A review by minimicropup
The Return by Rachel Harrison

dark funny mysterious 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? No

4.5

I really liked this – just the right amount of satisfying, eerie moments. Just be okay with some unanswered questions and poor-communication tropes. 
 
Energy: Caustic. Whimsical. Genuine. 
 
πŸ• Howls: Too many β€œjust talk to each other!” scenarios got frustrating. 
.  
🐩 Tail Wags: The slow-burn psychological horror. The setting in a quirky, strange hotel. The creeping dread. Realistic friend group vibes. The writing style and how easy it was to get lost in the story. Figuring everything out at the same time as the main character. The sensory descriptions. 
 
Scene: πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Themed hotel in the Catskills, New York, USA
Perspective: Our main character has a group of college friends they’re stayed in touch with; one goes missing on a hike and everyone believes they are no longer alive. Our MC thinks otherwise and, when proven right, discovers the return comes with a lot of strangeness and complicated feelings. 
Timeline: 2010s or 2020s. Linear. Autumn, October. 
πŸ”₯ Fuel: What happened to Julie? Why is she so creepy and unkept? Where was she the past two years? How will the friends navigate her rejoining their group?
πŸ“– Cred: Suspended disbelief supernatural 
 
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Turquoise room. Hissing static. Putrid scent. Vanilla jazz. Rare steak. Beef jerky. Room service. Shared balcony.  
  • Tagging along, being told a story (first person)
  • Breezy, punchy, detailed writing style
  • Chaotic, likeable, sympathetic characters
  • Long chapters
  • Missing-assumed-dead return
  • Creepy whimsical hotel setting
  • Humming and hawing dialogue and thoughts
  • College friend group reunited
  • Swipes of food horror
  • Cozy, psychological, grown-up Goosebumps horror
  • Shadow menace, Missing 411, nosleep energy
  • Books to read in a hotel room
  • Retreat gone wrong
  • How far would you go for your bff? 
  • Loyalty, loss, new takes on life
 
Content Heads-Up: Animal death (pig; meat; brief). Blood, murder. Body shaming (parents, agencies; brief recall). Cancer (bone; childhood, brief mention). Eating disorder (anorexia). Infidelity, affair. Nicotine (cigarettes). Parental abandonment (as baby). Psychosomatic illness. Racism (brief memory; grandparents). 
 
Rep: American. Chinese American. Cis. Hetero. Lesbian. Pale, albino, pink, and ashen skin tones. Prostethic leg user. Albinism. Eczema. 
 
πŸ“š Format: Hardcover
 
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