The Vanishing Girl is a wild, genre-bending ride that blends teenage angst with cosmic chaos in the best way. Isabella’s sarcastic resilience is as compelling as the high-stakes intergalactic chase she’s unwillingly thrust into, thanks to the alien Paradise Moon inhabiting her body. Their tense, involuntary partnership adds emotional weight and humor to a story filled with plasma blasts, snarky space pirates, and unlikely camaraderie. While the plot occasionally races ahead faster than the character development can catch up, the fast pace and imaginative world make this a thrilling, heart-thumping adventure through the stars.

A snarky teenage fantasy story. The snark here is between a teenage girl and a mind riding alien. The girl has more gumption than she knows - Don’t Mess With Her Family!!! And the alien is very conflicted. Hide, save itself, but Isabella comes to mean more to Paradise Moon more than selfish abandonment will allow. Part two needed right now, or Rob you can just stay in detention until it’s published! Thank you to Rob Birks and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

This was not a perfect book, but it was one heck of a ride. Birks throws the reader right into the story and keeps it racing at a wild speed until the end.

Isabella has an actual alien living inside her, an alien who likes to take control of her body, which ends off landing her into a lot of trouble. However, when a portal opens up in the middle of the detention room at school, causing mayhem and allowing a robot-like alien to drag her through it, she realizes that alien might be her only hope.

The story moves from perspective to perspective, allowing the reader glimpses of other parts of the different systems and also filling in some history of the mess that Isabella finds herself in the middle of. Good for a mind-bending read with plenty of action that doesn't always take itself completely seriously.

The first book in a duology, The Vanishing Girl, is a hard book to quantify, there are elements of fantasy, epic sci=fi, teen angst, thriller, and even a touch of horror. We are introduced to Isabella and Paradise Moon the major protagonists. Paradise Moon is an alien who has been a part of Isabella's life since she can remember, because Paradise Moon is inside of her. Paradise Moon is hiding from someone or something and she's not willing to tell Isabella what that is. Unfortunately, her hiding place is discovered, and chaos ensues as Isabella is taken from her home planet to another place, where she spends the rest of her time trying to survive and get back home. Facing danger and enemies around every corner, Isabella's resilience is amazing.
I love the inner dialogue between Isabella and Paradise Moon. I kept wondering what was going to happen next. A wild ride of a story. Can't wait to find out what will happen next.
Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.

First of all, love the cover! Second of all, I definitely enjoyed the book and finished the latter half this evening.

There's a few things that could've been better that would've made it five stars.

A tad better world-building. I had some trouble imagining distances in correlation to other locations and their size.
There's also these weird unexplained time breaks between chapters that bothered me more than once.

Now, aside from those remarks, I did quite enjoy following the story of Isabella and Paradise Moon and I'm curious what part 2 of the duology will bring.