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I quite enjoyed this Aussie novel that reminds me of The Virgin Suicides, one of my fave coming of age books.

Sisters Tikka & Laura are friends with their neighbors, the three Van Apfel sisters. Mr. VA is a Jehovah‘s Witness and tries to force his religion on his daughters (including physical abuse), but middle sister Cordelia is especially rebellious. Years after the girls disappear, Tikka and Laura are still trying to figure out what happened.

Catching up on August reviews!

Very reminiscent of The Virgin Suicides, this novel focuses on the three Van Apfel girls, especially on the charismatic middle daughter, Cordelia. Told from the point of view of Tikka, she and her sister Lauren's friendship with the Van Apfel girls is front and center. The timeline weaves through past and present, leading always toward when the three sisters disappeared.

Continued in comments

Although this was billed as a thriller, it was more about growing up with loss and what it means to move on from tragedy in childhood.

I especially loved the ending because everything was not neat and tidy, kinda like real life.

The Van April Girls are Gone is easy reading, with a killer sense of oppressive atmosphere. That being said it was a bit too conventional for me, and I found the meandering pace frustrating at times. If you‘re into resolutions, this probably isn‘t for you. A nice way to spend a weekend anyway.

Easy reading weekend

Three sisters go missing in 1990s Australia. One of their close friends is looking back on events from the current day in what is trying to be a character study draped in a thriller but fails at both. This book feels like it‘s trying to be a Eugenides book and failing. It felt like such a slog I can only quit halfway through. I just don‘t want to read it anymore.

This was fine, I did enjoy it and I liked the ending more than I think other readers did, I wouldn‘t NOT recommend it but in general it felt like a lower budget virgin suicides and made me wish I was rereading that instead. I would have rated it a pick except that it constantly made me wish I was reading a different book. I also thought the child‘s perspective wasn‘t done as well as in some books, it‘s quite rare to see that done well

This was a fun palate cleanser after reading two straight nonfiction books to start the year. However, I found young Tikka‘s narration to be rather annoying and like many other readers, did not love the ending.

Also, kept getting tripped up on Australian season being the opposite of American seasons. 😂 #weekendreads

A dark, gloomy but 64 degree (😯) day in New England...took advantage of the weather and took a long, long walk to the library and back.

Just meh. A good and well-paced plot but an unsatisfying ending/wrap-up

This is somewhere between a ‘Pick‘ and a ‘So-So‘ Anyone who was a child or teen growing up in early ‘90s Australia will enjoy the depiction of that time. Very spot on. The book kept me engaged but I can‘t divulge my reservations without spoilers. So, you‘ll need to read it for yourselves 😀

My shadow and I started this one this morning since we‘ve already been up forever before work.. #catsoflitsy ❤️

This was such a strange little story, it reminded me very much Of Picnic At Hanging Rock. Like a hot Australian summer when the cicadas are at their peak, your thongs stick to the road & the seat belt becomes a branding iron, and you lie under a tree having heat dreams. That‘s what this novel makes me feel. Three sisters go missing one hot Aussie summer and all the secrets come wafting to the surface. #Pop19 #PublishedIn2019

I appreciated all the finely observed period detail but don‘t feel the resolution really worked. It would have been three stars but for the Perkin‘s Paste reference and the details of rissole making.

"We lost all thee girls that summer. Let them slip away like the words to a half remembered song, and when one came back, she wasn't the one we were trying to recall to beggin with."

31 year Tikka, lives in Boston, but when she finds out her older sister has cancer she flies home to Australia to be with her.Returning home brings up memeries from a summer 20 years ago when 3 sisters - her neighbors- The Van Apfel girls disappear.
It was ok. 3?

Getting through midweek with a book and my furry reading buddy. I love when she cuddles with me while I'm reading! 😍 #dogsoflitsy

Another holiday read. This is an atmospheric and unsettling book about the summer three girls went missing from a small Australian town and the lingering effects decades on. My only complaint with this was with the ending, but I think that means it probably did exactly what it was designed to to do!

1. Tagged 📖

2. Not really sure.. In terms of the presence of an LGBT character, probably ‘Priory of the Orange Tree‘.

3. Today just relaxing (hopefully), but I went to a friend‘s kitchen tea yesterday 🥂😊

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

Our new episode is up! Amanda & I discuss ‘The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone‘ by Felicity McLean. ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock‘ vibes in outer Sydney, it combines Australian Gothic with a wry coming-of-age tale. Would be a good book club pick. 🎧📚
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Does it love up to the hype? 👀 Let‘s just say it would be a great book club book. You‘ll want to talk about the ending of this one. 🤔
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#bookreview ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫⁣
#thevanapfelgirlsaregone⁣
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We have all read countless books about missing girls, but this felt different. It wasn't your standard mystery - so some readers may be disappointed if going into it with those expectations. It is a coming of age story; a division between childhood and adulthood; a before and after. I really enjoyed Tikka's narration as a child - a precocious, lively voice that made me smile.⁣ Loved it.
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Just started reading this today and it‘s so good! I was reading in the garden in the sun earlier and it felt like the perfect place to read this. 😊 #amreading

This was going to be 5 stars until I got to the end. I wrote contains spoilers although I won‘t give any details away. Just the fact that I read the whole thing in a day loved every chapter and then finished it to find no more pages to help my frustration. My perfect genre the worst ending 😭

Described as Picnic at Hanging Rock for a new generation. We shall see.

Podcast prep with my new ‘best mum ever‘ cup. 😜 #booksonthego

#BookMail Pt4 I‘ve been really lucky to find signed books online, especially coz in Australia it‘s hard to get them, few authors make the trip here to promote books. Booktopia.com.au has been making an effort to get books signed which is great, but it‘s mostly Aussie authors like this one. Set on the outskirts of sydney, the Van Apfel girls disappear after a riverside concert, uniting the community while suspicions swirl.

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Mixed feelings. The characters feel real, Tikka is a fun, precocious 11 year old narrator. It evokes well the feeling of summer as a teen in suburban Australia. Comparisons to Picnic at Hanging Rock are apt (haunting disappearance of 3 girls) but it doesn‘t quite nail the landscape (it‘s both a ‘valley‘ & a suburban street) which was a huge part of Picnic & why the ambiguity worked. I found the ending an anticlimax - it didn‘t resolve.

This is a fantastic read for someone looking for a Picnic at Hanging Rock-esque mystery, with tones of the scary sometimes reality of religious fanaticism. A fairly short read, it makes for a good one to curl up with when you have a good cup of tea and a cat to snuggle with.

Let‘s see how this one turns out! I knocked over about four books from my TBR yesterday, but I have assignments to do now, so this one may take a little longer. 😅