A review by cortanasreadingnook
The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I’m writing this review honestly, and I got tricked into enjoying this. This new standalone from Jackson is nothing like the beloved AGGGTM trilogy. I know, this is a completely different story, but I expected it to be just as good or better. Yes, she was able to create a new, unique mystery about an eighteen-year-old girl whose mom unexpectedly reappears after being missing for sixteen years. I didn’t fully dislike this book, because the outline was indeed well-laid out, the reveal of the twists and turns all perfectly timed, leaving a reader on edge the whole time. However, the pacing of this book was incredibly lazy and is excessively descriptive that it felt more filler than plot dragging the story along. Moreso, I felt disconnected from the main character the entire time, because she was so full of attitude, and she was so mean. I understood how fucked up her childhood was, but I have never encountered a character with abandonment issues behaving as extreme as she did. What I did like about this book is how it just teaches men to not fuck with women. Because why can’t they just fucking leave us alone? Overall, this wasn’t bad, but I’m torn if I’ll ever recommend this.

Additional Note: 
I have no idea about Jackson’s timeline for the completion for this book, but her naming brands under the boycott for Palestine was extremely off-putting. Not only that, but this author is also under discussion for her books being translated by an Israeli publisher, Modan and is an issue yet to be addressed. 
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