An arranged marriage, especially for two royals, might not seem so bad… unless, that is, your fiancée is invisible. Vanish, book three in The Royal Chronicles, follows a kingdom with a deadly disappearing curse, and a princess who has fallen victim to it. This book had many great scenes that explored trust and the complexities that it brings to a relationship. The characters learn how to see and be seen by each other, allowing them to finally drop their defenses and gain a deep, loving relationship. Let’s dive into this review!
A disappearing curse is slowly consuming the Kingdom of Brimoire, causing everything that falls into its path to vanish…including Princess Lisette while en route to wed her fiancé, Crown Prince Lucien, heir to the doomed throne.
But although Lisette has been tainted by the curse, she hasn’t fully succumbed…though an unfortunate side effect is that she’s now been rendered entirely invisible. With her shy nature and painful background, her fate initially seems fortuitous, especially as it’s helped her escape a life of unwanted responsibilities and a union with an indifferent husband…though even an arranged marriage is preferable to disappearing.
While her invisibility allows Lisette to uncover some of Brimoire’s darkest secrets, it does make it rather difficult to fall in love—although joining forces with the deceitful prince may be the last hope for the kingdom on the brink of extinction. On her quest Lisette will not only learn more about herself, her husband-to-be, and what it means to be truly seen…but she’ll discover that the true love she once thought elusive might have been in front of her the entire time.
World, Characters, and Plot
As I mentioned before, Vanish is set in a kingdom with a disappearing curse. Anyone and anything the curse touches vanishes, and no one knows how to stop it. The reader really grows to appreciate how one of the main characters, Lisette, is written (since she is invisible for the majority of the book!). The curse is almost a character of its own, malicious and always consuming. I enjoyed getting to see characters from previous books in the series work together to solve the curse and save the kingdom.
Prince Lucien really does a good job of dealing with issues in his relationship with Lisette. He’s never afraid to ask for her forgiveness or admit when he’s done something wrong. While he does make many mistakes, he grows throughout the book and the reader really gets to see how much he is willing to sacrifice for his love by the end. Lisette also has a great arc, and we get to see real character growth in her as the story progresses. These developments are gradual, making her love story and final happy ending make sense. Despite her physical invisibility, the character had a good page presence. The reader is always rooting for her to finally find herself and let go of the past, which kept me turning the page every time.
The plot has strong themes of miscommunication and broken trust, which helped forge the characters’ relationships with each other (even if they were forged by fire). I did feel like some of the inner dialogue went for a little longer than necessary, sometimes repeating sentiments the characters were feeling. Still, I enjoyed the deep dive into their internal conflicts, so it didn’t take away from the story.
PAGED IN: This book is clean fantasy romance, which means that there is no violence and no innuendo. A mentally abusive father is mentioned several times throughout the story, so some readers should be aware of this trigger. Biblically, being seen for yourself rises as an underlying theme throughout Vanish. Lisette feels as if she has never truly been seen, always being overlooked by everyone she meets (her father, her brother, and even her intended). Even Lucien, the crown prince, struggles with seeing himself and who he really is beneath the crown. Jeremiah 12:3 says this: “But you, O Lord, know me; you see me, and test my heart toward you.” The Lord sees us, no matter how invisible we may feel, and He is always there for us.
Conclusion
I really enjoyed getting to explore Lucien and Lisette’s growing relationship. Vanish was a really sweet book with important themes like trust and communication. On top of that, the story is interesting and creative. Overall, a fun and quick read!
Special thanks to Camille Peters for the ARC copy. All opinions are my own. You can buy Vanish here.
Marie