When We Vanished by Alanna Peterson
Rating: ★★★★☆

When We Vanished by Alanna Peterson pleasantly surprised me with its shift from sci-fi to a gripping thriller. Peterson adeptly balances suspense and human drama, crafting a narrative that kept me eagerly turning pages. The story prioritizes its thrilling mystery over heavy sci-fi elements, maintaining high tension with unexpected twists and turns that kept me guessing. The characters are compelling, each with secrets and motivations that deepen the narrative. Peterson's engaging writing style draws readers into their dilemmas and the tense atmosphere she expertly creates. In summary, When We Vanished is a captivating read for fans of suspenseful mysteries with complex characters and a plot that keeps you on edge.

P.S. Love the cover design!

***Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review**

The story is about a local corporation,four siblings and a friend. They have gone to investigate a study using human subjects in that company and as you can guess everything goes wrong. It's told in multiple POV's and at some points it's interesting and some of the descriptions are pretty gross. I will be checking for the sequel.

I lost interest this book as I read reading it. I gave this a one out of five stars. I didn’t really care about it.

First of all a big thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for sending me a copy of this to read and review.

I was really intrigued by the start of this book however I started to lose interest. This book was okay but I found myself forcing myself to pick this up to finish it. But I went into this hoping for a sci fi and it is more of a thriller. This is just my personal opinion of the book so if the blurb and cover interest you you should definitely give it a go.

This book was interesting. I really enjoyed the story overall but it could have been better. I would definitely read something from this author in the future though.

An impressive debut from this author. Fast paced and exploring issues that are super relevant for current readers, it was a deftly written book, and I look forward to reading more by the author

“When We Vanished” exceeded my expectations and turned out to be an exciting young adult thriller that I could not put down.

Let me begin by saying how this book was a surprise. When I started reading it, I had no idea what was in store for me. There are so many thrilling moments in the tale that had me at the edge of my seat. Some moments that stood out for me were when they hear the sounds of the helicopter or when they find out who gets arrested. While this might not make sense in my review (as I tried to make it abstract and spoiler-free), you will relate to it once you read the story.

There is more to appreciate in the story apart from the thrilling moments. Firstly, I admired the author for highlighting the risks of processed foods and how the corporations managing them are not trustworthy. She implements these subjects into the storyline, and it made me think about what goes on in our bodies when we eat something from outside. I appreciate the author for taking the initiative and applying it in this fascinating tale. Secondly, I loved Cyrus’s family. Judging by their names, I assume them to be a Parsi or Muslim family settled in America, and I liked how the author represented them.

All the characters, including Andi, Cyrus, Naveed, or even adorable Roya, were distinct. The story is top-notch as they get entangled in a conspiracy and have to face the creepy Dr. Snyder. On a side note, the geeky side of me also liked Cyrus’s technical skills and how the author included his chat conversations with Dev.

Overall, “When We Vanished” is an excellent start to the series and excited me for the next book!

As fast paced as this book is it must confess it took me a while to get into this book. I was very tempted to DNF this book but I checked some reviews before making my decision. The feedback was positive so I kept going. I did receive this book as an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher. This book is an eco-thriller, which is something I have never really read before. The protagonists find out that a company is conducting secret experiments connected to the production of food. This kind of plot makes you think about the food we eat every day. Especially the way certain foods look and taste, I can honestly say some food products taste and look different from when I was growing up. “New recipes” does not mean the best recipe. As the four protagonists search for answers it leads them into more dangerous situations then they bargained for. We are expected to stop and think about how food corporations really operate in our real day to day lives. We are expected to get emotional attached and care what happens to the characters as they search for the truth. This was a well written and thought out contemporary coming of age story made for teens and young adults.

I received a free e-ARC from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book had heaps of potential - its a YA eco-thriller about a corrupt food corporation.
The writing was decent, which is what kept me going as long as I did.
The pacing was quite slow and I found myself losing interest as a result.

Unfortunately just not the book for me.

This was very disappointing. The plot sounded interesting, but the story plodded along. It was so SLOW.
The characters were boring, I felt nothing towards them but annoyance.
There's also so much....non plausible events, including the most unrealistic video game hacking I've read....that's not how video game development works, which is when I noped out of the story about 1/3 way in.


I wanted to like it, but I couldn't.
Maybe younger YA readers would enjoy it, as I am not the target demographic.

I enjoyed this book a lot, the character development was really great! I always enjoy multiple POVs because it makes the story flow and there are no lulls in the book. I'm excited for the sequel!

The premise was so fascinating, paired with complex and relatable characters; it was enjoyable to read. The idea of investigating a large food corporation intrigued me but I was not fully invested in the plot. Overall, this was a solid and thought-provoking read with interesting topics raised.

I stopped reading due to losing interest. Interesting plot and idea though! I thought the characters were well done as well I just didn't want to continue with the story. I'm disappointed but may try again with this book in the future. Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for the copy of this book!

I have lost the copy of this book so I am really sorry I won't be able to give feedback on this book. I wanted to read this book but the copy got deleted from my phone. Really sorry.

This is one of the hardest books I had to review.
That's not an actual 3 stars it's a high 3 stars - so close to 4.

On the one hand, we have this amazing YA eco-thriller about a corrupt food corporation. The author has a degree in molecular biology and nutritional sciences so my uneducated (when it comes to biology) little me believes that this is a really well-written book even from the scientific aspect which is a plus. You get to know the author through the story which is really nice (her website biography also mentions her love for cooking which you can also pick up from the books).

My problem with this book is its pace. I had a really hard time connecting with the story, in the beginning, having to force myself through the first 10ish % but after that, the story picked up. It completely pulls you in.
The main characters are really likeable. I love them all a lot. But... There comes my main issue with the book. I am not a person that gets uncomfortable easily but some scenes here were so graphic and gory that I had some issues reading them. Maybe it's the current situation in the word that has made me more uncomfortable reading about heavy topics and animal violence. And because I've grown fond of the main characters I had a really hard time reading about some of the things that happened to them. Especially because all of them are so young.
But the book is really something new and I'm excited to see what's next. I believe this is the first in a quartet so there is a lot more to be excited about.

I really enjoyed the first two chapters of this—both Andi and Cyrus seemed like interesting characters and I was excited to see where they'd go. Unfortunately, it couldn't keep that momentum up for me. I lost interest in the characters and plot pretty quickly and nothing could reignite that original excitement.

It was an engrossing, enjoyable and interesting read. It's not your typical YA trope. It has shady corporates and GMO. I had to keep guessing through out the book. It's an eco thriller, a well written contemporary eco thriller. Fast paced. Definitely recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early review copy in exchange of an honest review.

Unique individually voiced characters, a powerful look into racial bias, and a fast-paced plot! This novel is definitely an intriguing one, with a stunning cover too.

The cover of this book and the description lured me in and I was thrilled to get an ARC of this book. It read well and was interesting but I'm not sure I would continue the series. Something about it didn't grab me the way I expected it would. Overall enjoyable.

This was so interesting! Anything to do with shady corporations and GMO - I'm in. I'm grateful that this is a YA novel because then Peterson can explain everything to the reader without it just being a fact dump. I really enjoyed this book, especially the mystery/thriller element.