Character Development in How to Disappear

Written by Sharon Huss Roat, How to Disappear follows 16-year-old Vicky Decker as she struggles with social anxiety in high school. After her best and only friend Jenna moves away, Vicky becomes lonely at school, keeping to herself with no one to talk to. It doesn’t help that Jenna shows signs of moving on from their friendship, having found a new group of friends and talking about Vicky behind her back. Feeling betrayed, Vicky makes a fake Instagram account named Vicurious, where she posts fake images of herself with other people. As her follower count multiplies, Vicky realizes that many other people are connecting to how she feels and she helps them, letting them know they aren’t alone. But when her best friend becomes in danger, Vicky has to unveil Vicurious’ cloak of anonymity, exposing herself to her entire school. However, Vicky’s development of friends towards the end of the book supports her.

I really enjoyed this book! There are many things that I could talk about and compliment, but the two elements that are the best in the book are the character development and the details of Vicky. First of all, the author conveyed emotions and actions of Vicky throughout the book with great detail, and it helped me understand how she felt in the situation a lot. One example is when Vicky tries talking to a girl in the bathroom: “The wearer of the yin-yang Converse says, ‘You okay in there?’ ‘Fine!’ I call out. Too loud. Why am I shouting? ‘You sure?’ the girl says. ‘Yes,’ I whisper. Too quiet now. I sound like a freak.” The author’s use of short wording instead of long sentences gives the reader a feeling of panic and fright, similar to how Vicky feels in the situation. 

Another thing that I found interesting was the development of Vicky throughout the story. At the beginning of the book, the author introduces Vicky as a shy introvert in her high school. She keeps to herself for most of her days and attempts to talk to others: “I’m not even asking myself for a full-on “Hello” or anything insane like “How are you?”... I throw my eyes to the floor. Forget saying hi. It’s all I can do to not hyperventilate”. In this scene, Vicky tries to make conversation with one of her classmates, Hallie, but as she attempts to speak, her anxiety takes over her body, causing her to shy away. 

Towards the end of the book, however, Vicky becomes a lot calmer and more collected after she finds many other people on Instagram just like her: shy and alone. In this situation, one of her classmates asks her out to dance, to which she replies calmly: “‘I’ll go to the concert with you.’ I nod. ‘Um, okay. I’ll pick you up,’ he responds. ‘Sounds good,’ I say, very cool and collected.’ ‘He waves, and I’m hardly anxious at all.” Vicky’s realization that she's not alone makes her feel recognized, and she tries to face her fears and become less afraid. I think this is a great example of how much Vicky has changed throughout the book, and along with the author's engaging descriptions, really puts together a good book.