Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I absolutely adored Julia Phillips' style of writing. It somehow managed to be both lyrical and bleak, spinning the interconnected stories of people touched by the disappearance of two sisters in a remote Russian peninsula.

In fact, Kamchatka was such a focal point in the story, it became the main character that everyone and everything else revolved around.

The themes of isolation, loneliness and loss were strong in this book and handled with care and skill by Phillips. One of the things I enjoyed most about Disappearing Earth was how low-key and subdued the writing felt. It really evoked a sense of time and place.

I can't wait to read more from Phillips.

I have so many conflicting thoughts about Disappearing Earth. I went through a bunch of reviews after I finished it to see if anyone could really grasp how I felt, yet I found myself agreeing with both the high and low rated reviews.

So many of the positives in this book also feel like a negative and I don't think I've ever quite experienced that in any book I've ever read, at least not to this extent.

I absolutely can't fault the character-building done here. In what is often a single chapter dedicated to a character, you really get a sense of not just who they are but who the people around them are and how their actions affect those people too. The drawback to that being, I struggle to understand the need for so many characters who ultimately play no real part in the resolution of the main plot. Perhaps reading this over a month meant I lost some of the connections others may have picked up on but I just felt like the first 50-60% of the novel was almost redundant.

Although, having just said that, when I finally reached the end, I found that I actually preferred that first 2/3 of the book. The ending felt rather generic and tacked on. I doubt it could have been anything else though. When you spend your entire story away from the main plot and drop breadcrumbs to an interesting ending, it's got to be something really good to keep people reading and have them satisfied with the resolution. Disappearing Earth just didn't have that ending that may have bumped this up further in my rating.

I think if i was to do a TL:DR review it would be: A long time spent with interesting but ultimately pointless characters leading to a generic ending that didn't fit with the rest of the story. Worth reading for the individual character chapters but not for the overarching plot.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster UK and NetGalley for providing me with a copy for review.

An aside that perhaps no one else will care about, but I really appreciated – the blurb for this is spectacular. Covering everything and giving away nothing, whoever wrote this was so on their workday that day. <b>amazing</b>
Now, about the actual book… I found it difficult to keep track of this one. I think the rural Russian setting – with a strikingly unfamiliar environment, history, culture, even names – it was a challenge. Helpfully, there is a cast of characters provided. But, I think the problem is exacerbated by the fact that the book reads like that movie, <i>Crash<i/>, a series of interludes surrounding a central incident. In some of the stories the kidnapping is front and centre, in other others it is tangential, in all of them there is another and both related (and not) sense of people ill at ease in their own lives. Women in crises in a culture/cultures in crises. And, the slight strings of connection between characters – not only to the incident, but also to each other, it was just … taxing.
The other struggle for me is how the book ends. <spoiler>The book reads meditatively sad, and we spend ages with many people following what is essentially a cold case from nearly the word ‘go’, there is no indication in any narrative that this is going somewhere or building tension in that regard, so when all of a sudden at the end everyone is found and found fine it is… jolting? Unexpected (but not in a great ‘surprise’ way). Okay, don’t get me wrong – a happy ending for a change is great, but I’m just not sure I believed this one.
Also, with this twist, this book could have been <b>4 years</b> of <i>Room</i>, or <i>Kiss the Girls</i> instead and that is a heck of a story to come on tangentially at the end.</spoiler>
On the whole though, I enjoyed the book. The lives of many of these women were relatable despite the distance, culturally, politically, and geographic between us and the story arcs meaningful.
My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the arc to review.

a brilliantly quiet novel, following many connected points of view following the aftermath of two missing girls.
I wasn't quite sure where the plot was going for 90% of this book but I really enjoyed the quiet stories of each and every character so decided to stick with it. Maybe I am in the minority but I didn't realist it was a murder mystery until the ending and honestly, the ending was completely worth the wait.

Great read.

This was hit and miss and I did not end up liking this that much. The opening third was really interesting but in the middle it dipped and I kind of zoned out and did not really care as much. The premise was really interesting and it had so much promise but this did not deliver what I was expecting of it.

Disappearing Earth is a poignant, complex novel. It gave a fascinating insight into a region and culture I knew nothing about and deftly explored the various cultures and attitudes through a rotating cast of characters. Without ever feeling overwhelmed with culture and politics, the author gives a fascinating insight into a culture I have to admit I knew very little about.

The strong opening chapter introduces us to two young sisters living on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia. It's August, the summer holidays, and the two are whiling away the time by the beach before wandering through the town. In one short chapter, the author effortlessly paints a picture captures the sibling relationship and the nostalgic feel of those endless-seeming school holidays. When things take a turn and they are picked up by a mysterious man, the fate of these two children had me hooked.

The chapters which follow are spaced a month apart, each from a different character's point of view. Through each character's eyes we learn a little more about the lay of the land; the culture, attitudes and geography of the region, as well an gaining an intimate glimpse into the individual's lives. Each character is loosely linked in some way, and those from previous chapters will re-emerge later from somebody else's perspective. Through each we see the ramifications of the missing girls' plight, and how attitudes and concerns change over time.

I can't fault the writing of this debut novel; the author has an innate ability to create innate characters who evoke empathy in just a matter of pages, as well as offering a frank examination of a culture without ever feeling heavy-handed. I did personally struggle with the flow as each character is only visited for one chapter, and only possibly returned to fleetingly through the eyes of others'. I love a book which really allows me to get immersed in the characters' lives; I love picking up a book I'm reading knowing I'm returning to the familiar characters I've got to know and excited to find out what happens to them next. For me personally the style of this book meant that familiarity was lost; every chapter felt like a fresh start and required more effort from the reader to re-engage with the narrative. It might be better approached as a series of short individual stories, as in this respect the author excels, wasting no time getting to the core of her characters and laying them bare chapter by chapter. But for me personally the web she built between them and the clues leading to the ultimate conclusion were too subtle, leaving the tale feeling a little incohesive.

I think this is definitely an 'it's not the book, it's me' situation. I can appreciate this story's abstract beauty but for me it just didn't come together well as a whole. I read to relax, and this novel required a little too much work from the reader in order to piece the complex tale together.

Disappearing Earth isn’t your stereotypical thriller-mystery. Although this starts with the abduction of two little girls, it quickly diverges into a series of mini stories, each one centring on a different woman within the Russian peninsula, as the weeks and months pass following the girl’s disappearance. The stories are only loosely linked, with characters coming and going rapidly, and often have very little to do with the ongoing investigation. Instead, we learn more about the various struggles these women face - from postnatal depression, anxiety, grief and loneliness and the emotional impact, with an almost rippling out effect, the girl’s disappearance has on the community as a whole. It’s a unique concept, and I applaud the author for trying something different from the norm.

I have to admit I struggled with this at times though, and I think this is largely due to the short nature of the chapters and the vast array of characters, meaning I never really managed to connect with anyone on a deeper level. Often I would find that just as I got into someone’s story, the chapter would finish and the character never heard from again. The constant chopping and changing also disrupts the flow of the story and overall arc, with some chapters longer and more laborious than others, making the pace uneven and difficult to follow. I prefer a more linear approach to things, and found that by the end of the book I had simply lost interest in the girl’s story, making the ending largely anticlimactic.

I also would have appreciated a bit more ‘world building’, with more descriptions of this desolate peninsula and its apparent remoteness, to help create more of an atmosphere and build up more creative tension. At times the story feels a little ‘flat’, without any real underlying threat - regardless of the mystery of the missing children. Some more ‘action’ or drama would have helped to pull me in.

Decidedly unique storytelling concept, but I can’t help feeing that something is missing, with a cast of characters too large to support a rather intimate storyline.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for an advance copy of this book. This was an engaging, thought provoking and sometimes disturbing read. The characters came and went, some being interwoven in various chapters, others only appearing once, but somehow it worked. I didn't know anything about Kamchatka before reading this, and it definitely opened my eyes to a very remote, troubled region of the world. This book was well written and held my attention but was rather depressing also in its depiction of how much life in Kamchatka has changed for the worse since the fall of Communism.

Disappearing Earth is a strong piece of literary fiction with a mystery at the heart of the plot. I wouldn't go into this one just expecting a mystery or you'd be disappointed. It is more of a series of stories connected by how each person was affected by a pair of missing girls. Some are seemingly unimportant to the mystery, while others are deeply affected like the witness or the mother of the girls. The novel is beautifully written with a strong atmospheric setting. Highly recommended to readers of literary fiction.

It was a well written book following the event of the abduction of 2 sisters. I liked the pace of the book. The writer built a suspense and many connections with another missing girl and her surroundings.
It was complex and interesting to read with a surprise end, that was a good conclusion.

Thanks a lot Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am always drawn to books that promise to introduce me to parts of the world I know next to nothing about, and in this case absolutely nothing about, especially if they are in the far north, and this book succeeded in that respect. The Kamchatka peninsula is fascinating - a volcanic wilderness with isolated communities clinging to the edges, closed to visitors through the Soviet era, it has been opened up since then to other Russians and to foreign tourists and this novel explores the effect that has had on the local population. I thought the author gave me a real sense of what it is like to grow up there in the deteriorating Soviet housing blocks or in the harsh countryside, to work there, to raise a family there and, in many of the characters’ cases, to dream of leaving there, now that that is a possibility.

We are presented with a series of snapshots of different lives, predominantly women’s lives, their preoccupations not so different from women’s lives all over the world. Their stories are linked by associations with one another and with the two little girls and an unrelated teenager who go missing from an area it is almost impossible to leave without anyone noticing. This plot device works well enough but it is a pity it is so reminiscent of Jon McGregor’s ‘Reservoir 13’ - it invites comparison and ‘Reservoir 13’ is a hard act to follow.

The writing is straightforward and unpretentious. I’d have liked a little more depth to the characters, perhaps more description of landscape and atmosphere, but overall I’d recommend this debut and look forward to reading her work in future.

The blurb for this made me think of Reservoir 13: disappearing girls, the surrounding community trying to carry on in the face of this horrific disruption, a background of a wild natural world. So this has so much potential but the writing isn't strong enough to pull me through.

I like the focus on women's lives, their anxieties, vulnerabilities, their strength and their support for each other, but the structure is frustrating: each chapter involves a new month, new characters, new perspectives - and while some carry forward characters, too many stories are left hanging and open. Real life may be like that but isn't one of the reasons we read precisely to have some kind of narrative closure, however artificial?

The background seeps through: issues of social conservatism, colonial attitudes towards 'natives', homophobia exist as perhaps they do in any community, but the book doesn't explore them in much depth, they're just there.

If the writing had been stronger, more lyrical, more involving, this might have worked better for me, but I found the prose bland and it's hard to work up the will to continue. I'm sure this will work for some: 2.5 stars as this left me cold.

Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips has a large cast of characters that tell the story of a town in Russia from different perspectives after two young girls go missing.

3.5 rounded down

Disappearing Earth opens with two young sisters going missing in Kamchatka, a remote community in Siberia. From here on each chapter tells the story of a subsequent month after their disappearance but from the point of view of women in the community who have been impacted by the mystery.

While at it's heart this is a mystery their disappearance and the police work takes somewhat of a backseat for a lot of the novel. The chapters read almost like interconnected short stories which instead examine the issues other women in Kamchatka faces in their daily lives - dysfunctional relationships, family conflict, the widespread racism in the area against the "natives" - although the fear brought on by the crime features pretty heavily too.

The writing is strong and Phillips develops some great characters, however I found the characters I liked most ended up with shorter chapters and we spent more time with characters I cared less about. This is probably just me, but I feel like we could have lost one or two of the later subplots as I failed to see what they added to the story.

I can't be the only one who rates books in my mind as I'm going along, and this one started so strongly - a solid 4.5 - and then after the midway point slipped to something like a 2.5... so I'm settling on 3.5 rounded down as my final rating, because overall it was a pretty good debut.