"Vanish Me" by Lee Matthew Goldberg

 

When former singer Nico Sullivan goes missing, her estranged daughter, Love, finds her mom’s old diary. Using each entry as a clue to her mother’s whereabouts, Love takes a trip to L.A. with her best friends Frankie and Caden where she discovers that her feelings for Frankie may run deeper than she’s willing to let on.

While diving deeper into her mother’s old life, Love struggles with her own social insecurities and abandonment issues. But as she’s searching for lost parts of herself, Love also discovers something unexpected—a deep-rooted and shared love of 90s grunge music with that of her missing mother.

At turns heartbreaking, inspiring and mysterious, Vanish Me is a portrait of a teenage girl desperate to find herself among the cracks her mother left behind. ~taken from Goodreads

Well, here we are in the 3rd and final instalment of The Runaway Train series. I fell in love with the first book, "Runaway Train", almost a year ago. It was the perfect 90s adventure with the soundtrack of the 90s to go along with it. The second book, "Grenade Bouquets" was a wild ride but left me wanting more. This book was the ending to the trilogy that I needed. 

Vanish Me picks up where Grenade Bouquets leaves off. We read this story through the eyes of Love, Nico and Evan's now teenage daughter. We know that she was raised by Evan as a single father. We don't know the story of why...

Nico is estranged from her daughter but keeps in touch every few months. When she stops checking in and goes missing Love decides she must look for her mother. She finds Nico's teenage diary and decides that to find her mother she must retrace past places and visit past friends. 

Reluctantly Love's father agrees to let her and her two friends, Frankie and Caden, take a road trip to L.A. to visit her grandparents and track down Nico's old friends.

We also get a glimpse into what happened all those years ago from the perspective of Nico via her diary. As her daughter, Love, reads entries we discovered what prompted Nico to give up motherhood and become a wanderer of the world. 

This was a fun adventure and gave Runway Train vibes. Love, Frankie, and Caden are the same age that Nico was when she ran away. Like most 17-year-olds, they are trying to figure out life and determine who they are in the world. Friendships are tested and hurt and healing is a regular occurrence on the trip. It's all set to a 90s soundtrack, of course. 

I truly love this book series and this was a wonderful end. 5 stars! 

"Vanish Me' is set to be released here in the U.S. on February 10, 2022 so pre-order now! If you haven't read the first two books, get them now- I read each one in a single day so you'll be ready for the 3rd release! 

Thanks to author Lee Matthew Goldberg, Netgalley, and Wise Wolf Books for allowing me an advanced e-copy to read and give my honest review. 

Happy Reading!