The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson Also by this author: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, Good Girl, Bad Blood (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #2), As Good As Dead (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #3)
Published by Delacorte Press on April 2, 2024
Genres: Mystery, Young Adult
Pages: 441 •Format: E-Book •Source: Overdrive
Goodreads
Eighteen-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on.
But the case is dredged up from the past when the Price family agrees to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.
Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And—could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . .
I was a huge huge fan of Jackson’s debut novel, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, and overall felt it was a very strong trilogy. I know she’s put a few books out since then, but this is the first I picked up since the original trilogy, and I was excited! I’ve been wanting to start reading more thrillers as the end of summer looms and we transition into fall up here in the Northern Hemisphere, and what better way to kick off my thriller TBR than with a tried and true author?
Turns out I was wrong.
I honestly can’t tell you WHAT happened for me here. I’m thinking maybe I need to go back and reread AGGGTM because not only did the show SUPER underwhelm me (a story for another post…) but this new book from Jackson just didn’t hold my interest either. While there were certainly moments that captured my attention (e.g., the final reveal/climax at the end, which I got through quite quickly) I just didn’t feel the drive to pick up the book and re-immerse myself in the mystery; there wasn’t a sense of urgency for me as a reader. I think this is due to a few things:
1) Unlikable Protagonist: Look, not every protagonist has to be “likable.” In fact, it can even work BETTER for the mystery/thriller genre when they’re not. But Bel was just over the top. Rude, cringey, angsty teen stuff. And sure, as the novel progresses it makes more sense (hello, your mother disappearing when you’re like a year and a half old and you were there but can’t remember anything is going to traumatize anyone) but her attitude of “I am rude and nasty and push people away before they can leave me because everybody leaves” was too heavy handed- it was giving CW Peyton from One Tree Hill vibes (IYKYK) without any redeeming qualities.
2) Unnecessary “Almost” Romance: I’ll admit I’ve been out of the loop with non-romance books for a few years now, BUT NOT EVERY YA BOOK NEEDS A ROMANCE IN IT. Seriously especially when the topic is this serious???? The romance in this book felt completely pointless too because it was this whisper of a thing in the background that ended up going NOWHERE by the end of the book and I’m like can y’all not try to solve a crime without ~hormones~ getting in the way? (Can you tell I am a curmudgeon in my 30s lol). I just felt like it added NOTHING to the story and Bel and Ash could have been 100% platonic and achieved the same outcome.
3) Lack of “Mixed Media” Format: Ok so this is not something I NEED when reading a mystery/thriller, but I’m wondering if it’s why AGGGTM worked so well for me? I’m probably scraping the bottom of the barrel here but I’m truly bamboozled as to why I loved that trilogy so much and this fell so so flat for me. I do love books that include snippets of interviews, articles, etc and Pip had her whole podcast angle and maybe if this book had some of those elements I would’ve been less bored?
In terms of the overall mystery, it was an intriguing premise and the twist wasn’t one I necessarily “expected,” hence the pace picking up at the end of the book once everything started coming together. And it actually had a resolution, which I am happy about because I feel like it’s been super trendy lately for mysteries to end on an ambiguous note (which I HATE because EXCUSE ME I just invested hours of my life and I don’t get clear answers???)
Overall: A letdown, if I’m being honest. I feel so bad saying that since I loved the author’s first trilogy but this one really wasn’t for me.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- Goodreads Challenge 2024
Leave a Reply