The Vanishing Stair

Publication Date: 10 December 2019

Publisher: Katherine Tegan

Pages: 400

Summary:

Ellingham Academy is unlike most boarding schools. Within these halls, school is an actual killer. Stevie Bell has always dreamed of solving the mystery that has long haunted the school grounds. Though she may have received more than she bargained for when her own classmates turn up dead. As Stevie grows even deeper into the Ellingham mystery, she begins to question everything she thought she knew and learns that not everyone can be trusted.

Plot:

Mysteries are meant to be intriguing. Readers rely on them to invite them to solve a mystery where everything is not slows what it seems. I was pleased to find that Johnson created such a journey in The Vanishing Stair. While reading, I felt immensely fascinated with discovering the culprit behind this cold-blood caper. Yet, just when I thought I had everything in pace, Johnson would introduce a new fact that would disrupt everything I knew about the story. However, I did feel that the story could have balanced the alternating time lines within the story a bit more. I felt that a great deal of attention was placed on the more current story line rather than the past. As a result, I felt that I had a difficult time connecting to the plot sequence set before Stevie's time. Overall, I had a great time reading it and found it to be an enthralling mystery.

Characters:

Stevie Bell proved herself to be a clever yet sensible character. I enjoyed reading about her deductions within the story and how she plotted against the alleged suspects. I also enjoyed reading about Stevie's friends within the novel. More so, I appreciated the attention Johnson placed on developing their personalities, rather than solely focusing on Stevie. All in all, I really enjoyed reading about this cast of characters and look forward to seeing how they wrap up the next and final installment.

Setting:

Ellingham Academy is truly a unique choice for a setting. Not many YA novels choose to take place in a boarding school. Fewer yet provide much detail about the school's surroundings. Johnson's descriptions of Ellingham's serene nature and prestigious classrooms served to heighten my enjoyment of the novel and visually picture the academy within my mind.

Review:

My overall review for this book is four and a half stars out of five. It is a great novel and a perfect read during the fall season. Thanks for reading :)