ALA Booklist (Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

Though bright, disciplined Maggie and flighty, enigmatic Pauline might be the focus of this atmospheric tragedy, the ghostly voice observing the teens and piecing together its own memories is its sorrowful heart. Maggie moves to sleepy Door County, Wisconsin, from the bustle of Chicago, and while helping her parents to fix up their ramshackle lakeside house, she works hard at fulfilling her college aspirations. But when her next-door neighbor Pauline pulls her into her orbit, and panic sets in over a series of murders in the area, Maggie finds herself veering off her perfectly planned path, particularly with regards to Pauline's friend Liam. All the while, a ghostly voice hovers over the lakefront community, noticing small details and recalling pinpricks of feeling, which ultimately point to a heartbreaking conclusion. For all the mythic overtones of Maggie and Pauline's friendship, Anderson still manages to give her characters authentic teen voices, striking an uneasy balance between naïveté and worldliness. The pace might be slow for some, but readers who like their romances tragic and dreamy should dive in.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Anderson (Tiger Lily) once again works her magic to conjure evocative settings and soulful protagonists in this modern gothic romance featuring a displaced adolescent and the ghost who is mysteriously drawn to her. The story begins shortly after homeschooled Maggie reluctantly bids goodbye to Chicago city life to move with her parents to a remote Victorian house on Lake Michigan in Door County, Wis. The tranquility of the community is disturbed by news of a serial killer in the area. Despite widespread fear and distrust in the area, Maggie enjoys moments of contentment with new friends Pauline and Liam, neighbors with a deep childhood bond. But when Maggie-s presence threatens to put a wedge between Pauline and Liam, all three must rethink their relationships with each other. No one (except, perhaps, the invisible ghost who traces their every movement) knows where their decisions will lead. Interspersed with the confused memories and profound revelations expressed by the ghost, this tantalizing novel offers a singular perspective on a complicated love triangle and a tragedy. Ages 14-up. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (July)

Voice of Youth Advocates

The themes and problems in The Vanishing Season will feel familiar to those acquainted with Anderson's other work, Tiger Lily (HarperTeen, 2012/VOYA February 2012). Though Door County, Wisconsin, in winter is far from the tropics of Neverland, Wendy, Tiger Lily, and Peter share similar dilemmas with The Vanishing Season's teen love trianglePauline the perfect; Maggie the mundane; and Liam, the complicated male love interest. There is even a Tinker Bell narrator, who floats between the chapters like an omnipresent moth in italicized pages framed in hatch-marked rectangles. The identity of this narrative voice provides the most engaging piece of the mystery, and one that suggests an audience of more sophisticated readers willing to solve the puzzle. The teens' personal dramas unwind amid the unexplained disappearance and drowning of several young women, likely at the hands of a serial killer. Several male characters are possible suspects, including Liam, Liam's atheist father, weird Gerald from the antique emporium where Maggie works, and hunky James Falks, the backup boyfriend in Pauline's life when her family whisks her away from the killer and off to safety with an aunt in Minneapolis.Some of the characters' decisions are inordinately foolish, given the circumstances of the teens' murders, and twists in the plot are occasionally too pat, but for readers who savor the ambiguities of unrequited love and the greys of the here and hereafter, The Vanishing Season will end well. For those who require the solid solution of a true mysterynot so much.Donna L Phillips.

Horn Book (Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2015)

Maggie moves from Chicago to rural Door County with her family and reluctantly befriends beautiful, magnetic Pauline and outsider Liam. The teens' world is rocked when local girls start vanishing in the fall, then turn up dead come winter. Anderson alternates a ghostly first-person narrator and more factual third-person narration centering on the three teens. A surreal, haunting story.

School Library Journal Starred Review (Thu May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

Gr 9 Up-Maggie Larsen is uprooted by her parents from the busy city of Chicago to the remote and quaint town of Gill Creek. She is immediately befriended by her neighbor, the beautiful but eccentric Pauline, and her childhood BFF, the gentle Liam. The three become inseparable—although beneath the surface a simmering romantic tension is clearly brewing. Things come to a head when girls begin to mysteriously disappear and Pauline is sent away. With the dynamic of Maggie and Liam's relationship now intensifying, the bonds of friendship and loyalty are in question. The journey of self-discovery taken by each character tests their true nature and forces decisions that will change their lives forever. Anderson crafts a heartbreaking story full of mystery, love, redemption, and betrayal. The subtle writing draws readers in from the beginning, while the complex and intriguing characters beautifully drive the measured pacing of the plot. The interspersed first-person ghostly narrative adds an eerie sense of dread and foreboding. Yet it is the stark and realistic portrayal of events coupled with a startling conclusion that make this such a powerful read.— Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY