Reviews

The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. by David Levithan

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books_and_mushrooms's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

kyra_c_c's review against another edition

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4.0

I am not normally a fan of YA but this was a lovely little tale. Lightly written and easy breezy to read: I got through this charming story in an afternoon. Leviathan manages to conjure up a lot of reader affection for Lucas, the narrator, and his brother Aidan, despite the mysterious confusion at the heart of the novel. Is it an allegory? Or am I just over thinking it?

lilsoliver's review against another edition

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5.0

A wonderful boom about childhood, siblings, and the truths we know no one else will believe.

tracie's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5 After last months stress I needed to decompress with quick and easy reads so I'm doing Middle Grade March. First up was this great little book. David Levithan (Dash & Lily) stories usually have a touch of love and a pinch of angst. Nearly all his books have strong queer rep (though minor in this one). David's books are my comfort reads. Sometimes they make me smile and sometimes they will make me cry. From the title I expected his first middle grade book to be a mystery and the initial disappearance and search for Aidan certainly pulled me into the story. However when Aidan returns 6 days later the book then takes an unexpected turn and becomes less about the actual disappearance and more about the aftermath. How does a family move on, how do you live with a truth that is unbelievable, how do you support your loved one in the face of this and public backlash? This book has a wonderful bond of brotherhood at the heart of it with a touch of magical realism. It also has a bittersweet ending that may not satisfy everyone. I was pleasantly surprised by this one and just had to keep reading and was finished by days end. David with a winner yet again!

bibliobrandie's review against another edition

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2.0

Aidan goes missing and the whole town is looking for him but he entered a mysterious world through a portal and nobody believes him when he returns. This is a quick read and the plot starts off interesting but nothing really happens and it fell short for me. I liked the two brothers (Aidan and Lucas) and their relationship. I appreciated the LGBTQ rep and I loved the character Brandi. Reading this reminded me of The Flight of the Navigator with maybe a touch of Narnia.

Spoiler

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Some things that annoyed me: Calling the thing that Aidan went through a dresser but then saying it had doors. Dressers don't have doors, right? Armoires have doors. You know what else has doors, Wardrobes. I feel like the author didn't want any comparisons to Narnia so he didn't want to use the word wardrobe and ended up saying dresser and I dunno, that really bothered me.
Also, I thought Aidan was going to describe Aveinieu more but he never really did. And why could Aidan go? Why doesn't he stay? What's this sickness they are all talking about? Too much is left unanswered.
And finally, I thought this was going to be a metaphor for Aidan discovering his sexuality but it never really seemed to do that. Or if it did, it went over my head.