Review: The Temple House Vanishing

The Temple House Vanishing by Rachel Donohue
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book.
I am rounding up a bit... I tried, but I really didn't like this book. I tried, but I just didn't.
I am not really sure how to rate this book. The author did a great job of setting up a compelling mystery about the sudden and inexplicable disappearance of young girl and her slightly questionable art teacher. The oppressive, creepy, and twisty atmosphere of "wrongness" that the author is able to create also really adds to the story. The writing itself is beautiful, lyrical, and very immersive.
But the characters are where the book kind of falls flat. Louisa is a fascinating character and the reader really wants to know more about her. But the other two central characters, Victoria and Mr. Lavelle, seem rather 2 dimensional. This is really not good because so much of Louisa's actions and the plot points of the book revolve around Victoria and Mr. Lavelle. It is hard for the reader to understand these two characters, because there is little development there, which in turn makes it difficult for the reader to understand Louisa's motivations. A pivotal portion of the book is also narrated by a journalist who is another character lacking in development. The reader really gets no reason as to why this journalist plays such a pivotal role in the story, other than she used to live across the street from Louisa.
By the end, the book had become very predictable, and I found that I just didn't care. This book had some things that were very well done, but some things that really needed some work.

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