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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
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
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.5 ⭐️ | 2🩸| 9h 34min🎧| 33📚
what to expect:
🪱 horror
🥾 missing person
🎞️ mystery / thriller
🪱 hauntings
🥾 female friendships
🎞️ gore / blood
🪱 body horror
🥾 creepy creatures
🎞️ obsession / isolation
🪱 what lengths will you go for your friends
🥾grief / death
🎞️ cannibalism (?)
🪱 injury / injury detail
🥾 abandonment
🎞️ animal death
Honestly this book was not what i expected. I didn't know what this was about so I went in blind and honestly following Cackle with this was such an insane palette cleanser of choice.
Our story follows Elise, our FMC who has a friend Julie go missing. Only for Julie to show up on her husbands doorstep two years after completely vanishing.
When Elise gets a gut feeling that something is strange about Julie's reappearance she shakes it off as nerves and the friend group plans a hotel getaway to reconnect as a group of four. Elise, Julie, Molly and Mae stay are a hotel for their reconnection when strange things start to happen while staying in the hotel. Was Elise right? Is Julie really back or is it something posing as Julie??
You'll have to find out for yourself and read The Return. 🪱
quotes:
"But friendships are mercurial. They're shape-shifters. I've learned to allow them to fluctuate and take new forms. I love my friends; that's all that matters."💞
"You can't erase your past when there are pieces of it scattered inside other people."🪞
3.5 rounded to 4. Started strong and ended strong. Got a little sluggish in the middle.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s unique, but just lacking something I can’t put my finger on. the book ended and I was just like what just happened?
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I would’ve rated this book higher if the author had followed through on some of the storylines she began to develop. The first 70% of the novel was engaging, centered around the mystery of Julie’s disappearance and her sudden reappearance two years later. That core storyline held my attention, and I appreciated the slow trickle of subplots—particularly Elise’s complicated feelings for Julie’s husband, Tristan, and Elise’s own troubled past. But those threads were never fully explored or brought to a satisfying resolution.
Instead, at the height of the tension, we finally learn what Julie really is and what motivated her return. And just as the stakes seem to rise, the narrative abruptly ends. The story wraps up a year later with the remaining three friends reuniting, but we’re left without closure—especially in regards to Elise’s internal journey or the emotional fallout of her connection to Tristan. The author introduces ideas about personal growth and “tough conversations,” but instead of showing us these moments through character development or interactions, we’re simply told they happened.
That said, I did appreciate the book as an allegory for grief—particularly the often-overlooked grief that comes with losing a close friend. The emotional weight of losing someone who feels like an extension of yourself, someone who has shared your secrets, your growth, and your history, is immense. The author captured the ache and confusion that can accompany that kind of loss—the way it lingers, reshapes us, and forces us to confront parts of ourselves we might otherwise ignore. In that way, the book resonated. It’s a quiet, haunting look at how female friendships can carry just as much depth, intimacy, and devastation as romantic relationships. I just wish the emotional and narrative threads had been tied together more deliberately.
Instead, at the height of the tension, we finally learn what Julie really is and what motivated her return. And just as the stakes seem to rise, the narrative abruptly ends. The story wraps up a year later with the remaining three friends reuniting, but we’re left without closure—especially in regards to Elise’s internal journey or the emotional fallout of her connection to Tristan. The author introduces ideas about personal growth and “tough conversations,” but instead of showing us these moments through character development or interactions, we’re simply told they happened.
That said, I did appreciate the book as an allegory for grief—particularly the often-overlooked grief that comes with losing a close friend. The emotional weight of losing someone who feels like an extension of yourself, someone who has shared your secrets, your growth, and your history, is immense. The author captured the ache and confusion that can accompany that kind of loss—the way it lingers, reshapes us, and forces us to confront parts of ourselves we might otherwise ignore. In that way, the book resonated. It’s a quiet, haunting look at how female friendships can carry just as much depth, intimacy, and devastation as romantic relationships. I just wish the emotional and narrative threads had been tied together more deliberately.
adventurous
dark
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated