SuitabookThe disappearances
Gemma Malley
- Reading
- Read alongside the young person, pause after the disappearances are introduced, and ask what feels frightening, unfair or emotionally complicated. The ending and the threat’s resolution remain unclear.
- Themes
- Control and freedom: Evie and Raffy have escaped the City’s controlling regime, while Lucas remains among its ruins and tries to rebuild. The book?s stance on this remains unclear.
- Loyalty under pressure: Lucas calls on his old friends to respond to the disappearances, despite finding their reunion emotionally painful. The book clearly places loyalty and personal hurt alongside a public emergency, but whether it resolves or endorses any particular choice is unknown.
- Disappearance and threat: Teenagers have gone missing from within the City walls, apparently vanishing into thin air, placing the City at stake. The premise uses unexplained disappearances to create suspense; the book’s explanation of them and its treatment of their consequences are not known.
- Worth knowing
- The disappearances and the City’s controlling regime may merit attention, especially for readers unsettled by people vanishing or by stories involving restricted freedom and threatening social systems.