyone thinking that YA Horror pulls punches in regards to horror or tragedy should read this!

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beforeviolets's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Oh my stars was this book horrifying. This is the first book I've ever read that caused me to worry about my ability to sleep at night. I literally had to fall asleep watching Netflix because I read this a little too late one night.

I loved the format and the delivery of this book. It was scary and terrifying and mystifying in all the right ways. I'm such a huge fan of the mixed media style. It not only aided the story itself by providing different perspectives and snippets in such an order that allowed things to be revealed or hidden or vague depending on the author's intentions at any given time, but also kept my attention span constantly engaged and constantly entertained with something new. I was constantly faced with unreliable narrators/POV's and situational irony and it added a whole extra layer of entertainment to the already thrilling narrative.

My only real issue was that the end was a little more open-ended than I personally would've preferred, but this book was so much about the journey anyways that it almost didn't matter.

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cjblates's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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talislibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

My first re-read of 2021 and this was even more enjoyable a second time around. Eerie, spooky and shocking, this will give you chills beyond what you would expect from a YA.

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abutler's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

I don't normally like horror, but I couldn't put this down. I binged it in two days and the only reason it took two days was because I had to go to work. I could have happily read it in one sitting.

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leahrosereads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I had to sit on this one for a bit after finishing it. The first 1/2 of the book was damn near creepy perfection. I loved it. Unfortunately, it had pacing issues in the second half that caused the story to become so disjointed to me, but it didn't feel intentional. I'm definitely interested and plan on picking up other works by this author. The writing and premises of this was good, and I think I'll end up reading a 5 star book by Marshall. It feels inevitable.

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