Review of ARC from NetGalley.
This book in emojis:
🌫️🏭☠️🤢😷🔥🧪🥀🛢️🌪️ / 🌳🌸🐦🦋🌞💧🍎🐝♻️
In short:
Book 1 of the Exiles. Set in the polluted future this brilliant book follows 6 teens fighting for what we all should. A must read with interesting characters, twists and turns.
In long:

6 teenagers from across the world are chosen to enter RIZE. A hyper realistic game where the Earth 🌍 is how it used to be, before pollution.
Each teen has their own story, their own reason for being there, their own role:
Astrid, The Visionary
Teo, The Creator
Yekta, The Caregiver
Ishaan, The Healer
Rosalina, The Explorer
& Jayden, The Rebel
For them RIZE becomes an escape. They learn how to survive there, away from the reality and the problems it brings. They experience the world as it used to be, as it still should be. The only thing: It isn't enough. It isn't real. So they set out to build something that is.

This book shows their creation of The Ark. But these are just teenagers fighting for their future. Of course, not everything is going to be easy. There are ups and downs, lefts and rights, The Ark is no utopia.

The Vanishing left me speechless. It came at the perfect time. This is truly a dystopian alike no other. I can't wait for book 2!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

💫I never, ever would have thought that a book set in a post-apocalyptic world about teenagers*with no spice*would be right up my alley. I’m so shocked and struggling to find the right words that I don’t even know how to describe what’s in it.
I usually only read romance and dark romance, so when I had the chance to read this book early,thanks to the author, my curiosity got the better of me.

☀️I find the writing style wonderful and unique!
it’s absolutely perfect in how it explains complicated hacker code and procedures in a way that even a simple person like me, can understand. And I’m really not a coding person😩
🌎there’s such deep knowledge in the world around us:
in our lives, about what’s wrong with things right now, starting with globalization, how we produce our food, continuing on to how we treat nature, where we live, what we do, what kind of relationships we have, what kind of friends we have, what our family backgrounds are-it covers everything, absolutely everything, and it’s so complex that even now I’m searching for the right words, and I can’t believe what I just read.

🌝It all started when a few teenagers, or rather, six of them, got caught up in a game where they didn’t know the rules, but found themselves in a world with fresh air, a forest landscape, a stream, and a clearing-and in this dystopian world, that’s a complete anomaly; there’s nothing like that. Everything is polluted, built on lies, and mired in filth, stench, and smog.

🌸🌺The characters are completely unique.
each with their own distinct background, where they came from,and yet they form a family that’s unstoppable and utterly one-of-a-kind.
For me, this gives me a huge boost to dare to take action and create a better world, and somehow look back at our roots-which we’ve long since forgotten-that everything comes comes from nature, and everything we take, we must give back- it’s as complex as nature itself and Mother Nature, who created this world of ours

💥☄️⚡️I never would have thought the storytelling would captivate me this much, or that I’d care so deeply about the fates of these people and what they’re building—that the idealism would be portrayed so realistically, that a society*a mini-society*would come to life, and that from within this society, a few teenagers would change the world. It’s mind-blowing to me, and I don’t know how many years the author must have spent writing this book—the kind of knowledge and background research that went into it completely blew me away.

I recommend this book to everyone—even if you’ve never read a dystopian book in your life, and even if you’ve never read a single page—and I recommend that you just give it a try because this kind of shift in perspective and this kind of freshness and novelty, I think everyone will really enjoy it.

🌞🌜So I’m very happy that I got to be a part of this story, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how it continues, because I sense that a lot has changed and come to a close, but I feel like there’s still so much I want to discover, and I want the ARK MISSION to succeed, so I can ,,see,, how this kids make their dreams come true.⚡️🪐

Kelsey Crane’s debut novel is exactly what we need in a world that is struggling to balance itself. We have become too comfortable and have allowed ourselves to forget that Earth needs our love and protection. If we don’t, generations to come will be left with a barren wasteland that will be impossible to come back from.

The Vanishing left me feeling so much! Following six teens: Teo, Astrid, Yekta, Ishaan, Jayden, and Rosalia, all come from incredibly different backgrounds, but all long for the same thing. Connection, family, an escape from their difficult lives, and to no longer feel alone. They all have special skills that can help them build a new community and try to save Earth.

Kelsey’s writing is absolutely beautiful. The way she describes the wilderness and plant life (which she knows A TON about) but also technology is amazing. I can only imagine how much research she did. She also tied in mental health, domestic violence, family system issues, and reminded us of the fears that our youth face every day.

Kelsey pulls you in right away, throws you a few twists and turns, then BAM, hits you with an ending that I never saw coming!! I hope that after reading this, people will reflect on the impact we are having on the land, and work to find ways that we can help make a better world for our kids. They need us as much as we need them to move forward!!

The Vanishing will make you feel things like sadness, happiness, true fear, joy, love, connection, and understand that we need to stand up and make a change. I can’t wait for book two!!

I loved this story! It was such a cool take on modern issues and fun dystopian vibes. We’ve got characters we fall in love with and root for the whole way. Such an entertaining read!

This book I think has the potential to be one of the more interesting YA releases of 2026 because of the questions it makes you ponder.

It follows six teenagers from around the world who receive mysterious VR headsets and enter RIZE, a survival simulation set on a healthier version of Earth. After a tragedy, they decide not merely to play at building a better civilization but to disappear into the Pacific Northwest and attempt to create one in reality through off-grid living, permaculture, and radical self-sufficiency. In short, an Ark.

It was like if the technology of 3 Body Problem met with the world of Ready Player One and merged with Into the Wild. I'd say it's less dystopian (unless we get more info on the exterior world in the next book) and more YA climate-fiction romance, like a YA version of contemporary “collapse fiction” and solarpunk ideals colliding with human nature. It's a fascinating take on the dystopian genre that is often dominated by rebellions, chosen ones, and evil governments.

The mainstream world is more ecologically focused with favored social classes than totalitarian and oppressive I felt. Less focus on the political structure and more on the environment itself and how younger generations will adapt. Pre/ borderline dystopian. However, having only 20 harvests left before the world is unsustainable is pretty oppressive.

The transition from simulation to reality was interesting. You don't generally see that but honestly, with the way AI has taken root, I see more people enjoying the real world again and I enjoyed that turn of events.

"𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘧."

This book aims to ask if young people genuinely knew how to build a better society, could they actually do it? History suggests the answer is usually for about six months, before a fallout. Human beings are remarkably talented at turning utopias into cautionary tales.

YA dystopias often stumble when they become vehicles for ideas rather than stories but this one is different. It stresses the importance of permaculture, sustainability, and social reform, yes, but thankfully the characters turn out to be messy, selfish, jealous, and contradictory at times too.

Kelsey excelled at building a multicultural cast and incorporating important environmental themes. There is a little romance sub-plot that was actually nice to have. There is also some tension between idealism and reality between the six. The Ark begins as a dream of sustainability, cooperation, and renewal, but human nature proves far more complicated than any simulation. Friendships fracture, loyalties shift, and the line between visionary leadership and dangerous fanaticism begins to blur.

Most chapters contain the perspectives of all the six teens and much of their dialogue is philosophical discussions that occasionally slow the momentum, but the interpersonal conflicts and the few chapters by the seventh character, a cyber-security FBI agent, keeps it interesting. I need to know more about her!

It's a thoughtful, ambitious debut that seems more interested in rebuilding the future than merely surviving it. And I have SOO many questions so I'm going to need book 2 ASAP! 🙌

This was such a unique and much needed YA book! Instantly I was intrigued by the uniqueness of each character and their encounters with RIZE. They all are so driven and huge advocates for making the world a better place which is so needed in this world. While it was a slow start, it built into something I couldn’t put down the second half. This book navigates modern day challenges with the need for survival where characters had to grow so much. I’m definitely looking forward to the official release of this book and the continuation of the series to see it all unfold!

Kelsey Crane’s The Vanishing: The Exiles, Book One is the first book in a fantastic, new climate fiction series. Kelsey immediately draws the reader in with a gripping story about teens from all over the world who are mysteriously drawn together to engage in a virtual reality world known as RIZE. But RIZE is not merely a game….

Through each of the six teens' different points of view, we learn about their cultures, past trauma and how they can combine their skills for the future well–being of the Earth. I found myself completely enthralled in their adventures and the development of their characters. The Vanishing is well-researched, with Kelsey sharing her knowledge about sustainable and regenerative environmental practices. Despite this being a work of fiction, I learned so much. I found myself researching more about grey water systems- something I hadn’t previously known much about. The writing is just so beautiful and creates a striking image in the mind’s eye such as “ the fire-blackened trees loom like skeletal fingers pointed ominously at the sky." I had to constantly remind myself that this book was the author’s debut novel, because it read like the work of a far more seasoned writer. The Vanishing comes to a thrilling conclusion, with a satisfying, hopeful ending and one that leaves the reader craving the next installment. The Vanishing is cutting edge climate fiction and will inspire readers to realize the impact that they can have on the future of our treasured planet.

In a single sentence: I couldn't put it down.

The story revolves around 6 teens fighting to fix a crumbling world and balance human existence and nature, and in a currently crumbling world, their hope and optimism provides a beacon for us all.

The book is incredibly well researched, and even details that appear a little off at first make sense when you follow the reasoning and read climate change data. Tech and medicinal concepts are explained in a way that is understandable to everyone while still staying realistic.

There is no lack of diversity since our characters come from all walks of life and different corners of the world, bringing their experiences, strengths, and flaws to the table in a way that feels authentic. The story explores grief, domestic violence, war, societal pressure, mental illness, loneliness, and more through each of our characters. You love them, you feel annoyed at them for making poor decisions, and you truly care about their fates.

I can't wait for this book to be published so that others can also enjoy the beautiful story our author has woven for us, and I can't wait until the second book!