The Rules for Disappearing

I think that most of us have heard about the Witness Protection program. If you're an avid viewer of cop shows and mystery/thrillers, then it must have crossed your ears at some point. The usual scenario is that someone witnesses some kind of crime and murder, so the US Marshalls enlists the person in the Witness Protection program to keep them safe before they have to testify in court. The Rules for Disappearing tackles with what happens when you're in the Witness Protection program. Not before or after, but during the whole gruesome process. I haven't read any other young adult book with the same subject matter and I dived right in.

One of the things that The Rules for Disappearing did well was the depiction of the changes in Meg's family. They used to be really well-off and were depicted as happy go-lucky in all of Meg's flashbacks, but everything suddenly fell apart when they entered Witness Protection, and it was all pretty apparent. Meg's dad, who used to be a successful accountant but now works rough jobs, is really stressed out and unattached, her mother falls into the habit of drinking and passing out at any hour of the day, and her little sister Teeny just gave up in general and freaks out whenever she's left alone or whenever she sees a man wearing a suit. Meg is also sick of all the moving and pretending and won't allow herself to get attached to anything anymore, in turn creating a set of rules for herself. They were the perfect family before the whole mess and the program really took a toll them.

Meg was a really hard character to get used to. Meg was the only one who tried to pull things together when everyone else just refused to function. She isn't an ignorant girl, she knows when there are problems and she doesn't deny not figuring out that Ethan planned on asking her out. She was really observant and I admire her love for her sister. I liked her and her headstrong determination at times, but I got really confused whenever her resolution wavered. Ethan was a really cute supporting character, although sometimes a bit too cute for my liking. I really appreciated his lightheartedness whenever it balanced out Meg's defiance but there were times when (although appreciated) he was a bit too good to be true.

The thing that irked me in this mystery read was the lack of mystery and thrill. The scenes that were supposed to thrill me were being told rather than being shown, and that's not good for a mystery book. Some things in the story were also unjustified, like the reason behind the whole Ethan-Meg attraction among other more important things. Everything conveniently falls into place. Some instances and situations were too unbelievably unrealistic, especially the reactions of those who eventually got involved. I was waiting for that exciting climax but it came and went without me even realizing it and I had to backtrack. I have to admit that the ending disappointed me a bit- everything was rushed and stuffed to fit into the last handful of pages.

The Rules for Disappearing works amazingly well as a young adult contemporary read, but I wasn't feeling the mystery aspect of it. The book wasn't as dynamic and adrenaline-filled as I expected but I would still recommend it to someone looking for an light action movie-type read with great character building. The Rules for Disappearing is a really cute and light quick read that chronicles a girl's journey through Witness Protection, and I really enjoyed all the relationships she formed and all the roadblocks she went through along the way.


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