Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Review: The Rules for Disappearing

Title: The Rules for Disappearing
Author: Ashley Elston
Release Date: May 14th 2013
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 320
Source: Purchased

Summary:
She’s been six different people in six different places: Madeline in Ohio, Isabelle in Missouri, Olivia in Kentucky . . . But now that she’s been transplanted to rural Louisiana, she has decided that this fake identity will be her last.

Witness Protection has taken nearly everything from her. But for now, they’ve given her a new name, Megan Rose Jones, and a horrible hair color. For the past eight months, Meg has begged her father to answer one question: What on earth did he do – or see – that landed them in this god-awful mess? Meg has just about had it with all the Suits’ rules — and her dad’s silence. If he won’t help, it’s time she got some answers for herself.

But Meg isn’t counting on Ethan Landry, an adorable Louisiana farm boy who’s too smart for his own good. He knows Meg is hiding something big. And it just might get both of them killed. As they embark on a perilous journey to free her family once and for all, Meg discovers that there’s only one rule that really matters — survival.”

My Thoughts: 
When this book first came into my radar, I was beyond intrigued. I have always been interested in what a person has to endure while they are in the witness protection program. I super excited for the book needless to say. Yet, with there being so much potential for an amazing story, I was saddened when the whole thing fell flat for me.

In the beginning of the novel, the story felt so strong. I mean, I had to force myself to stop reading to do other things. I was so drawn into the mystery of Megan and her family and wondering what could have happened to them to put them in such a situation that they had to become new people.

Later as the story progressed, my feelings started to change. I started to slowly lose interest in the story and the direction it was headed. While I really liked Megan in the beginning, I couldn’t stand her by the end. I just had so many issues with her character that I started to not care about the book at all. I found her annoying and selfish. It was obvious her and her family were in a large amount of danger and yet she made such bold decisions that often put not only her, but her whole family in jeopardy. It aggravated me so much I just wanted to reach into the book and slap her! Simply put I couldn’t connect with Megan and I like that greatly impacted my whole experience with the book.
Another person I found myself loathing was Teeny, Megan’s little sister. While the reader is supposed to feel bad for Teeny because of her mental state of changing identities so much, I just couldn’t stand her! She was so whiny and a brat. I had no care for her at all.

A large portion of the story has to do with Megan’s romantic life. Now, I don’t mind romance here and there, but when it completely drowns out the plot of the book, then I have a problem. The romance between Megan and Ethan felt so rushed and insta-loveish. It didn’t help the story progress at all. In fact, most of the decisions Megan made had to do with Ethan. She literally endangered her family just to see a boy. It was just so irritating.

Now, I didn’t completely hate this book. I really loved the thriller parts of the book and the mystery of what happened to Megan and her family. I just wish there were more parts of that, instead of the love story.

In the end this book just wasn’t for me at all.


Rating: 2/5

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