An addictive, thrilling, and delicious read! The Return kept me on the edge of the seat, torn between dread and dangerous curiosity as Elise came closer to the truth about Julie. It's filled with friendship, mystery, and horror. Lots and lots of horror. I freaking loved it.

What a delicious and creepy read! There was such a great building of dread in every scene. By the time we reached the climax, I wasn't sure what would happen. THE RETURN was a phenomenal debut and Rachel Harrison just became an auto-buy author for me!

Hi, guys! Miss me?

Been reading a bunch, of course; lots of stuff to talk about. Also realizing as I open Blogger for the first time in over a year that I'm not sure I remember how to put words together to form thoughts and say...things...with them. So let's see how this goes.

Here and now, I just finished The Return, by Rachel Harrison, which, whatever its literary merit (read: lack thereof), absolutely sucked me and would not let go.

But I don't know if I can properly review it. See, going in, I only knew what the cover copy told me: Julie went missing two years ago, and by now she's presumed dead by everyone except her best friend Elise. So Elise is the only one who's not surprised when Julie turns up on her own front porch with no memory of where she's been for the past two years.

Now Elise and Julie and their other two best friends, Molly and Mae, are getting together at a Catskills hotel for a girls' weekend, to get to know each other again and maybe try to figure out what really happened to Julie.

That was all the info I had. Somehow, I had it painted in my mind as a domestic-thriller type of book, where it's probably the gorgeous and sweet-seeming husband hiding a dark secret, and probably all these women are various flavors of rich suburban white ladies.

I was very wrong.

I don't think it's a spoiler to get more specific, because I've seen other reviewers doing it, but if you would like to go in blind, here's the spoiler-free version:

the book is about a bunch of 20-something post-college women who are not very good at being emotionally mature people. While each one was definitely a trope (Molly wears no makeup and takes no bullshit; Mae is a rich personal stylist in NYC wearing weird, fashionable clothes and always sweet as candy; Elise has a dead end job and can't keep her life together), and they were all seriously not emotionally healthy.

I have rarely felt so much affection and hope for characters just like this. I generally have no use for 20-somethings who are aimless and whiny and not so much bad at self-examination as unaware that it exists. People who are miserable and not trying to fix it; people who are only into appearances and feel hollow; people who are prickly and rude and treat it like a badge of honor. These are my nemeses.

But what the author captures here in such an amazing way is their friendship. The kind of friendship that is most like a good sibling relationship--where you can doubt each other and lie to each other but still love each other, still always come back to each other. A friendship based on living as one organism with four bodies for the crazy, charmed years of college, so you know each other's strengths and weaknesses as well as your own. A friendship where years may pass but your new, older selves click right into place together.

So: portrait of a friendship, not what I expected. Not great literature, but very readable.

Now for the spoilers.

You are warned.

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This is actually a horror novel. There's some haunted house tropes, some standard hotel-in-the-woods stuff, but in the end it comes down to body horror, and BOY HOWDY is it horrifying.

For so much of the book you mostly get hints. Heavy hints--like, it's really damned obvious hints, but the characters don't know they're in a horror novel, so maybe it's just the lighting that makes her hair seem thinner last night than today? Probably that's rusty condensation dripping from that vent, not some...other red stuff. Your suitcase totally didn't move by itself; you're remembering wrong. REALLY IT'S FINE.

Friends, it is not fine. And while, looking back on the book, there are many unexplained weirdnesses, many hints dropped that in the end don't actually go anywhere, by god I don't care. I spent most of the book looking up every half hour saying, "vampire? zombie? werewolf?" I finally came up with "wendigo," which is also not quite right but closer than anything else.

If your idea of fun is sitting in a hotel room with your besties, reality TV in the background, pouring liquor into half-full soda cans and knowing that you are the funniest, snarkiest, people you'll ever meet...and you don't mind the rattling in the walls or the occasional spurting gouts of blood....this one's for you.

Elise, Julie, Mae and Molly have been best friends since college. But as with many such relationships, as time goes by and circumstances change, friends can sometimes see each other less and less.

For this fabulous foursome, that is definitely the case. They all live pretty far apart geographically and it can be tough to stay close over such distances.

Two years ago, the unimaginable happened. Julie disappeared while on a solo hike in Acadia National Park, a 47,000-acre belt of wilderness on the rustic coast of Maine.

Understandably, the women are devastated to have lost one of the their own. Although they have a funeral after a significant amount of time has passed with no sign of Julie, Elise genuinely doesn't believe she is gone.

Lo and behold, it seems Elise was right, at some point after the funeral, Julie reemerges. She just shows up at home one day with no memory of where she has been or what has happened to her.

Everyone is stunned. How can this be?

After Julie has had some time to acclimate to being home, the women decide to gather for a reunion weekend at an up-and-coming boutique hotel in upstate New York.

All traveling separately, Elise, the narrator of our tale, is the first to arrive. She immediately feels disturbed by the eccentric hotel. The whole atmosphere is just so bizarre.

Once all the women have arrived, they joke and laugh and try to make the best of their surroundings.

Luckily for them, they are the type of friends that no matter how much time has passed, they can pick right up like they were never apart.

The more time that goes by however, the more they begin to notice that Julie is different.

There's something very wrong with her. It seems she is falling apart minute by minute. Her odd behavior and appearance; let's not even get into the smell, but who's going to talk to her about it?

They're scared, even though mostly, they won't admit it.

Well, I'll tell you, they weren't the only ones that were scared. This book had moments that legit creeped me out. I'm talking contemplated putting it in the freezer.

There was so much to enjoy about this. I loved, loved, loved the setting. Reminiscent of a locked room mystery as it was slowly revealed to the reader what was going on with Julie.

I also enjoyed the dynamic among the women. I found it to be very relatable as far as relationships go post-college.

The horror element was unique to me. I have never read anything that went in the direction this ultimately went in.

It did give me heavy Jennifer's Body vibes and I wouldn't be surprised if I found out this author had watched that movie more than once.

Although I can see where some people may be let down by the ending, for me it worked. That is how I would have wanted it to end.

At it's heart, this is really a lovely examination of friendship, if you can believe that from a horror novel, but those friendship aspects tugged at my heartstrings.

I have no aspirations to ever write a novel, but if I did, it would pretty much be this book. Take from that what you will.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Publishing, for providing me a copy of this to read and review. It was a fantastic time!

I am really looking forward to reading more from Rachel Harrison.

The premise of this book was very intriguing. Where was Julie for two years and why do her friends act like they are walking on egg shells. Four college friends, who obviously love each other, but also judge on another rather harshly, as friends can, it's a scenario many can relate to.
Setting is the biggest character in this book, the odd tucked away in the mountains inn. Quirky by nature, but made ominous by all the other events. It's like The Shining made pretty, sort of.
The constant push and pull of the friends, should we speak to her, she's not right, has she changed again, became annoying and just like in a horror movie I was yelling at Elise and her friends to get out!
I didn't like the ending to this book at all. There is no rational answer and it's more mystical or magical realism, themes I don't usually like.

Upon first glance The Return checked all the boxes for me. An odd and creepy hotel, a missing woman, some paranormal suspense and a gothic/ atmospheric vibe. I’m definitely here for it!Unfortunately though, it didn’t quite work out for me.

I have two main qualms with the book. First is the pacing- the plot felt stagnant for a good chunk of the book, and then the last hundred or so pages felt rushed. Second, the thriller/horror/ paranormal aspect of the book could have been better developed. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but it just felt like an after thought to me.

Even though it didn’t work out for me, I think many people will enjoy this book, and I still think it’s worth a read.

*Thanks to the publisher for providing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review

Julie, Elise, Molly, and Mae have all been friends since college. Julie has gone missing, and she is presumed dead. Two years later, Julie returns. The women decide to meet up at a remote and kitschy hotel. When Julie arrives at the hotel, it's clear she is not the same person she was two years earlier.

Told from Elise's point of view. She is the closest to Julie, and the one tasked with finding out what happened to her. Unfortunately, Julie has no memory of the past two years. A enjoyable group of characters. I especially enjoyed the strong female friendships.

A creepy horror novel. The hotel is unusual, but didn't add the eerie atmosphere I was hoping for. Mysterious and entertaining.

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Over the top, campy, cheesy, gruesome, crazy, entertaining. This book was like a bad horror movie that you watch over and over and over again because you are just so Hooked. SO once upon a time there were four friends Elise, Mae, Molly, and Julie. The girls met in college and formed an unbreakable bond. When Julie goes missing they are all devastated, where is their Bestie? A year after Julie goes missing her husband Tristan holds a memorial, but Elise is not convinced that Julie is dead. Been two years to the day after Julie goes missing she shows up again on the porch swing wearing the same clothes she went missing in. Julie seems to have come out of this mostly unscathed but she cannot remember where she was. The besties are all so excited and plan a girls weekend at a Hotel in the Catskills. What follows is a very interesting tale. Is the hotel haunted? Is Julie possessed? Has Elise gone crazy?

This book is not going to work for everybody. It is not a thriller this is horror with a campy vibe. Some parts were a little gruesome, some parts were a little unbelievable, and a lot of parts were over the top. You may never look at meat the same way again. A tacky hotel, a group of friends, and things going bump in the night. I may never figure out if I liked this book or not, but I do know it kept me entertained from cover to cover.

This book in emojis 😱 🥩 🦷 🥩 👭 🥩 🐷

*** Big thank you to Berkley for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

What happens when four women become friends? They pair off. So what is Elise to do when her best friend, Julie, goes missing while hiking? She believes Julie is returning—even over two years later. And then, joyously, Julie returns. But The Return is not what Elise, or anyone, expected.

Mae, Molly, Julie, and our narrator, Elise, meet after Julie’s return in a creepy rural hotel. Not since The Shining and Psycho has anything good ever happened in a creepy rural hotel.

While the beginning of The Return was slow and belabored the point about Elise and Julie’s similarities, stick it out to the thrilling conclusion. I love genre mashups. This one had a bit of an issue with making a smooth transition into horror and back again to thriller. It was a bumpy ride but one I still recommend for someone missing early Stephen King. 3 stars.

Thanks to Berkley Books, Edelweiss+, and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to @berkleypub & @netgalley for my copy of this book for review.
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When Julie goes missing on a solo hiking trip her best friend Elise is the only one who believes she’ll turn up. Elise just knows Julie isn’t gone forever.
Elise still can’t help being a little surprised when Julie shows back up at home on the 2 year anniversary of her going missing with no memory of where she’s been.
When Julie, Elise, and their two best friends from college can finally reunite for a girls weekend they are all thrilled until Julie walks in.
Something is just not right with Julie.....
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This was SUCH a creepy book. I got goose bumps several times reading it.
I think it’s actually a super interesting look at the way friendships change as you age from your early twenties.
The book does not take lot to get into the creepy at all, I was immediately drawn in.
The vibe at the hotel they were staying at makes a perfect setting for a scary story.
Also our main character Elise was such a relatable narrator. She is all your most insecure thoughts personified.
In the end though, I wanted more.
Most of the action happens off page, so by the time I got to the ending I felt like all the build up kinda fizzled. Also while we do get an explanation of what is happening I still have so many questions.
It’s kind of hard to say what my issues were without giving spoilers. If you’ve read this one message me so we can discuss.
I am not going to say I didn’t enjoy this one over all, because I did! The ending just didn’t feel like it fit with the rest of the book for me.

I've been reading thrillers for the past few years, but was pretty excited to return to my true love, horror! It's gotta be hard to write a good horror novel, just like it's hard to make a truly scary horror movie. While this is not a perfect book, it definitely gave me the chills I was looking for and kept me turning pages! The premise is simple. Four friends, scattered across the country, have tried very hard to keep in touch. One of them, Julie, gets married, but very soon after, disappears. Like most foursomes of friends, their are usually pairs that are closer, and Elise is Julie's other half. She never believes she's dead, even after two years and a memorial service. But then one day, Julie's back! The foursome reunites at a posh new hotel for a weekend of fun. Julie can't remember anything about her two years, and the three bicker about whether or not to talk to her about it and try to get details. As the weekend wars on, though, strange things begin to happen, and it's clear there's something not quite right about Julie. What I loved about this book was the relationship between the girls and the very real squabbles and loving moments they have. I think it's a cool foil to the horror that's going on in the background. I did think it could have been longer and more fleshed out--I would have loved to have a few red herrings thrown in to make the plot move a little faster. Overall, though, I really enjoyed this story, and would definitely read another by this author.e

4.5 stars

This was one of my highly-anticipated 2020 reads! That eye-catching cover and intriguing synopsis grabbed me as soon as I first heard of this book. I was beyond excited to receive an e-ARC from the publisher and couldn’t wait to dive into this one.

I loved this book! It was such an interesting look at friendship and shared history, and I loved the dynamic among the group of four. The mystery itself behind Julie’s disappearance and then reappearance had a twist that I hadn’t anticipated from the synopsis, and I think readers are split on whether they liked that element of the story or not, but I was definitely the target reader for this kind of book!

This was a really quick read for me because I was pulled in by the strangeness of everything, from the hotel to its staff to Julie’s behaviour, and everything seemed just ‘off’ enough to create an unsettling atmosphere that only became more pronounced as I read. I didn’t want to put this book down as soon as I started. And while I do feel like things were a bit rushed in the end, given all the buildup, I truly enjoyed this book.

It was one of the few things I’ve been able to read and properly lose myself in and forget, temporarily, about what’s going on in the world right now. The Return is one of my favourite reads so far this year – highly recommended!

So much potential, a bit dissapointing execution. Julie disapears while hiking. Her husband and her three best friends assume she's dead, they have a funeral. All good and dandy, till 2 years after disappearing she manifests herself on the porch of her home unharmed. But not unchanged. These closest people start noticing small changes in Julie, but noone wants to dig deep and find out what has happened to her or why she's changing.

The four friends decide to go on a girls trip, to rekindle their friendship and heal some wounds that the two year disappearance made. They choose a newly and weirdly decorated hotel, that should be the IT place to visit, in some woods. What could have been an ultimate girls weekend, ends up being weird. (Really the only word I could think of).

The four friends, even though in their 30s were kind of annoying. All so different, and eccentric, but not that special. Their bickering and unrealistic way of going around each other's problems in their conversations just seemed like a surface level friendship where I know the author wanted to portray something deeper. They keep tip toeing around the main issue - which is Julie and her deathly looks.

The location was off too. I understand there was some history explained of the house, and the fact that it's old. And maybe that was supposed to bring up the creep factor. Like hey, this is a weirdly styled and renovated old mansion, so there might be some ghosties around. It didn't add to the scare factor that I wish this would have.

This book did have its moments of creepy and gory and discussing. The supernatural factor was more of a fantasy. It felt like something made up that was dragged out of the deep tunnels in the Earth.

All in all it was a fast read, but really dragged out. I kept waiting on this crash of the characters and when it happened it didn't really surprise me. Interesting take on a horror. But not chill inducing enough for me.

The Return by Rachel Harrison reminded me a lot of an Amy Lukavics novel, which I always like but they run pretty middle-of-the-road for me. Since I was expecting horror I thought this would be terrifying but really it is just more chilling and a little gross!

A lot of the book is conversations between Elise, Molly, and Mae trying to figure out what is going on with their friend Julie who went missing for two years and can't remember what happened. I loved the female friendships and relationships in the book, but I think they also distracted from the horror aspect of the novel and it did take a while for the truly creepy things to happen. The setting was pretty fantastic though and I promise you, The Return does get a little nasty towards the end and it's definitely got a creepy vibe going for it.

The Return wasn't really what I was expecting, and I would recommend it to readers that want to get into the horror genre but want to start with something creepy rather than full blow scary. I was much more scared by The Winter People (a Jennifer McMahon novel) and I read this at night with no problem. It's gross yes, but definitely on the milder side for horror and it had a young adult feel to me. The writing was solid though and it was a very quick, readable book. A good debut overall and I will for sure be reading Harrison's next book!

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy of this book, all opinions and thoughts are my own.

I had serious trouble with this book's writing style and timeline. I was really excited to read this book, the premise seemed really interesting and spooky, but for the most part it did not keep my interest at all. Unfortunately, I had to DNF it.

I had high hopes for this book...everything about it sounded like it was my kind of book! Unfortunately...it didn't pan out that way. I didn't really like any of the characters...they didn't really pop on the page, and honestly, nothing set them apart, either. They all sounded alike, so often, I had to go back to make sure who was who. That also had something to do with the writing, too, which wasn't great. It also took way too long to get to the horror aspect of the story, and, by the time it got there...it was too little, too late, and not at all satisfactorily resolved. Some may like this, but I won't be handselling it to my customers, unfortunately.

Elise's best friend Julie went missing for two years. Their other best friends Molly and Mae were certain she was dead. They had a funeral. And then Julie came back with no memory of the time she was gone. To try to get life back to normal, the four women decide to go on a girls trip to a trippy boutique hotel in the Catskills. But when they all get there and see Julie for the first time they realize something is very very wrong. And yet, no one can bring themselves to talk to Julie about it, not even Elise. Not until it's too late.

This was an amazing book! Scary and thrilling with well crafted characters. It was a really great examination of female friendship, especially with groups of women who have known each other for a long time. The history you bring up and the history you agree to forget. The wrongs and judgements done to each other that can build up. The resentment but also the deep love. The Return nailed it. I really connected with a lot of the interpersonal situations this group of women find themselves in. The terrifying monster(s) and uncanny hotel setting are just bonuses.

I really loved The Return and recommend it to anyone who enjoys books about female friendship, Jennifer's Body, and folk horror (yup, there's a bit of that in there lol).

I loved this book! It's a quick paced, feminist horror story soaked with tension.

Two years after Julie mysteriously vanishes, she's returned with no memory of her time away. Her three best friends arrange a weekend reunion, but Elise is the closest to Jennifer. They have a sister-vibe, and Jennifer's character acts as a mirror to Elise's lack of confidence and ambition. The dynamic between these two keep the story propelling forward as gore and haunts pepper the pages. As time advances, suspicion grows. Is Jennifer being truthful? Does she really not remember two years of her life? Or is something nefarious happening behind closed doors?

I loved the largely female cast and the creepy hotel where they spend their weekend get away. I wish the unique themed hotel had played a larger role in the story, only because it was such a fun setting. Each room was over-the-top decor grounded to a specific quirky styling. I hoped this element would play into the overall plot, but sadly it doesn't. While I wished for the paranormal activities to come alive in through eccentric decorations, the setting remained rather static. The weekend getaway could have been anywhere. Why spend so much time setting up this incredible unique hotel only to have it play no real role?

The book's setting aside, I loved the horror elements. There's a steady build up to the grand reveal, which played in my mind like a nightmare coming to life. The reason for her disappearance was interesting and pecular, and there is a great line (I'm sorry I can't give the exact quote. I had the e-copy and didn't highlight it) that offers a sad realistic truth: Sometimes there's a reason for bad things happening to women, and sometimes there's no reason at all.

The heart of this story is sisterhood and how far two women would go to remain close. There's a lot of dialogue,which I enjoy, and a creepy bloody ending that satisfies my inner horror genre lover. I highly recommend.

Happy Pub Day to The Return by Rachel Harrison! WOW, this one was good!

What do you do when your best friend goes only to return 2 years to the day? Celebrate right!? Well what if they return and they are not the same? Should Elise love Julie no matter who-or what-she is?

Fantastic book, highly recommend
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars

Elise, Julie, Molly, and Mae have been best friends since college and their strong bond has kept them close despite the physical distances between them since then. Word that Julie is missing after a hike in Acadia National Park sends shockwaves through their friendship. Molly and Mae are ready to move on, but Elise can’t believe it, not even after the funeral is held. Now, two years later Julie has inexplicably returned, and the group of friends has a getaway planned at the Red Honey Inn. All is not well, however, as Julie has changed- and not for the better.

THE RETURN is a mishmash of genres as the first half reads more like a women’s fiction novel with a suspense twist. Elise is our narrator through this tale, as she opens up about both her past history of family issues and relationship failings. Meanwhile, she notices odd quirks about the “new” Julie, such as Julie being a vegan before the disappearance, but now eating meat. I’m not a huge reader of women’s fiction but even I started to become enthralled by the sheer audacity of some of Elise’s past exploits. I started to question Elise’s reliability as a narrator and that’s a reading trope (the unreliable narrator) that fascinates me.

And what can I say about the Red Honey Inn except it may be the creepiest hotel I’ve ever read about- and that’s saying a lot as THE SHINING featured a creepy hotel. Rachel Harrison does a magnificent job at incorporating details into the room descriptions to build the atmosphere. After all, I’m still haunted by the bloodred bathroom with the black raven soap dispenser!

Although billed as a combination of suspense and science fiction, I think the level of goriness near the end of THE RETURN is more on the level of horror. I like horror as a genre as I grew up on Stephen King and Dean Koontz, but the ending of THE RETURN leaves too many questions unanswered in all the gore. Perhaps readers less icked out by the gore will better appreciate the conclusion of THE RETURN.
THE RETURN is a unique novel that will evoke strong opinions by readers. Some will love what Rachel Harrison has done while others will question the horror twist. THE RETURN is the type of book you have to read for yourself as the reading journey is definitely an unusual experience.

*review is in the editing queue at Fresh Fiction*