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Vanishing Hour
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Seventy-year-old Matthew Werner, who suffers from a debilitating case of Not Normal, doesn't know that nearly everyone on earth has died. He only knows that, out in the world, something terrible is happening – something he's not willing to discover. So he barricades himself inside and tries to stay ignorant. That is, until twelve-year-old Ruby Sterling shows up at his door
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May 21, 2020
Briar's Reviews
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
adventure,
apocalypse,
dystopia,
fiction,
guilty-pleasure,
other-editions,
one-hit-wonders,
thriller,
top-books
Vanishing Hour by Lisa King is honestly one of my fave reads of 2020.
This book is excellent! It has the coolest mix of thrills and fun all in one. It's got hints of Up since we have an older gentleman named Matthew and a young twelve year old named Ruby. These two get stuck together during the end of the world: Everyone without some sort of brain illness or injury doesn't get sick, but all the healthy people suddenly die. They chase after Matthew's wife (who had Alzheimer's) who walked off one d ...more
This book is excellent! It has the coolest mix of thrills and fun all in one. It's got hints of Up since we have an older gentleman named Matthew and a young twelve year old named Ruby. These two get stuck together during the end of the world: Everyone without some sort of brain illness or injury doesn't get sick, but all the healthy people suddenly die. They chase after Matthew's wife (who had Alzheimer's) who walked off one d ...more
Debut author Lisa King has written a compelling and enjoyable novel that caught my interest from the beginning and kept me turning pages until the very end. Vanishing Hour is an apocalyptic tale that follows two very unlikely companions through the horrors of a major disaster that kills off most of the world’s human population. Matthew Werner is a seventy-year-old man who suffers from what he calls his Not Normal. He becomes almost catatonic when he is forced to be around people so he has pretty
...more
PostScript: This very timely ARC that I read several months ago keeps hovering on the edges of my thoughts these days: it exposed me to the growing concern about all the potential viruses and plagues that are being unleashed by global warming as glaciers melt and expose ancient microbes that may well prove lethal to all existing life forms on earth.
I am finding it hard to sit still and read during this global Stay At Home quarantine. My reaction to any perceived threat or problem has always bee ...more
I am finding it hard to sit still and read during this global Stay At Home quarantine. My reaction to any perceived threat or problem has always bee ...more
Vanishing Hour, from author Lisa King, is a post apocalyptic novel, but far from what we usually expect from such of those.
Matthew Werner is a seventy years old grumpy man. He has some mental issues. Which mental issues ? No one has even been able to diagnose them. He’s not sociable. He’s the opposite of sociable. He doesn’t like people. They’re LOUD and unpredictable. He doesn’t like the modern world, computers and mobile phones. He doesn’t like young people, the entitled « me, mine, me, mine ...more
Matthew Werner is a seventy years old grumpy man. He has some mental issues. Which mental issues ? No one has even been able to diagnose them. He’s not sociable. He’s the opposite of sociable. He doesn’t like people. They’re LOUD and unpredictable. He doesn’t like the modern world, computers and mobile phones. He doesn’t like young people, the entitled « me, mine, me, mine ...more
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.
Vanishing Hour, Lisa King's debut novel, is a terrific and peculiar story with two very different main character, Matthew and Ruby. Seventy years old Matthew suffers from something the doctor couldn't understand. Maybe autism, Asperger or social anxiety, he has difficulty to live in the world, he can't stand people and their loudness. He finds the world overwhelming, preferring to be at home and not outside, surrounded by other ...more
Vanishing Hour, Lisa King's debut novel, is a terrific and peculiar story with two very different main character, Matthew and Ruby. Seventy years old Matthew suffers from something the doctor couldn't understand. Maybe autism, Asperger or social anxiety, he has difficulty to live in the world, he can't stand people and their loudness. He finds the world overwhelming, preferring to be at home and not outside, surrounded by other ...more
I have struggled for a while with how and what to write in this review. It was a very well written novel that did a fantastic job with character development and world-building. It was suggested to me as a post-apocalyptic novel and, while this is true, it doesn't really ring the bell for me as being that genre. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what genre I would call it, though.
The two main characters, Matthew and Ruby, are as different from each other as two characters could be. Matthew is an old cu ...more
The two main characters, Matthew and Ruby, are as different from each other as two characters could be. Matthew is an old cu ...more
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.
I am a big fan of the "man vs nature" genre and frequently that can diverge into end-of-the-world scenarios. I was excited to read this book - Vanishing Hour definitely falls within that category, but it's approached in a different way (I won't tell you how, I don't want to give it away!)
The main characters, Matthew and Ruby, are both interesting and quirky in their own way. They come together as strangers and come to depend on ...more
I am a big fan of the "man vs nature" genre and frequently that can diverge into end-of-the-world scenarios. I was excited to read this book - Vanishing Hour definitely falls within that category, but it's approached in a different way (I won't tell you how, I don't want to give it away!)
The main characters, Matthew and Ruby, are both interesting and quirky in their own way. They come together as strangers and come to depend on ...more
'Vanishing Hour by Lisa King' is an apocalyptic work of fiction. Set somewhere where most of the World has ended.
Matthew Werner, a seventy-year-old gentleman, who is suffering from a mental illness one day finds Ruby, a wee, twelve-year-old girl, who has a tumour, at his doorstep. Both decide to fight against the ending of the world and reach a place called Horizon, where Matthew's wife supposedly has gone.
--
This novel is about trusting each other and supporting the cause to survive the end of ...more
Matthew Werner, a seventy-year-old gentleman, who is suffering from a mental illness one day finds Ruby, a wee, twelve-year-old girl, who has a tumour, at his doorstep. Both decide to fight against the ending of the world and reach a place called Horizon, where Matthew's wife supposedly has gone.
--
This novel is about trusting each other and supporting the cause to survive the end of ...more
Apr 05, 2020
Elke
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
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netgalley,
e-kindle,
post-ap,
novels,
2020,
ng-2020,
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ha-2020-themed
I'm (almost) out of words to adequately describe this fantastic book!
While the world is reduced by billions in just a short moment, Matthew is totally unaware of what's going on. Until he hears strange noises outside. Until he finds a body on his doorstep. Until a little girl named Ruby knocks on his door and forces Matthew to leave his comfort zone and go outside. And that's the beginning of a very unusual friendship.
While the end-of-the-world-scenario had its appeal (I'm just so glad there wer ...more
While the world is reduced by billions in just a short moment, Matthew is totally unaware of what's going on. Until he hears strange noises outside. Until he finds a body on his doorstep. Until a little girl named Ruby knocks on his door and forces Matthew to leave his comfort zone and go outside. And that's the beginning of a very unusual friendship.
While the end-of-the-world-scenario had its appeal (I'm just so glad there wer ...more
When I started this book, I thought it would be apocalyptic fiction. It turned out it is much more than that.
70 year old Matthew is "not normal." He finds the world overwhelming and prefers his simple routines. After a mysterious illness kills the majority of the population, he encounters 12 year old Ruby.
Both want to find missing loved ones and begin a journey to do so. The main theme is the relationship that develops between two disparate people.
It is a heartwarming book and I suggest taking t ...more
70 year old Matthew is "not normal." He finds the world overwhelming and prefers his simple routines. After a mysterious illness kills the majority of the population, he encounters 12 year old Ruby.
Both want to find missing loved ones and begin a journey to do so. The main theme is the relationship that develops between two disparate people.
It is a heartwarming book and I suggest taking t ...more
I loved this poignant and engrossing novel, it made smile and it made me think.
I loved the great character development, the well crafted plot, and the amazing world building.
The writer is a talented storyteller and I hope to read other stories soon.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I loved the great character development, the well crafted plot, and the amazing world building.
The writer is a talented storyteller and I hope to read other stories soon.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I buddy read this book with my friend Amanda and we both really enjoyed it! It was told from two different perspectives, one of a young girl and one of an older man, and how they came together in crisis and worked together to figure out what to do next.
The dystopian style of this book was really cool and the whole time I had myself wondering what this mystery was and why all the people were suddenly being affected like this.
The older man had a very interesting way of telling his story since he h ...more
The dystopian style of this book was really cool and the whole time I had myself wondering what this mystery was and why all the people were suddenly being affected like this.
The older man had a very interesting way of telling his story since he h ...more
I’m a sucker for a good character and I also (secretly) enjoy a bit of an emotional read - Vanishing Hour was PERFECT for me! This book was far better than I could have possibly imagined and it combined all my favourite elements into one fabulous story. From a perfect tone which really sets the story to an ending that positively moves you, the end result gave me a lovely, warm, fuzzy feeling inside. I wish I could have rated it higher, but I guess a five star will have to do… 🙂
This book was such ...more
This book was such ...more
Ending was a bit predictable but I did enjoy reading it.
I really like the characters in this book. This book isn’t as dark as some apocalyptic books I have read. There is hope on the horizon just keep going.
What a fantastic read! I devoured this book in a single day, such a great read with an interesting and wonderful take on an apocalyptic adventure with some unlikely twist and turns along they way. Would %100 recommend.
Vanishing Hour, is just like the title talks about the vanishing hours of two individuals, too different from each other but yet too similar. It's a multi genre book, I would literally say it's my favorite dystopian book because of the unique theme and concept and the way the author weaves the storyline, it just makes it way more special. It revolves around Seventy-year-old Matthew Werner, who suffers from a debilitating case of Not Normal, doesn't know that nearly everyone on earth has died. He ...more
Vanishing Hour is a novel written by the author Lisa King. It is a story of a man, a girl and the end of the World. It is an apocalyptic fiction. The protagonist of the story is a seventy one year old man Matthew Werner. He didn't like people much except for few exceptions.
Matthew wasn't normal at all. He had some disorder which nobody knows what exactly it is. There was something going on outside and mostly everyone on earth had died. One day, a twelve year old girl Ruby showed up at Matthew's ...more
Matthew wasn't normal at all. He had some disorder which nobody knows what exactly it is. There was something going on outside and mostly everyone on earth had died. One day, a twelve year old girl Ruby showed up at Matthew's ...more
This was a pretty good story. It was a good change from what I normally read. It also definitely fits with the disaster that is now known as 2020. I highly recommend.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book
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Lisa King is a fiction author and researcher whose work has been published in numerous academic journals. She holds degrees in psychology and neuroscience from Western University. In her spare time, Lisa enjoys family outings, ample coffee, and unapologetic napping. She lives in London, Ontario with her husband, daughter, and wonky-eyed cat.
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