I think I downloaded The Return by Rachel Harrison thanks to a Netgalley promo email and reading the description I think I was thinking it would be suspense. It's really more horror, which is fine and I do read some horror, but honestly this was the very definition of middle-of-the-road read for me.

It tells the story of four college friends, Julie, Mae, Molly and Elise, with Elise, the least successful of the group, narrating the story. Julie is missing. As in she went for a hike and disappeared. Everyone is in a panic, including Molly, Mae and Julie's husband. But not Elise. Julie and Elise are a lot alike and Elise is convinced that Julie will return. And she does. Two years to the day she disappeared with no memory of what happened to her or where she's been all this time. After the dust settles the girls decide to take a girl's trip to reconnect and head to an exclusive boutique hotel in the Catskills. But the second Elise sees Julie she knows something is very wrong. Julie is not Julie. She's emaciated, with sallow skin, terrible teeth, and odd appetites. As in staunch to the point of insufferable vegan Julie is now eating raw and/or barely cooked meat. But if Julie isn't Julie, than who is she exactly?

This is a story of toxic friendship, with each character being a hot mess in their own way and basically being snide about whichever woman isn't around at that time. Instead of leaning in on each other for support, it's a friendship well practiced in avoidance. There are just things they don't talk about. Ever. It lends itself to not really caring for any of them all that much, so even though the author does a decent job of ratcheting up the creepy tension with Gothic tinged vibes, I spent the whole book kind of wishing everyone would end up dead. By the time I got to the end that tension ends up deflated by an ending that seems to go on forever and a very tell-y recounting of what happened to Julie when she disappeared. The whole thing has an oddly detached feeling and I finished it relieved it was one more book off the pile.

Final Grade = C

Solid horror/thriller. Elise’s best friend Julie disappeared 2 years ago while hiking. Everyone tells her to grieve, move on, Julie is dead. But Elise is sure she isn’t. Then almost 2 years to the day Julie is back, with no recollection of the last 2 years. However, she’s.....different

Not my usual type of book, but I enjoyed the creepiness. The ending got a little to wild for me, but overall an interesting horror that kept me turning the pages.

Wanted to like this one so bad, but it was just meh for me. Just seemed predictable. But I would definitely read this author again.

Julie was missing for two years. There was a funeral. Her friends and family mourned… and then Julie came back. Julie has no memory of what happened to her, but she’s back, and now her friends are trying to include her back in their lives. The Return was a unique story about female friendships with a bit of horror mixed in. There were parts where the story dragged on, but ultimately this was a page turner with good characterization and enough suspense to keep the reader guessing.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Return my Rachel Harrison

First this is probably the creepiest book I’ve had in a long time. A group of four girls who all went to college together and are best friends are shocked when one of their group, Julie is missing and presumed dead while hiking in Acadia national Park. Suddenly, two years later, Julie returns to her home like nothing had happened.
In an effort to reconnect as a group, they go on a weekend away to a hotel. And things become very strange from there. Julie is not herself. She sounds odd, she looks odd and she smells bad. Her teeth are falling out and nobody wants to ask her about it because she has no memory of what happened during the two years she was gone. But as odd things keep happening around the hotel, people disappearing they decide to close the hotel. Only Julie doesn’t want Elise to go she wants to take her back to Acadia with her. Elise is terrified. Their other two friends have left to go find medical help, and they are the only ones left. Things go really weird then.
I really enjoy the suspense and trying to figure out what was really happening behind the scenes. This review was hard to write without giving away too much. It’s definitely an exciting thriller.

A good mix of thrills, body horror, and general what the fuckery. I was not expecting body horror, but I'm also not mad about it. The lavish descriptions of opulent hotel rooms at our luxury hotel setting made me want to open a bed and breakfast and do this, minus the horror. This was a good book to read in October.

Thanks also to Netgalley for the ARC that I am reading now... 2 years later. Oops.

This was the most hideous full length 'wanna be a thriller but I just can't' book I have ever wasted time on!

Author Rachel Harrison has read Grady Hendrix books, and or 'I wanna be a model' (fake title, i'm being sarcastic.) WAY toooooooo many times! I came up with a really good title, that would be perfect IMO. Ariana Grande stars as Joan Crawford in.......'HELP! I Have Lost an Eyelash In the Madonna Inn While Waiting To See a Best Friend Who Has Been Lost in the Woods for The Last Two Years!" Yes, this is 85% wasted dialog and the rest is just dumb fluff.

I am going to stick with Mary Downing Hahn or Disney Villains for the next 2 books! Cannot and would never recommend this.

1 💄(that is a lipstick....there were no Eyelashes) lol

I liked the beginning of this book, but I got a little distracted around the middle. I felt like there were still things unexplained once I was finished and was disappointed in the ending and how it was resolved

Interesting study of friendships amid a strange undercurrent of horror. Secrets abound in this novel of a weekend away and the author's direction for the finale was refreshing.

This one is perfect for spooky season!
It's strange and creepy and will get under your skin. I had a twist ending I didn't see coming!

Honestly, reading the blurb about this book really piqued my curiosity, but then I saw the cover. It was over. I wanted to read it. That book cover really amped up the excitement, so kudos on that. Now, to the review.

This story follows four best friends who survived college together and went separate ways into the chaos of adult life. We have: Mae, the polite southern fashionista who lives in New York City and is always put together. Molly, the childhood cancer survivor who lives in Los Angeles and is the brutally honest and unfiltered member of the group. Julie, the dramatic, flighty dreamer who had a troubled childhood and abruptly settles down into the married life with an upstart Bed and Breakfast biz in sleepy Maine. Our perspective through most of this story is Elise, the depressed insurance office manager dealing with the aftermath of an ended turbulent relationship in her life that you will find out more about in the novel.

All living in cities across the country, the women have drifted apart more and more with each passing year and are trying to stay current in each other's lives while living their own. The main plot of this story begins and ends with the disappearance of one of these friends, Julie. She goes out on a hike and doesn't come back....until two years later. I'm taking a guess she didn't take a wrong turn or stop at the gas station for a Slurpee. So, most of the plot centers around her miraculous and abrupt return and how the friends try to reconcile their relationships with each other. This culminates for the majority of the novel at a "Shining"-esque resort in the mountains with weird vibes and some unsettling signs that make you think that staying home and doing laundry was the safer bet. Upon meeting up for this retreat to catch up with each other for the first time since Julie has returned home, the weekend slowly starts to come off the tracks in a slow, corner of your eye, "Is this happening? No, can't be." type of way. Let's just say there's something about Julie.

In all, it was solid on the scary, but light on the plot. This book was dialogue heavy. Much of the plot consisted of characters talking in a scene or explaining parts of the plot through the dialogue. I will say that about three quarters into the book it starting ramping up the tension and was more of thrill. In terms of the atmosphere, wonderful. Both the setting and description of Julie throughout the story indeed brought the creepy. I give this a solid three out of five stars. Creepy setting, creepy atmosphere, creepy happenings, creepy friend. Let's just say there are some friends meant to be solely Facebook friends. You know what I mean?

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this title.

The beginning was a bit slow-moving. It took me a while to get into it. Once I got to the heart of the story, it was pretty good. Not great. I thought there could have been much more done with this concept. There seemed to be a lot of threads leading to possible side plots that could have been developed. The ending was pretty non-climatic.

After several chapters I knew it would not appeal to my students and do not plan to purchase it. Thank you for the opportunity to read it for preview purposes.

4.5 stars. This was campy, but good. I loved the ride. Review to come.

Due to being a high school teacher, I have been falling behind on reviews. Here are my initial thoughts.

I love good thriller/horror book and this one did not disappoint. The story as a whole was so good and from the start I was completely hooked. I also enjoyed the characters and felt them to be relatable. I highly recommend this book!

Julie is missing, and after a year and a half, her friends decide to throw a funeral for closure. Being closer to Julie than anyone, Elise can't shake the feeling deep down that Julie is still alive. Two years after Julie went missing, she reappears at her home with no memory of what happened to her, but something is very wrong. Julie is not the same person, and everything takes a very dark turn.

THE RETURN plays with the classic tale of a vanished character who comes back differently. Harrison has managed to construct a tale that is chilling while exploring all aspects of friendship.

This book was a journey. From the description I didn't know quite what to expect but it certainly wasn't what I got. Harrison does a great job of creating a menacing atmosphere. I felt dread even before this group of friends set foot in the hotel. A really cool idea for a horror novel with women protagonists.

Ohhh this was a fun one. I was immediately hooked and had a blast flying through this thrill ride. My only qualms would be that I wish the climax/end was a little longer - I wanted more elaboration on the supernatural horror aspect, it felt a tad rushed. I would say some areas felt repetitive dialogue wise, but I still think the story itself was compelling enough to keep me on my toes the whole time.