Vanish by Sophie Jordan

In Vanish, the second book in the Firelight trilogy, Jacinda returns home to the enclave. But home isn’t home anymore. Kept in a constant lockdown, Jacinda is forced to completely reevaluate the relationships with the people she loves. Seeing Will has become just a fantasy, never to happen, and Cassian isn’t as coldhearted as he used to seem… but when Jacinda is given the impossible chance to meet with Will again, how can she refuse?




Lately all the second books in the trilogies I read have been disappointing. Since Firelight is one of my favorite paranormal romance books ever, I hoped that Vanish could beat the Second Book Slump. Maybe. At first I could almost believe that Vanish had the Slump beaten. In the first chapter, everything is what I expected: fast-paced with crazy awesome twists.



But then Vanish slows down. Nothing, well, Firelight worthy happens. Mostly, Jacinda spends her time mending old relationships and starting new ones—like with Cassian (eww!). The thing about Vanish is that singular events are taken out of proportion and made overly dramatic. Too many chapters are wasted on Jacinda’s thoughts about what she needs to do and grievances over the slights of her community. I wanted something to wow me, but nothing especially pops out.



I’m Team Will. I LOVE the whole hunter-falling-in-love-with-the-hunted thingy. There is so much potential in those kinds of relationships. But Cassian? Who needs him? Though some parts of Vanish really did make me want to go to the dark side (after all, they have cookies), Jacinda and Cassian simply don’t have enough chemistry to convince me that they could be happy together.



So, Vanish doesn’t quite compare to Firelight’s impossibly awesome standards. But I haven’t abandoned the series; based on how Vanish ends, the final book in the Firelight trilogy looks like it’s going to be the best of them all.



You can also view this review on Figment