I wish I had been this book's editor because, with a rewrite, it could have been so-damn-good. Without one however, it withered in YA trope hell and then died.

A very good first book with characters you wanted to dislike, the story went from past to present that I did have trouble with at times, I needed a book and not a kindle so I could check back, a lot. It took me a while to read.

Not really sure about this one not because there is anything majorly wrong with it, it's definitely well written that I do not fault it on, its just I found it to be rather slow-moving and somewhat tedious and because of this I did find myself skimming a lot.
The language used here is eloquent and lyrical in all its descriptions of life at Temple House and you can almost imagine and place yourself centre stage experiencing the angst and total over the top dramatics and reactions that this age always seems to experience but its the very fact that nothing really happens and you are just kind of left on a precipe of expectation that never actually delivers.
In short, this sets the stage splendidly but then fails to follow through as it promises.
Its told in a then and now fashion using the eyes of Lousia herself as she traverses the pitfalls of life as a new scholarship student at this exclusive school and the now where a journalist is trying to shed some new light on the now 25-year cold case.
I myself preferred the now part of the narrative as not much seemed to happen in the past.
What kept me turning the pages ultimately was wanting to know just what happened to Louisa and her teacher Mr Lavette and though I did get closure and I liked the final ending from Louise even in a sense finding it slightly fitting that she should finish the story as she did I also found this never built enough momentum along the way to truly engage me and invest me in the events unfolding.
Though I was looking forward to this immensely, unfortunately, this was rather disappointing.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of The Temple House Vanishing.

With an unusual structure, this book meanders through a tightly held mystery. All the possible solutions were mooted and worked through which made me sad during the end.

Brilliantly written, suspenseful & intriguing. A love story gone wrong at a girl’s boarding school. The writing brings out all those feelings of teenage awkwardness, passion, misplaced love and the reader is part of the story. I loved it.

This story is split between present day and the 1990’s, when a student at a Catholic boarding school disappears along with one of the teachers. The flashbacks are told by the missing student, Louisa, and the present by a journalist looking into the case.

The book is Rachel Donohue’s debut, and I think the writing is excellent. I do think the jumping between the past and present day takes you out of the story, which means we don’t really get to know the characters enough to really understand them. We know very little about the journalist who is telling the story, and Mr Laville, the teacher who is an integral part of the story.

The ending was well done, and I definitely think this shows Donahue is one to look out for.

This novel explores the scandal that occurs when three people - Mr Lavell a young, attractive, bohemian art teacher; Victoria, passionate schoolgirl and daughter of a wealthy family; Louisa, newly arrived scholarship student - become entwined at an elite Catholic boarding school, leading to the disappearance of Louisa and her charismatic teacher.


Twenty five years later, a young journalist is determined to find out what happened. Did the pair run away together? Or did something else happen?


Donohue portrays a cold, gloomy, ramshackle school full of repressed nuns intent on preserving the purity of their schoolgirl charges. This watchful and elitist institution insists on compliance, the prefects and nuns are ever watchful but bright and passionate Victoria and Louisa refuse to conform. The girls find a haven in the Summer House, the venue for art classes, which is covered by vines and contains comfortable seating, a roaring fire and a cabinet of curiosities. Here they can be candid and consider who and how they want to be.


Themes include unrequited love, passion, rivalry, dangerous fantasies, sexual jealousy, self-sacrifice, and the tug of war between a desire to fit in and a desire to escape.


I thoroughly enjoyed this. A good choice for fans of Donna Tartt, intrigue and mystery.

The Temple House Vanishing is a brooding story highlighting how obsessive love can be during teenage years. In 1990 Louisa and Victoria meet at a private Catholic boarding school run by nuns. Louisa is a scholarship pupil and is made to feel like an outsider by some of her peers. However, Victoria and Louisa quickly form a connection with each other and the young, male art teacher.

When a teacher and pupil go missing from the school, a police investigation finds no answers and the mystery is still of interest 30 years later when a journalist brings it back to the public’s attention.

I enjoyed the story and felt the characters were complex and believable. Information was slowly released to the reader which made me constantly reevaluate how I felt about them all.

In 1990 a male teacher and a 16 year old student disappear from Temple House Catholic Girl's Boarding School and are never found. On the 25th anniversary of the disappearance a journalist, a near neighbour of the vanished schoolgirl, sets out to investigate and hopefully bring the case to resolution.

This novel is full of atmosphere, a mystery with undercurrents of tension and unease. It explores issues of religion, class, and privilege, whilst also vividly portraying the world of teenage girls with its bitchiness, cliques, jealousy and insecurities. This not a fast paced read but it is a very well written slow burner. I would recommend it highly.

Thank you to NetGalley and Corvus for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A boarding school run by nuns content to luxuriate within their school history of affluent pupils. Following in the family tradition of pupils attending the school we meet, two young girls from a privileged background each intent on discovering their place and identity In a repressed and closeted atmosphere. An extremely gifted and clever scholarship girl from a poor background, recovering from the shock of a broken home and suffering an inferiority complex enters the equation simultaneously disturbed and disturbing the status quo. A young attractive art teacher awakens the innocence of these teenagers unfurling a chain of events that will ricochet down the years. Twenty five years later a young journalist investigates the mystery of a missing teacher and pupil. Slow moving, heavy in characterisation and yet skill fully drawing the reader into a languid love story, never fully identifying who is involved in the deadly game of trifling with teenage emotions that ultimately will destroy everyone and everything around them. Atmospheric, confusing, and yet drawing the reader into a web of intrigue that lingers long after the conclusion is reached.

I finished this book a few days ago and have waited to write my review to see if my thoughts on it clarify at all because I'm not totally sure what genre I'd put it in. In some ways it's a mystery because it involves the disappearance of a young schoogirl and her teacher, but as a mystery it doesn't really work because it's fairly easy to work out who was responsible.
I think I would classify the book as literary fiction. Unfortunately I didn't find it particularly absorbing, and the style of writing made me want to finish the book as quickly as possible (a book has to be really bad for me to abandon it) so I could get on to reading something I'd enjoy The description of the school was good, though I thought bringing the class system and making an issue of the fact that Louisa had a scholarship and was looked down on by the fee paying pupils was unnecessary (and from my own experience, not true).
Overall I'm sorry, but this book wasn't for me and I found it disappointing.

This book confirms that I am not a fan of literary fiction. I just can't get on with it, I find it long winded, overly descriptive and just a bit boring. I'm sure some people will devour this and absolutely love this but I am not one of those people.

In summary the book is about a private boarding school where a teacher and student go missing and the lead up to that. I liked the mystery element of the book and wanted to know what happened to the people concerned but felt like the book just went on and on about nothing in particular. I'm glad I finished it and found out what happened (to be honest this was the only thing keeping me reading).

I've learned my lesson and will now stick to what I know and love!

The Temple House Vanishing is about a teenage girl that disappears at the same time as her teacher without a trace. I thought the premise of the mystery was intriguing and liked how the we start to learn about the circumstances of what happened. I also liked the jump into the future and the way a journalist starts trying to unravel the incident. I thought the character of Mr Lovelle was well written and you could see how all the girls at the Catholic school wold have found him charismatic, but I did find it a little unbelievable that he would be so naive as to behave so irresponsibly as he did (especially in regards to a certain drawing).I really liked how all the loose ends were tied up after the story unfolded, but it was a little slow moving for me overall.

I found this book really hard work. It was a marginally easier read when the journalist was telling the story but it was very much a hard slog to finish it. Not my favourite read this year I'm afraid.

What a debut!

An all girl Catholic boarding school full of raging teenage hormones and overactive imaginations.

Louisa has a troubled homelife and gains a highly sought after scholarship to the elite Temple House school. She doesn't find it easy at first and is made to feel very much unwelcome. Victoria soon takes Louisa under her wing.
Victoria however has her sights sent on Mr Lavelle, the art teacher and when both Victoria and Mr Lavelle disappear, they are assumed to have fled together.

25 years later, a journalist revisits the mystery and we are told the story from the point of view of both Louisa and the journalist.
The way that the truth is revealed is so well done that although one can see what is coming, the suspense is fantastic.

Intelligent, insightful and intriguing. The atmosphere that the author has created is to be applauded and there are some fantastic twists.

A journalist is investigating the strange disappearance of a 16 year old schoolgirl, Louisa, and her art teacher, Mr Lavelle. It has been twenty five years since the night they vanished without trace. And there has been no trace since. As we travel back in time to discover what happened, we are witness to intrigue and unrequited love. To obsession and fatal consequences. A thoroughly enjoyable thriller with a depth that some lack.

A great chilling read....
In 1990 a teacher and a 16 year old schoolgirl vanish from a Catholic boarding school in Dublin, and are never heard from again.....

25 years later a journalist revisits the story and finally discovers what really happened.

A great story of teenage love, power, loss, envy and naivety.

In my head I was sure I knew the truth of what happened at Temple House, but was completely wrong and surprised at the end.

Wonderful characters.

A wonderful debut and I look forward to more titles from Rachel Donohue.

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Atlantic Books, and the author Rachel Donohue.
Unfortunately I found this book incredibly disappointing. There's no doubt that it was well written at times, but the story arc was a long road to nowhere, ending in a underwhelming and predictable denouement. I found the characters unconvincing and undeveloped, with rationale and motives which didn't add up. Not for me, 2 stars.

This was a strange book to read, it's a fantastic mix of a love story and a little suspense.
A young male teacher in an all girls Catholic boarding school who disappeared with a pupil, but all is not as it seems.
I thought I knew the direction this book was going and how it would end, but it had twists and turns that had me gripped.
Really looking forward to reading more books by Rachel Donahue.
Thank you netgalley.

I enjoyed this book very much, it was so different from others I have read and it kept me interested all the way through. I liked the fact that there were things going on in the background which made me try and work out what was going on in that school, all the darkest secrets.
It had all the twists and turns I love in a book and I wanted to keep on reading until the end.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.