Review: Vanish

Vanish

By Sophie Jordan

Publication date: September 6, 2011

My review:

This sequel to Firelight starts right where that book left off as Jacinda, Tamra, their mother, and Cassian are fleeing Will's family of hunters. Going back to the Pride means giving up Will forever but Jacinda doesn't have a choice. Things are worse than she could have imagined though as she is kept under constant watch and treated poorly while Tamra is adored and their mother faces banishment. The threat of having Jacinda's wings clipped is also becoming more of a possibility. Cassian turns out to be a surprising source of comfort and an ally. It would be so much easier if she could just love him and do what the Pride expects of her. Then Will shows up on Pride lands but can Jacinda sacrifice everything to be with the boy she loves or will it be too high a cost?

In Firelight, Jacinda was treated like a precious treasure by the members of her Pride. They kept watch over her because her gift as a firebreather is highly valued. Now having fled the Pride and revealed herself to humans, Jacinda is in shame and treated like a criminal. Her sister Tamra was always ignored before but now she is the one who everyone seeks out. It looks like just as Jacinda has lost everything, Tamra's dreams are coming true. This change in Jacinda's circumstances drives home to her the consequences of her decisions. Unfortunately she still behaves selfishly at times and she can be self absorbed but by the end of the book she appears to be changing for the better.

Vanish gives a greater insight into the workings of the Pride since the bulk of the story takes place in the Draki community. We are introduced to some new characters as well but some of the old characters like Az, Jacinda's best friend, sort of fade into the background. Instead Tamra plays a bigger part in her sister's life. In Firelight I didn't like Tamra very much though I could understand her feelings toward Jacinda since she didn't manifest like Jacinda did. In Vanish, I liked Tamra a little more and the two sisters become closer.

The romance becomes more complicated in Vanish as Jacinda realizes that Cassian has genuine feelings for her and she has mixed feelings about him when Will appears to be out of the picture for good. There is also the added dilemma that it is expected that she and Cassian will become a couple for the sake of the Pride and that Tamra has been in love with Cassian for a long time. I am really tired of love triangles but at least it seems that Jacinda knows who she wants to be with by the end of the book. 

I am glad that Tamra becomes more likable here and that we get to know more about the Draki. It was also nice to see a little bit of maturation in Jacinda though she has a long way to go. Unfortunately the addition of a love triangle and the relatively few scenes between Will and Jacinda reduced my enjoyment of this sequel. What I really liked about Firelight was the romance and the strong chemistry between Jacinda and Will which we don't have enough of here. My overall thought is that while Vanish is not as good as Firelight, it is still an engrossing story and the cliffhanger ending makes me want to read the next book.

Readalikes: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Note: I received this e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review