She's been six different people in six different places: Madeline in Ohio, Isabelle in Missouri, Olivia in Kentucky . . . But now that she's been transplanted to rural Louisiana, she has decided that this fake identity will be her last.
Witness Protection has taken nearly everything from her. But for now, they've given her a new name, Megan Rose Jones, and a horrible hair color. For the past eight months, Meg has begged her father to answer one question: What on earth did he do-or see-that landed them in this god-awful mess? Meg has just about had it with all of the Suits' rules-and her dad's silence. If he won't help, it's time she got some answers for herself.
But Meg isn't counting on Ethan Landry, an adorable Louisiana farm boy who's too smart for his own good. He knows Meg is hiding something big. And it just might get both of them killed. As they embark on a perilous journey to free her family once and for all, Meg discovers that there's only one rule that really matters-survival.

This book kept me on my toes the entire time I read it.

I'd had this book on hold for a while and as such had totally forgotten the premise. From the initial scene, I thought that this book was going to be a technical dystopia, but I was wrong! One of the strongest aspects of this book was the understanding I gained of the Witness Protection Program and how it operates. This was an intriguing and original premise.

I think in a way there's some universal theme in wanting to push everyone away. While Meg had legitimate reasons for doing so, I related to her retreating into a shell and thought that Elston made her seem very realistic in doing so.

She and Ethan became pretty intense in their relationship, too intense for their age, but it was incredibly sweet and butterfly inducing to see the efforts he went to in caring for her. Still, I felt like he persisted in chasing her more out of stubbornness at some points--the amount of time he would have spent shuttling her from work to her home in his truck was unrealistic.

I enjoyed how this story had a few minor plotlines that, while not irrelevant, were different to the major plotline. Meg's mother's drinking problem specifically wasn't in anyway necessary to the plot.

It was refreshing to see her and Emma conflict and Ethan and Ben conflict--it felt all so trivial, which made this story seem all so real because those things do matter even within the big picture.

Meg's protectiveness over Teeny was really sweet but I loved that Meg talked about their past and how their relationship had evolved as their situation changed.

I'm not particularly good at solving mysteries before characters do, but I felt like this one was very well done and I was very excited and overwhelmed when I realized two twists near the end.

I did enjoy this book, but I don't find myself particularly compelled to read the sequel, possibly because a lot of the fun of this came in the pressure Meg had to keep the secret. I do recommend this one for anyone who enjoys young adult fiction with a lot of action and mysteries.

Before I get into the book, I just like to say that I wasn’t a bit fan of the formatting on my Nook ebook version. I’m not sure if it’s different in the printed version, but the ebook version didn’t have very good breaks in between time jumps. So I got a bit confused at times, but not too much so. I’ll probably purchase a paper back version of The Rules for Disappearing though when it comes out in April. & Now on to the book.

I absolutely loved The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston. It was a bit predictable, but I totally loved all the characters. Plus I’d imagine the stress of being placed in the witness protection program would be similar to what Ashley Elston depicted in The Rules for Disappearing.

“Meg,” the female protagonist, was someone I definitely connected with. Although she was a bit more mature for her age, trying to take care of her sister, she was still very much a teenager. I loved that! She felt more real to me that she wasn’t all adult-like. She was protective, a bit rebellious, and just extremely tired of moving.

I also adored Ethan, the male protagonist. He was much more observant than I thought he’d be, but I’m glad he never truly gave up on “Meg.” He was exactly what she needed. Gosh though, is hog hunting really a date option? That was an interesting development in the story. I must say. I did not see that coming at all.

The one thing I go really annoyed with was that “Meg” at times trusted too easily. This fault made certain aspects of the story predictable, but it also left an opening for a sequel. The ending was a bit much though, in my opinion. It made a sequel blatantly obvious. I’m more fond of subtle hints for a sequel. Regardless, I can’t wait to start reading The Rules for Breaking!

So overall, I loved The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston. I loved reading “Meg’s” story. I also loved the whole witness protection idea. I don’t think I’ve read many stories that feature that. I did find the story a bit predictable, but it didn’t keep me from enjoying it. I’d give 4.5 stars to The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston.

I'm not sure what it is with me and endings. I noticed that every now and then I get really engrossed in a book, thinking I've found one I really enjoy, only to be disappointed by the ending. Maybe it has something to do with cliffhangers? When I first picked up The Rules for Disappearing, I had no idea it was going to have a sequel. I picked off a library shelf, decided I liked the sound of the blurb and so went ahead to borrow it. Only when I logged it as currently reading on Goodreads did I notice that there is a sequel. The ending of a book also screams for one. There are too many open ended questions at the end, so in a way it's a given. On the other hand, I almost feel like these things were purposely put in place to warrant a sequel. Whatever it is, I'm not going to dwell too much on it because aside from the last 30 to 40 pages or so, I did enjoy reading The Rules for Disappearing.

The narrative flowed well, and I think it was believable, considering that it was supposed to be from the perspective of a 16-year-old girl. The fears and worries of Rose were very well-encapsulated in the voice. Rose was thrust in a position that required a fair bit of responsibility for a teenager, what with taking care of her 11-year-old sister and having to be fairly self-sufficient thanks to a mother who resorted to alcoholism to deal with their family problems. Her father tried to keep the family together though, so Rose did not come off as an adult in a teenager's body in any sense of the word.

Now, Witness Protection. I think that is the main draw of this book. The thrill of being on the run and also of the unknown. I do have to say that despite all the mystery that surrounds Rose, the thrill factor isn't exactly high. It should be on the part of Rose but it doesn't translate all that urgently onto the page, I think. Nonetheless, Rose's past and Rose's present come well together and make her story pretty intriguing. For those who are taken in by dreams and what they mean, you'll likely also getting into Rose's dreams as you try to figure out what they mean and how memories, thoughts and consciousness as a whole might factor in.

All along as I was reading, I felt like I was waiting for something big to happen. It never did. At least not big enough for me. Perhaps that big event I felt myself set up for is yet to come in The Rules for Breaking but because it didn't really happen here in this book, I felt underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, like I said, I enjoyed reading it but because of all that potential I saw, I felt like that ultimate hook didn't show. In other words, that major climax in the plot didn't show.

This review is also available on dudettereads.com.

This is another 2013 debut, but it’s about a much different topic than most (if any) debuts this year – the Witness Protection Program. Unfortunately for me, this wasn’t an amazing book for me – it was decent, but it didn’t blow me away.

The main reason this book didn’t blow me away was because I had trouble connecting with MC Meg. I’m sure I would be quite whiny if I was stuck in the Witness Protection Program and forced to move around all the time, but it still frustrated me when Meg spent so much time whining and pushing people away and judging her alcoholic mother. It was hard to care about what would happen to Meg when I was too busy rolling my eyes at her. She was in a very dramatic and stressful situation, but it wouldn’t have hurt for her to seem more sympathetic. I guess it makes her a more realistic character, but not one I necessarily want to read about.

I liked the love interest Ethan (although I objected to the few times that Meg suggested he was a “bad boy” – he really, really wasn’t, and it seemed like the author just threw in that characterization every once in a while to get the attention of readers who only like bad boys), but because Meg wasn’t my favorite person, I didn’t really care if they got together. There was relationship drama mixed in with the WPP drama, and it was often too much drama for my taste.

Then there was the mean girl character – sure, she wasn’t a very good person and had too many issues with Meg for basically no reason, but I got annoyed with how many times Meg complained about her and made the antagonism between them seem as dramatic as the WPP drama. It’s really, really not. And you find out something about the mean girl, Emma, that makes you wonder why so many people still make such a huge deal about her and judge her so much.

As I mentioned, Meg didn’t deal with her mother well. She was always complaining about her mother’s drinking, and it really annoyed me because it seemed like Meg didn’t understand at all that her mother had a problem that she couldn’t control. There were random times when she seemed to be fine and not drinking, and it just didn’t seem realistic based on how bad her drinking was previously. Now, I’ve never been in that situation with a parent, but it didn’t always seem realistic and Meg didn’t seem to understand that her mother needed help, not her judgment.

I know it seems like I really didn’t like this book, but that’s not true. The story itself was pretty interesting. I saw some twists coming, but not all of them, and the ending was pretty interesting. I think I’ll wait to read reviews before checking out the second book, but I’m slightly interested to see what will happen to Meg and her friends and family next.