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 Lauren Oliver has always been one of my favorite authors because she really knows how to capture the beauty of life. Vanishing Girls is the most accurate, wonderful depiction of a relationship between two sisters and is such a heartbreaking literary experience. This is a lyrical, gorgeously written novel that I couldn't stop reading and I fell in love with both Nick and Dara almost immediately. I can't express the avalanche of emotions I felt while reading this book, but I just know that it was something special. 
 Nick has always been a shadow compared to her sister Dara who's much more outgoing and wild. Despite their incredibly different personalities, the sisters have always been close until the accident that tore them apart. Now the sisters are distant and Dara becomes a mystery to Nick, then Dara and a girl named Madeleine Snow goes missing. Nick will do anything to get her sister and Madeleine back, even if it means finding out the truth. 
 It's rare to find a book in which there's a positive female friendship, especially in YA. Most YA books are big on slut shaming and displaying female relationships as something negative and horrible, so it's a relief to see such a refreshing relationship. Oliver claimed that Nick and Dara are based the relationship she had with her sister, something that I totally can see. The sister relationship is totally on point in this book, capturing both the highs and lows of such a bond honestly. Oliver really shows the strength of family and how there is no more powerful unifier than blood. 
 Despite everything, I really liked Dara even though she makes one questionable decision after the other. Between smoking, drinking, making poor decisions at parties, Dara continues to make mistake after mistake and yet, she's my favorite character in this one. She's one of the realest teenage characters in YA because she acts like a honest-to-god teen. She's far from perfect, wears her flaws on her sleeve and is looking to fit in, to be loved. I also felt for Dara because it's not easy being a twin and she desperately wanted to be see as someone so different from Nick that she lost sight of herself. 
 I've said it once and I'll say it again: I'll read ANYTHING Lauren Oliver writes. Her prose is as perfect as always, but I missed her flowerly language that she used in the Delirium series. Here her writing is still gorgeous, but it's much more practical and less purple, something that was a bit disappointing. It's still incredibly easy to get lost inside VG because she writes like a master and knows just what to say to make readers' hearts flutter. 
 Vanishing Girls is one of those books that rely on a big twist at the end and this can make or break the book for readers. I wasn't exactly pleased with this ending nor was I particularly angered by it like others. I've seen this ending before and in some cases it's worked, but here it just felt odd and made the ending feel lacking. 
 Between Panic and Vanishing Girls, I'm really so happy that Lauren Oliver has returned to her contemporary roots. I'm super excited to read Before I Fall and Oliver's middle-grade offerings because I can't get enough of her writing. Vanishing Girls is an emotional, well-written novel that will overcome readers with emotion from start to finish. Fans of her previous books will find themselves immersed once again in Vanishing Girls.