The Disappearances
by Emily Bain Murphy

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: YA historical fantasy

When Aila’s dad is drafted to fight in WWII not long after her mom’s death, she and her little brother Miles are sent to live with an old friend of their mom’s in the small town where their mom grew up. The siblings quickly begin to notice some strange things about their new home, like the lack of mirrors in the entire house. And how the flowers in the backyard don’t have any smell. As it turns out, every seven years, the people in the town lose something, like the ability to smell or dream. It’s been happening for 35 years and no one knows what made it start or what might make it stop. And the next Disappearance is only days away.

This is one of those books that leaves me struggling to figure out where to start with my review. I was so caught up in the story that I had a really hard time putting the book down and ended up staying up an hour later than normal to finish it. The Disappearances, the way the town reacts to them, their attempts to counter them—all of it comes together in an intriguing story. Add to that Aila’s and Miles’s grief over their recent loss, worry for their endangered dad, and difficulty in settling into a new town, which is all really well done and feels authentic. 

As the main story is unfolding, we get glimpses of another plot that seems to have connections to the main story, though it isn’t immediately clear what those connections are. But as the story goes on, more and more hints are dropped. I actually looked something up online based on a clue from the book and made a connection before the book brought it up. I had no idea why it was significant, but the excitement I felt at my realization was just further proof of how invested I was in the book. I can’t say a lot due to not wanting to spoil anything, but I already mentioned how caught up I was in the last quarter or so of the book. There are some details that aren’t explained in the end, but nothing that was left unexplained bothered me. I don’t need to know how the “magic” worked. I just loved the way the author worked everything out. It actually reminded me of Holes, which is not really touted as fantasy, yet has a curse-related overall arc that is similar to this book. I also have to admit that the book doesn’t feel particularly historical, even though it’s set in 1942, but I just didn’t care enough to be bothered by it. I don’t give 5 stars easily, but I haven’t enjoyed a book of this genre this much in a while. If the book interests you at all, I strongly urge you to give it a read!

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