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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated The Return in Books

Feb 19, 2020 (Updated Feb 21, 2020)

The Return

Rachel Harrison | 2020 | Contemporary, Horror, Mystery

6.0

(4 Ratings)

Book Rating

I had been looking forward to reading The Return by Rachel Harrison for awhile, so when I got the opportunity to review it, I jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, I was left feeling very disappointed.

The plot for The Return sounds promising. Elise's best friend Julie disappeared 2 years ago. No one had heard or seen her. Then one day, Julie showed up again claiming to have no memory of what happened. No one ever pressed her for answers. However, Julie isn't like she was before. She's acting much different, and the smell she gives off is terrible! What really happened to Julie during those two years she was missing?

The Return started out extremely slow. I kept reading thinking the pacing would pick up. However, it never did except for a tiny bit during the end where all the action happens, but even then, the pacing is still slow. This book really lacks any kind of action, in my opinion, and is instead more like watching three snobby and boring women on a vacation where they just stay in their hotel. I skimmed through a lot of this book waiting for something interesting to happen.

I couldn't connect to any of the characters. There is some backstory for each of the characters, but it feels forced and jagged and like it doesn't fit in very well with the book. The only semi-decent character is Elise. She's a tad bit relatable, but even she doesn't feel that realistic. She's too dependent on others especially when it comes to Julie. Putting her life in danger after finding out what really happened to Julie was just insane and didn't feel like something a real person would do. Mae and Molly were snobby rich women how seemed to not want to do much. Mae liked complaining all the time, and I don't really know what the point of Molly was.

Trigger warnings include profanity, drinking, violence, death, and murder.

Overall, The Return felt short of my expectations. The pacing was too slow, and the characters just felt too wooden. Unfortunately, I would not recommend The Return.
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A special thank you to the publisher for providing me with an eBook of The Return by Rachel Harrison in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)