Book Review: “The Return” by Rachel Harrison

[Due to accidentally NOT hitting the publish button yesterday on the previous review post (“The New Girl Code”), subscribers will get TWO emails today. Hope you don’t mind! Live & learn!😉]

Thank you so much @Berkleypub (partner) for my gifted copy of “The Return” by Rachel Harrison (pub date 3/24)!

A group of friends reunite after one of them has returned from a mysterious two-year disappearance in this edgy & haunting debut.

Julie is missing, & no one believes she will ever return—except Elise. Elise knows Julie better than anyone, & feels it in her bones that her best friend is out there & that one day Julie will come back. She’s right. Two years to the day that Julie went missing, she reappears with no memory of where she’s been or what happened to her.

Along with Molly & Mae, their two close friends from college, the women decide to reunite at a remote inn. But the second Elise sees Julie, she knows something is wrong—she’s emaciated, with sallow skin & odd appetites. And as the weekend unfurls, it becomes impossible to deny that the Julie who vanished two years ago is not the same Julie who came back. But then who—or what—is she?

Well, where to begin, since I don’t want to inadvertently give away any spoilers. This book is best to go into without reading too many reviews since it’s one of those that some people love & some people…not so much.

The book starts out pretty slow, but does pick up eventually, but the chapters were a bit too long for me. The characters often felt contrived & I didn’t really care about any of them, except I did like Mae for the most part. I loved that the majority of the setting was in a hotel, which gave that unsettling vibe like “The Shining”.

“The Return” is creepy, edgy, unexpected & disturbing, with a fair amount of violence & paranormal aspects. (Think “Mean Girls” meets “Jennifer’s Body”) It’s a thriller/horror novel, that’s scary & funny like any teen-scream movie these days, & it will have you on the edge of your seat, biting your nails, & peaking over your shoulders while reading it. An overall fast read!

For a debut novel I thought it was well-written & it entertained the bajeebies out of me! I will definitely read more from Harrison in the future! Look for this book tomorrow, 3/24 & don’t forget to support your local, indie bookstores…they need our support now more than ever! Click HERE to go to BookStoreLink.com to find one near you! Many will ship or deliver to you!

Reminder: Today is the last day to enter my current Instagram 3-Winner GIVEAWAY sponsored by Flatiron Publishing! Click HERE to go to that post! Another fresh giveaway coming SOON!

And as always, Wash your hands, stay safe, stay home, and [try to] stay sane! 😊