Young teenage vampire Ariella Montero and her father Raphael were introduced to readers in Susan Hubbard's The Society of S in 2008. When I read it in March 2010, I found it not only superbly written, which should be expected for a Professor of English at the University of Central Florida, but offering a unique perspective on the vampire myth and growing up.
As Ari discovered the secrets her father had kept from her, she discovered a whole new world and abilities she didn't know she had. But she was your typical teenager as well, always feeling like an outsider and finding it hard to make new friends. Wracked with guilt over the unexpected death of her first real friend — Katherine — she went on a quest to find her mother, who'd abandoned her and her father soon after she was born. And even as she reconnected with her mother, life threw her a curve as her father left to start a new life after his "death" in the fire that almost claimed Ari's and her father's lives...
In the first book, Hubbard proved that it was possible to explore the teenage lives of vampires in a world beyond the Twilight series. And though angst is definitely a part of the equation, Ari's journey of self-discovery and learning about her abilities and the strange world she found herself in doesn't involve any teen werewolves flexing without shirts every five minutes.
The Year of Disappearances continues Ari's quest for answers and to find a place of her own where people don't die or disappear around her. The story picks up where The Society of S left off in the aftermath of a hurricane that ransacked Ari's mother's ranch in Homosassa Springs. Ari, her mother, and their friend Dashay were putting things back together again. Each of them seemed to be having issues with things and people disappearing around them.
First there was Ari's father disappearing to start his new life. Then Dashay's boyfriend Bennett suddenly was no longer in the picture after a visit home to Jamaica. And then the bees started dying off and disappearing as well...
Ari isn't immune to these mysteries either. While exploring Homosassa Springs as the ranch was being rebuilt, Ari meets Mysty and Autumn, two teenage girls in town. When Mysty disappears, the townspeople get the impression that Ari had something to do with it, making living in the area very uncomfortable.
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