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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
tense
medium-paced
4.5 this was so so good and the plot twist were so shocking the ONLY reason this book isnt a 5 star is because i think it couldve been about 50 pages shorter. it didnt drag or anything but some things just couldve been cut out but i absolutely love this book and holly jackson never missed
4.2 Stars!
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
About the book: Bel Price has spent 16 years without her mum- Rachel Price after she disappeared and was mostly presumed dead. The Price family decides to take part in a documentary about Rachel and how their lives have been affected except Rachel has suddenly reappeared after 16 long years. Rachel claims to tell a story widely believed by everyone except for Bel who feels like there's something wrong. Is Rachel lying or telling the truth? Is someone else involved? Or does the answer lie closer to home than Bel initially thought?
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
My thoughts: This was a great read and I have no doubt this book will be on my mind for several days. The character development in this book was amazing- each character had a personality I had no problem imagining. The plot was amazing just like every Holly Jackson book even though AGGGTM will forever have a special spot inside my heart. This book is surprisingly nothing like AGGGTM as I previously thought, earning this book another star. I did feel like this book was unnecessarily stretched over a couple of hundred pages but after that 65% mark, things started picking up which I appreciate.
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
The FMC: Bel had a snarky attitude at times which I understand after everything that happened to her. Sometimes, however, it did make me mad; otherwise, I love her confidence and intelligence. I do think that this aspect differentiated herself from Pip as some people might have believed she would be more similar to her. I loved her relationship with those close to her like Carter for example. So all in all, I respect her.
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
The love interest: I loved Ash!! He was so sweet and funny. Not to mention he could also keep up with Bel's sarcasm. I will admit, at first, I was hesitant, I mean the 'man-bun' and clothing
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
About the book: Bel Price has spent 16 years without her mum- Rachel Price after she disappeared and was mostly presumed dead. The Price family decides to take part in a documentary about Rachel and how their lives have been affected except Rachel has suddenly reappeared after 16 long years. Rachel claims to tell a story widely believed by everyone except for Bel who feels like there's something wrong. Is Rachel lying or telling the truth? Is someone else involved? Or does the answer lie closer to home than Bel initially thought?
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
My thoughts: This was a great read and I have no doubt this book will be on my mind for several days. The character development in this book was amazing- each character had a personality I had no problem imagining. The plot was amazing just like every Holly Jackson book even though AGGGTM will forever have a special spot inside my heart. This book is surprisingly nothing like AGGGTM as I previously thought, earning this book another star. I did feel like this book was unnecessarily stretched over a couple of hundred pages but after that 65% mark, things started picking up which I appreciate.
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
The FMC: Bel had a snarky attitude at times which I understand after everything that happened to her. Sometimes, however, it did make me mad; otherwise, I love her confidence and intelligence. I do think that this aspect differentiated herself from Pip as some people might have believed she would be more similar to her. I loved her relationship with those close to her like Carter for example. So all in all, I respect her.
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
The love interest: I loved Ash!! He was so sweet and funny. Not to mention he could also keep up with Bel's sarcasm. I will admit, at first, I was hesitant, I mean the 'man-bun' and clothing
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
medium-paced
I really enjoyed this book, and I was so curious about what happened that I read a lot faster than normal (in the sense that I didn't savor each detail as much as I usually do). I might not remember things too clearly because of how fast I went through those pivotal pages as the climax unfolded, but I did notice something that has been bothering me ever since: Rachel telling Bel and Carter to turn their phones off so they couldn't be traced "here", but they'd already been "here" with their phones on. That makes no sense to me. I can't get over it.
The only other thing that I really take issue with is the idea that Carter could essentially get rid of the only parents she'd ever known so easily, even just with her calling Rachel mom as if doing so is an instinct. Even though I detest both Sherry and Jeff, I don't think it would be that easy for a 15 year old girl to essentially replace her parents and, mostly, be happy about it.
I'm delighted by the girl power turn of the story, though. I love a good mother-daughter powerhouse; in this case, a mother-daughter-daughter powerhouse. I could sense that Rachel really cared about Bel ever since she snapped at Charlie, "don't talk to her like that!". From that moment on, I just knew. I'm disappointed they didn't get to keep Charlie locked up in that trailer for 15 plus years, but it's probably better this way. Although I am a tiny bit skeptical that half of an entire family could disappear in the wake of the reappearance of a famously missing woman without the entire country, maybe half the world, becoming obsessed with finding out what the f is going on. I think Jackson underestimated how compelling people would find such a mysterious set of circumstances. I can imagine armchair detectives working night and day to track down Sherry/Jeff/Charlie and find answers. And how can we trust that Sherry will really stay away when she finds herself alone? So many things could go wrong to tumble this house of cards they've built for their new lives. But it's a fun fantasy of an ending, that's for sure.
Also, I just want to say that I thought Charlie was a terrible father early on, regardless of his role in the whole thing. What a piece of shit.
The only other thing that I really take issue with is the idea that Carter could essentially get rid of the only parents she'd ever known so easily, even just with her calling Rachel mom as if doing so is an instinct. Even though I detest both Sherry and Jeff, I don't think it would be that easy for a 15 year old girl to essentially replace her parents and, mostly, be happy about it.
I'm delighted by the girl power turn of the story, though. I love a good mother-daughter powerhouse; in this case, a mother-daughter-daughter powerhouse. I could sense that Rachel really cared about Bel ever since she snapped at Charlie, "don't talk to her like that!". From that moment on, I just knew. I'm disappointed they didn't get to keep Charlie locked up in that trailer for 15 plus years, but it's probably better this way. Although I am a tiny bit skeptical that half of an entire family could disappear in the wake of the reappearance of a famously missing woman without the entire country, maybe half the world, becoming obsessed with finding out what the f is going on. I think Jackson underestimated how compelling people would find such a mysterious set of circumstances. I can imagine armchair detectives working night and day to track down Sherry/Jeff/Charlie and find answers. And how can we trust that Sherry will really stay away when she finds herself alone? So many things could go wrong to tumble this house of cards they've built for their new lives. But it's a fun fantasy of an ending, that's for sure.
Also, I just want to say that I thought Charlie was a terrible father early on, regardless of his role in the whole thing. What a piece of shit.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"The people who loved you, the ones who really cared, they would always come back.
Sometimes, they even came back from the dead."
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
ASH 🤭🤭