This is not going to be a book for everyone! If you really like creepy things, grotesqueness, or just feel you can handle things better than most i.e. you're not overly squeamish - then this book may work for you.

Overall, I was very impressed with the story line and how it ended and firmly believe this should be read during the spookiest season!

Thanks to @netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I’m struggling with how to rate this one. Hyper paranormal and spooky with some decent descriptive writing and certainly some unique plot points, but there’s just too much that sat wrong with me (and not in a good horror kind of way). Too much of the plot was revealed through explanatory narratives by ghosts in the end. The pacing was lopsided and everything ended really quickly compared to the build. And seriously how did they all get treated at the hospital in the end with no one asking any questions??

Biggest problem for me was the exploiting of trauma that I don’t see evidence the author has personal experience with- very specifically bipolar 3 and suicide. The descriptions of attempted suicide and suicidal ideation were constant, intense, and pervasive (SERIOUS content warnings here). It feels wrong to use that depth of mental health trauma as the entire plot and main character.

I really enjoyed this book. It's very creepy (WARNING: if you hate bugs, DO NOT READ) and had some great characters and atmosphere (you can practically smell some scenes).

The pacing felt a little off -- there is a A LOT of history and backstory here, which sometimes feels rushed. But overall, a great read with a gorgeous cover.

I appreciated the mental health backstory (trigger warning: reference to suicide), and the genuinely helpful insight on how to manage thoughts that run away from you.

The fact that this family is so fractured from Libby's health crisis, nicely tees up the mystery that unfolds and how the family struggles to manage it together. It also provides a nice analogy for the idea of wearing masks.

At its heart, this is a haunted house story...but then it ends up becoming a little something more. The beginning has some good scary scenes, but once you get a sense of what's happening in the house it read more like a thriller to me personally. (There is a bit of a romance in there too, but thankfully it rides along subtly in the background.)

If you like gothic horror and or supernatural spookiness, this is for you. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Made for a fun thriller/horror read. If you're a fan of the genre, you'll enjoy this with one exception- if you can't handle bugs, you will not enjoy this book

Libby and her family move into their family home after she has a stint in a psych ward when she got a bipolar diagnosis. They're looking for a fresh start but the historical house has many secrets. The locals tell stories of disappearances stretching as far back as the first owners, people who held seances with mysterious masks. Libby tries to tell her mother the place isn't safe but she refuses to hear anything bad about their new beginning.

I have to applaud the author on how they portray mental illness in their book. It is handled with such care and doesn't seem to shy away from the struggles that the family has to go through when dealing with it. There is tension through out the book where you feel Libby dealing with illness and not knowing if what is happening around her is real or just part of her disorder. At first I was not happy with how the mom was treating Libby but the further along we get in the book the more we come to realize something isn't right with her mom.

I do wish there were illustrations for the stained glass windows. They were described vividly but sometimes I still wish there were illustrations. The bugs added more creepiness to the story. There were moments where my skin crawled because of the bugs and the descriptions on the page.

A Place for Vanishing is an eerie and atmospheric read. Libby as the narrator is not always a reliable because of her disorder so not always can tell if what she sees is real or not. When the supernatural comes in it is blended naturally into the real. The characters felt real and their development progressed with the mystery of the house. I highly recommend this book. It is a fantasy horror that is a chilling well crafted story.

I thank Netgalley and Random House for providing an eARC of A Place of Vanishin.

A Place for Vanishing was a unique haunted house story... filled with lots and lots of bugs. I thought the idea of House of Masks and it's elaborate history was really intriguing but I honestly hated how buggy it was. The main character Libby is dealing with her own demons and she makes for such a strong character for this story. I also really enjoyed the family dynamic throughout the book.

Solid 4.5 stars. The only drawback to this book is the gross bug factor, but that element is also what makes the story wonderful. I love a good dark fantasy or sentient house story, and this book has both. If I had time, I could have read the whole thing in only a few days. Libby is such a well fleshed out character with an internal monologue that feels true to someone learning to live with her mental health issues. Getting to know Flynn more as a person other than his medium identity and family connection to the House of Masks would have been better, but the struggle is more about Libby, Vivi, and their mom doing what generations of their family haven't been able to do - survive the house. The perfect amount of spook, disgust, and fascination propelled me through the chapters. After every time I put a bookmark, I found myself reading past the point I "stopped." The house as a setting, its grounds, and its inhabitants - natural and supernatural - are greatly described. Reading this reminds me of House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig and Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and to best understand that I suggest reading. The ending was a little obvious, because Fraistat wrote herself into a corner that I only saw one inevitable way out of for the characters, but that does not make the fight any less satisfying for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for allowing me the opportunity to read this book early.

If you don't like bugs don't read this one. Seriously just don't! I loved Fraistat's other book What We Harvest and this one is right up there with that one. The mystery that the author wove throughout the story was spot on and the characters were amazing. The plot and pacing were so good for this one that you really can't put it down. I cannot wait to see what else Fraistat has in store for readers!! Because, so far she is an auto buy author for this reader.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.
This book was great! I can't wait to read more from this author.

Thank you @delacourtepress for the #gifted copy of this book!

Don’t let this pretty cover fool you into thinking this is a sweet read! It’s sweet as in creeptastic but not sweet as in cute. 🤣

I always love a good book about a haunted house with paranormal activity and this one was perfectly done! Libby is a teenager struggling with bipolar. When her mom decides to pick up and start over at a new home they all felt like it would be a good fresh starting point. Unfortunately for all of them it is anything but. Rumors swirl in the town about the history of this house and disappearances of past occupants. As Libby tries to make sense of what of happening she makes friends with the local neighbor boy as he seems to know more than he's letting on. Libby discovers there is no shortage of bugs 🪳in the house and there is a strange affinity to these bug masks she has found. Will she get to the bottom of this mystery before she loses her family to something much more sinister?

This young adult horror book is the epitome to a Gothic haunted house story. I loved the eerie dark vibe this author creates as she describes this house and all the creepy crawly things living inside. This book is awesome in the way that the house itself feels like its own character. I love books like that! I felt like the overall idea behind the masks and history really made this book! It is a unique idea that worked really well.

This book actually covers quite a bit between mental health, family love and loyalty, ghosts, seances, and a little romantic love too! I really enjoyed this as being that it is young adult, it felt like it had more character development than you normally get in a young adult book. I really enjoyed this one and would absolutely grab another book by this author!

A Place for Vanishing is an engaging horror sorry that takes readers on an unforgettable journey. Libby is hoping for a fresh start when she moves into her mom's family home, but her mom seems determined to keep the truth about what happened in that house a mystery. The house, however, has other plans for Libby and her sister. Not only is the story of the house and its history engaging, but the author does a wonderful job of exploring family dynamics and mental health issues. Each chapter reveals more about the house, drawing us into the story. The characters are well written and it is easy to care about what happens to them next. I would recommend this book for fans of A Lesson in Vengeance and Horrid.

An enjoyable read with an eerie-spooky feel. Nothing too scary and the writing was good. The story grew more and more interesting with each chapter. It had lots and lots of bugs (gross) and séances. I liked the house with all its secrets and there is a hint of clean romance in this.
I recommend this book.
Thanks Random House Children’s via NetGalley.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was SO GOOD! So creepy, very grotesque at times (many times), and has a really accurate ( I think) representation of mental health that can be intense, so I would definitely look at trigger warnings. I liked that the book not only focused on how Libby's mental health affected her but also her family. All the characters felt so real and I think the growth in all of their relationships was well written. Flynn was the perfect addition, with the romance adding a nice cute, lighter note but still not being the main focus. The pacing was perfect, and the ending didn't feel rushed at all, since the "ending" was pretty much the last 20-30 percent. The paranormal aspect was very original and I felt like nothing was left unexplained in the end (in a good way)!

A lot is going on in this book. There were many things that occurred in such a short time frame, which kept me interested all the way through. Thoroughly paranormal. Loved how descriptive all the decor and “characters” are in this story. The romance in this book happens way, way, way in the background. You really feel for Libby and Vivi, and the situation they've been put in, both before and after they move into the house. The ending was really good and it didn’t feel rushed.

This story sucked me in and kept me turning pages! It's creep and a bit eerie and everything I was hoping for from the synopsis. Thoroughly enjoyed!

Wow! This was such a creepy grotesque read. Swarming with bugs and spirits this haunting story had me hooked from the start. Libby has been diagnosed with bipolar III and her and her family are recovering from the traumatic events that preceded her diagnosis. They end up moving to her mother’s family home for a fresh start but nothing is as it seems. They are plagued with weird dreams and the house is full of bugs and creeping vines that feature unusual blue roses. I really appreciated how the author represented mental health. She showed how it not only affects the person with the diagnosis but those who are close to them. Libby’s character is real and raw and she shows tremendous growth throughout the story. It’s nice seeing her relationship with her mom and her sister throughout the story. I also appreciated the small romance that was included. Flynn was a wonderful love interest and while this definitely wasn’t a romance read I enjoyed the added sweet moments. The pacing was done really well and things progressed at a pretty fast pace. The last 25% of the book was intense. I couldn’t put this one down and I highly recommend it. Definitely check out the trigger warnings but I think this was a great paranormal psychological thriller, that included accurate representations of mental health. I’m definitely excited to see what Ann writes next!

Huge thank you to Delacorte Press and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

This one quite honestly didn’t hold my attention, which I found shocking. I love a gothic house with spooky happenings, but things were a little too weird? Like it would be one thing if everything was beautiful but looked sinister in shadow or something like that but like the whole house is full of bugs and we’re just supposed to let Libby’s mom gaslight her that it isn’t an issue? The book could really have used a bit more grounding in reality, like if Libby was going to school during the day and then coming home to the creepy house and having to deal with that dramatic context switch.

Things I liked: the frank way that Libby talks about her bipolar III (at least in the beginning; it sort of just kind of fades to negative intrusive thoughts later on, but I’m sure that’s a valid experience for someone), and Vivi’s character.

Things I didn’t like: not enough grounding in reality, Flynn’s character (especially his intro; we're supposed to believe that Libby has a connection with / budding crush on THAT? Pass), the layout of the house was super nebulous/unclear to the point where the only thing we actually know about in any detail are the stained glass windows, gaslighty mom who is “out of character” without us ever establishing a baseline.

I truly loved this book. This author is incredible with her writing. I would highly recommend this book. 10/10

Following a suicide attempt of the oldest daughter, Libby, the Feldman family moves to their mother's old house. Libby gets creepy vibes from the house and immediately realizes something is off about it. Her sister, Vivi, insists that she's being paranoid and begs her not to say anything for the sake of their mom.

Libby and Vivi start finding masks around the house, but their mom asserts they are not supposed to put them on. Digging into some research and questioning their neighbor, Flynn, Libby finds out that nine people have gone missing at the house. Flynn, Libby, and Vivi, do a seance to connect with the first owner of the house to get answers, but they might receive a little more than answers.

I loved this book! It was perfectly paced and was such an easy read. Once I started I didn't want to put it down! I loved the premise about the house and the masks and thought that was such a unique touch to the story. I also loved how fast-paced and exciting the ending was!

The story played out as a mystery in the start, but then it turned into a paranormal story. It was such a good plot!

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves mysteries or paranormal activity.