Vanishing girls (Lauren Oliver)

After a car accident that involved the two sisters Nick and Dara, both of them stop talking to each other, so they start to grow away from each other, even though they used to be really close. Nick decides to try to save their friendship, but then Dara suddenly disappears, only a few days after a nine-year-old girl called Madeline Snow vanishes. During Nick's search for Dara, she not only learns that the two disappearances are linked, but also regains her memory of what really happened during the time of their accident.

"Sometimes day and night reverse. Sometimes up goes down and down goes up, and love turns into hate, and the things you counted on get washed out from under your feet, leaving you pedaling in the air."

This is the first thriller I've read in the last two years (and I basically only picked it up because it's written by Lauren Oliver), since I don't really like this genre that much, so I was quite glad that especially the first half of the book has more of a contemporary feel to it. The start in general is pretty slow and things only really speed up in the last two-thirds of the story, so I guess people who like super intense books won't enjoy this much, especially since the reveal is short and felt, at least for me, pretty unsatisfying. The ending definitely is quite predictable, particularly for people who read a lot of thrillers.
Even though a lot of people apparently have their problems with Lauren Oliver's books, I enjoyed her writing as well as the characters and their relationships. I didn't really like Nick and Dara that much, but I definitely did like some of the minor characters, and all of them are pretty realistic. What I loved was how the relationship between Nick and Dara is portrayed, and the book doesn't just show the nice parts about having siblings, but also the jealousy and rivalry that arise.
I also liked that the book is divided into "before" and "after" the accident, so that you get to experience the present as well as the past, but the chapters inside some of the "before"/"after" categories aren't chronological, which kind of confused me sometimes.
So if you're looking for a contemporary book with some mystery in it, you can definitely check it out without being disappointed after you finished it, but sadly I can't promise you the same for this book if you want to read an intense thriller.

Rating: 3.5 ✹

I hope you enjoyed this review and you're having a fantastic day!

Leah

Before I fall (Lauren Oliver)

So here's another review of one of my favorite books. Since I'm still kind of scared of reviewing long and epic fantasy book series with a complex world and a huge amount of characters, this one is for another contemporary book. I've read this way over a year ago and can't remember all the details, so I'm sorry if I mess anything up.

Before I fall follows 17-year-old Samantha Kingston, who has seemingly everything you want: she's pretty, is one of the most popular girls in her High School and dates the perfect guy. But on Valentine's day she gets into a fatal car accident after leaving a party with her drunk friends and instead of dying straight away, she awakes on the exact same day again and is forced to relive it seven times. This gives her the opportunity to change her perspective, rethink her actions and be fearless in standing up for what she believes in, because she has nothing left to lose.

"So many things become beautiful when you really look."

I have to admit that at first this book kind of had a Groundhog day vibe, and while that movie and its concept bored me so much I couldn't bear watching it longer than 15 minutes (and it was incredible predictable as well), this book was a completely new reading experience for me and definitely not an average contemporary novel with just a cute romance in it. I was sobbing throughout the entire time reading this really touching book and honestly couldn't put it down. I also loved seeing the huge and powerful character development Sam went through and the way her priorities and actions changed during every time she relived that day. But most important, the story really made me think about all the times I unintentionally hurt the people around me with my words and behavior and what actual damage I could cause without even meaning to, because the story is so realistic. I was able to relate a lot of the things that happened, but also characters to the real actions and people I see nearly every day in my school, so finishing the book left me with such a weird feeling and a different view on the way people are treated not just in school, but in general and what kind of consequences it can have. Apart from that, the most important topic in this book definitely is how unlasting your life actually is, and that really made me appreciate the now I'm living in and helped me to stop worrying about the past as well as the future quite a bit. I loved the small piece of text on the very first page of the book, probably because it reminded me so much of someone important to me I lost some time ago, but it's way too beautiful to not feature it here anyway:

"Maybe you can afford to wait. Maybe for you there's a tomorrow. Maybe for you there's one thousand tomorrows, or three thousand, or ten, so much time you can bathe in it, roll around in it, let it slide like coins through your fingers. So much time you can waste it. 

But for some of us there's only today. And the truth is, you never really know."

Rating: 4.5/5 ✹

Hopefully you enjoyed reading this review and might check the book out. And I promise you, even if you didn't enjoyed Lauren Oliver's Delirium series, you'll like this story a lot more!
I hope you're having a great day,

Leah

We probably won't be able to post regularly because we're quite busy studying for upcoming tests. We'll do our best to post as often as possible!