While I finished this book in a few sittings, the ending completely let me down :( I also disliked how long the chapters were and thought they could have been shortened to keep the plot moving quicker. All that said, I LOVED the way the author wrote. She is incredibly talented and I will for sure read more by her, despite not loving the ending of this one. The story and plot gripped me—however I was looking for more of a believable mystery at the end. Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

I thought this book had more promise and potential than it actually delivered. The characters were a little two-dimensional at times, but the plot and the suspense were strong. In fact, I continued reading this book because I wanted to know what was going on.
It was my first book by Rachel Harrison and it was a solid effort.

I love the cover of this book which is what grabbed my attention and made me want to read. Sadly this book just didn't work out for me at all. I didn't like any of the characters and they reminded me of teenage girls with teh constant bickering.

**Received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley**

Previous reviewers have pointed out a few things they didn't like about the book. A lot of the criticism is valid and fair. The repetitive dialogue and the excessive 'i love you' exchanges were definitely things that bothered me, but only slightly.

These little nits didn't change the fact that I blazed through this book at lightning speed. I rarely settle down on my sofa to read a book within a single afternoon. Perhaps it was the combination of being depressed and having a terrible face rash that left me couch-bound for the afternoon, but I don't think those are the only reasons for being engrossed in this tale. I'm rarely spooked, but there was enough creepiness to keep me reading. It's horror-tinged rather than outright scary, but that doesn't mean it's not worth diving into. The characters are a bit dull and obnoxious, but the setting makes up for how annoying they are. The setting is everything. I was utterly transposed. I'm still thinking about the rooms and the dark, dimly lit dining area. I want to go there, and I want to stay far away at the same time.

Sure this group of friends is insufferable, but that's why it's so satisfying when everything falls apart.

Wowza! This was a CREEPY book! It definitely kept me guessing and wondering what the actual crap was happening. Recommend for anyone looking for a unique story!

This was so scary that I read the last 20 minutes with one eye closed ! I liked this as a traditional horror story with an unusual mix of humor an relatable characters thrown in.

**3.5 Stars**
You can’t erase your past when there are pieces of it scattered inside other people.


75% of this book was 5 stars, full of slow building horror that sucked me and I didn't even realize I was scared until my pulse was pounding in my throat and I was afraid to look behind me for fear of what would be lurking. I have no idea how the did it, but this was subtle horror, with quiet imagery that built until it was graphic and intense and I was so invested in the story. I had no idea what would happen next but I was going to find out- just not at night when it was dark (cause I was scared, ok!).

“What’s almond butter’s deal?”
“Right? She gives off a vibe.”
“It’s the intensity of her eye contact. It says, like, ‘I’m going to bring you homemade gluten-free pastries but also watch you while you’re sleeping.’”


And then the last 25% (the last 2 chapters, really) the book was not the same book that filled all my thoughts and nightmares. Instead, it was something else, something that did not match the rest of the book and really let me down. I am not sure what happened, but the story and the amazing horror imagery and plot altered into something that felt very meh and left me disappointed. The last 2 chapters I feel I am being generous in giving a 3 star rating to so overall the book was about a 3.5 since I feel let down.

I would love to read more from this author, something else scary hopefully, I would be willing to give her another shot since I personally have never had such amazing tension build in a book before- maybe just finish better.

2.5 stars. A creepy story of four best friends. One of them disappears and comes back two years later, but . . . she’s changed, to put it mildly. From reading the book blurb, I didn’t realize this was going to be a supernatural horror story. I just wasn’t expecting that so was disappointed. If you like that genre, you might like this. Lots of repetitive dialogue between the friends. Gets pretty wacky by the end.

A version of this review previously appeared in Shelf Awareness and is republished here with permission.

Rachel Harrison's horror thriller debut, The Return, is a gas. Elise, Molly and Mae are stunned when their friendship fourth, Julie, quickly marries a virtual stranger. It would have been the shock of their lives if Julie hadn't then gone missing. Exactly two years later, Julie shows up, unharmed but with no memory of what happened.

Mae sets up a reunion at the Red Honey Inn (a "pastel Frankenstein's monster" straight from "some warped fairy tale"), isolated in the Catskills. Prepared for Julie to be different, they're stunned when the strict vegetarian shows an unnerving love of meat. She's also understandably thin, but her skin has a bluish tint and "pools like melted wax."

Things head magnificently and creepily downhill. The hotel begins to smell like rot, footstep sounds abound and the televisions emit moaning sounds. Julie's condition worsens--her meat consumption becomes ravenous and she spits out teeth without care--and relationships start to fracture. With no idea what sinister corridor Harrison is heading down, there's no hope or desire but to hang on and read through dread-squinted eyes.

Harrison has a degree in writing for film and television and has worked on game shows and in publishing and finance. The Return is as thematically varied, but all the pieces fit into a terrific whole that's suspenseful to the end. "Whatever's happening now... it's going to catch up to us. It's going to grab us by the ankles and bring us down, not let us go. It's going to change us."

<i>You can't erase your past when there are pieces of it scattered inside other people.</i>

I'm a huge horror fan, so the idea of female-powered body horror in a creepy hotel is right up my alley. I liked that Rachel Harrison didn't shy away from the grotesque and that when the climax came, she doubled down on it, going for the gross, no matter how squeamish it left us feeling. It reminded me a bit of a girls' weekend version of a Nick Cutter novel (which is not a bad thing). The premise and atmosphere get 5 stars from me.

That said, this was definitely one of those books where readers are waiting for the characters to catch up, to catch on, to get a clue. And I won't lie: that got a little old. I struggled to get into the novel, with the preamble around Julie's death being a bit tedious, but once they arrived at the hotel, I was on board. The ending is telegraphed from the halfway point, which meant I was in it from that point on just to watch Julie lose her teeth, one bite of beef jerky at a time. (view spoiler) But even so, the pacing suffered at times, with too much girl talk, too many flashbacks to backstory that doesn't serve the present conflict, and descriptions that border on exposition dumps. I was left with a few questions about poor Patsy and the hotel--Was it closed permanently?--and what happened to Tristan after everything went down.

As other reviewers have stated, I too had trouble connecting with Elise. We know so little about her early on that when her big narrative twist is revealed and we learn about her past, it felt tacked on and not planted throughout. I wanted to know her better from the start but found her hard to read, no pun intended (for instance, we don't know basic stuff, like what she does for a living, until a third of the way through the book). I did feel the friends were better fleshed out along the way and easy to like.

All in all, I thought this was a fun, ookly book and definitely came back to it willingly once the story really got moving. Looking forward to seeing what Rachel Harrison writes next. I hope it's scary.

<i>Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy!</i>

Amazon review pending

This is a good, classic, new-age, horror-movie feeling book. The mystery of what happened and what is happening is intertwined with wondering how this friend group operates and how they will get through it, The subtle backgrounds of the hotel bring a new sense of eeriness and wonder of what it feels to not truly know someone you love.

This review is daunting to write because I feel like anything I have to say about the book will spoil parts of the plot. However, I feel like the first part of this book was easily very repetitive with the main perspectives. The last part of the book held the twist, which was not as twisty as I wanted it to be. The gorgous cover caught my eye, but I felt like the story itself was underwhelming. I did think that the writing was well done with excellent word choice, it was the plot that tripped up enjoying this story.

I don't usually read horror, but Rachel Harrison's book is a great work of atmospheric horror, with a claustrophobic setting and a creeping terror that grows throughout the novel. Creepy and chilling in the best way.

This book grabbed me from the start, and it was very difficult to put down-- though I had to because I couldn't read it before bed! The characters were definitely relatable and I loved the pacing-- I didn't realize it was a horror book until partway through because the unsettling details crept in little by little. I felt that the end, and the themes that came with were a little on the nose. Still, it was a pleasure to read.

My colleague Emily Hughes said it best: this is the next step in the brave new world of commercial fiction tipping into horror. This took the best part of Jennifer's Body and The Yellow Wallpaper, smashed them together and made it #2020, to great success.

Thanks to Berkley for approving me!

I could NOT get into this one. The beginning chapters just felt confusing and incoherent. I skimmed the first couple chapters multiple times as I felt like I was missing something. Eventually I just had to put it down. A DNF from me.

The Return was not what I expected, but that was not necessarily a bad thing. It goes in like a suspense/unreliable narrator story in the vein of Ruth Ware or Gillian Flynn. The mystery built to the point that I was sure the payoff could not live up to the suspense. I was wrong. That’s when the story seamlessly took a hard left into the horror genre.

Elise, the narrator, like many modern women, is feeling like she hasn’t lived up to expectations or equaled the successes of her best friends Mae, Molly, and Julie. But when Julie goes missing while hiking, everyone but Elise assumes she is dead. Two years to the day of her disappearance, Julie returns with no memory of the past two years. The friends plan a reunion weekend at a quirky hotel, and it quickly becomes apparent to that Julie’s return is not leading to the fun girls weekend they all anticipated.

The author does a good job developing the characters, especially Elise. There is enough information on Mae and Molly to make them feel real, although they are not as fully-formed as Elise. Most of the information we receive on Julie is through Elise’s eyes, but this adds to the mystery of Julie. The quirky hotel is almost a character in itself, with elaborate, almost tacky, themed rooms and a jolly manager named Patsy. The jokes the friends make about Patsy add a needed levity and makes the foursome more endearing.

I found this book to be a fast read, and hard to put down. I look forward to more from this author.

I’m not usually a fan of horror fiction but I was really intrigued by the premise of this: a woman disappears and reappears 2 years later with no memory of what happened. The first half really held my interest, but the latter half was just so-so. There were no “wow” moments that had me on the edge of my seat and the ending was pretty anticlimactic.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Berkley and Rachel Harrison for my complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Based on the description and cover I was hoping The Return by Rachel Harrison might fill the Riley Sager sized hole in my heart but unfortunately it falls way, way short. Perhaps it is unfair of me to make the comparisons but I do think that it is inviting them. What really doesn't work it that so much of it is just dialogue between 3 people that I never really grew to care about. The premise is so intriguing but the execution just doesn't do t justice.

One day, while hiking in Acadia National Park, Julie goes missing. Two years later, she reappears with no memory of what happened, and something about her is...off. When her long-time best friends Elise, Mae, and Molly decide to take her on a weekend trip to a kitschy hotel in the Catskills, things get creepy real fast, as Elise, Mae, and Molly are forced to confront what has happened to Julie in the two years she was gone.

It's a bonkers and impossible to resist premise, as you're probably not gonna want to put the book down in the desperate hope of finding out what really happened to Julie. I know that was my experience for sure; I sped through this compulsively.

I can understand why the reviews for this are middling; I myself had a point smack dab in the middle where my momentum slowed a bit, as a good amount of this book does feel repetitive. Huge chunks of it are made up of the four friends just chatting with one another, or Elise telling us all their backstories, or them just being worried about Julie but not actually confronting her about anything. I get how that can get frustrating. I didn't mind it so much because I found the characters pretty memorable and well-sketched; normally when I read thrillers/horror novels the characters tend to be your Everyman(woman) type of people who are easily forgettable, but I think that all four of these characters were pretty interesting and distinct, which made reading about them enjoyable! I also found their dynamic really realistic; though they're best friends they don't always get along, but they still care deeply for one another.

The narrative is indeed slow, but it does a spectacular job of building up dread and a creepy atmosphere. There's a very ~haunted hotel~ sort of vibe going on here. There is also a lot of body horror, which I absolutely love; I've been known to literally go up a full star rating for good body horror content. The way the body horror here was written felt so visceral and real; it legitimately creeped me out. There's no shying away from violence either; things are described in graphic detail. It's great. Actually, in general the writing is pretty great, meaty in a way a lot of thrillers aren't.

I thought the reveal and the ending were very, very satisfying, if a little unsurprising. I will definitely be reading this author's next horror novel!