Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

112 reviews

medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Trigger warnings: Kidnapping, childhood loss of parents, gaslighting, emotional abuse. 

I can honestly say I didn't see the end of this book coming, and I ended up siding with characters I sort of hated throughout most of the book and vice versa. This felt very much like watching a movie and while it wasn't always necessarily realistic or terribly intricate, it was entertaining as hell and I didn't really want it to end. This author never disappoints. 

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

the funny thing about this book is that, even though I'd already pieced together 85% of what really happened fairly early on, holly jackson somehow managed to confuse me and make me second-guess myself consistently throughout this book in typical holly jackson fashion but honestly? I'm not complaining - this book is incredible in every sense of the word. it's very much what you'd expect there to be in one of jackson's books, filled with twists and turns and a meticulously-crafted mystery that left me completely hooked. seriously, I powered through most of the second half of this book in a single day, which is unusual for me nowadays. I do, however, have a couple of gripes with this one because no book is perfect and you need to be able to critically evaluate the media you're consuming, especially if it's media you enjoy:

1) the romance in this felt underdeveloped and frankly a bit forced. the chemistry between the two characters comes out of nowhere given how their dynamic never really changes over the course of the book, and even though it was sweet I didn't really care for it because of how little relationship development there is between them. they still felt like strangers to each other (at least, from my perspective) and it seemed like the only reason they were even paired with each other is because the love interest was the only age-appropriate person within bel's proximity.

2) I had a similar issue with some of jackson's other books (namely a good girl's guide to murder since the structure of the reappearance of rachel price is more similar to that than five survive), but it felt like most of the people were giving information up way too easily. I know bel is characterised as a persistent, "doesn't take no for an answer" type of person, but the way people were giving her the information she needed almost instantaneously without bel having to put up much of a fight felt extremely unrealistic to me. I get it, it's fiction, it's ya, it's meant to be unrealistic, but it still bothered me.

regardless, this book did not disappoint and holly jackson remains an instant-read author for me!

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dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-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

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

She is a genius??? However it always takes me a while to get into HoJay books but then I absolutely live for nothing else in the third of the book so??? Worth it for the drama and the suspense and the plot twists 

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Holly Jackson has done it again. She is talented at writing twisted YA thrillers/ mysteries. The characters are so complex and well thought out and their relationships have so many dynamics. Rachel Price is such a scary and untrustworthy character. But the more you read the more you realise you can’t trust anyone . I love Bel as the main character. She is so independent and curious. This is such a great book. 

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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: Complicated

here's the thing. i ADORE the way holly jackson writes mysteries, they're so carefully planned and well thought-out and seeing the pieces come together to form the solution is very satisfying. #1 author that makes me wanna go it's always sunny pepe silvia meme halfway through the book <3

however. the idea that
the fallout from the revelations of the novel's climax could get so easily and neatly wrapped up into a happy ending with a bow on top
just makes NO DAMN SENSE TO ME

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