The Return by Rachel Harrison - Review

The Return has been described as 'Sex and the City meets The Shining' and I agree with that statement.

The story consists of four characters. Four women; Julie, Elise, Molly and Mae. Julie goes missing but two years later, she comes back. But, she's different and can't remember anything that happened to her during her two year absence. To get the group close again after being apart for so long, they plan a trip to the eccentric and remote Red Honey Inn.

The book starts out very fast paced, to me it felt rushed. At first there isn't much context to who the characters actually are and their backgrounds. You find out on the first sentence that Julie has gone missing and then thirty pages later she's back. Julie isn't missing long in the book. They girls head off to the Red Honey Inn fast and the majority of the book is set there.

I thought the attention to detail with how the author described things was great, the writing really painted a clear picture at certain times and the inner monologue of Elise, who is the books point of view, was entertaining.

Also, the interaction with the four women was entertaining too. You see four women trying to navigate life, comparing themselves to each other, loving each other. It did have a Sex and the City vibe to it which I loved.

But, overall, I feel like the book is pretty boring. 200 pages in I found myself still waiting for something to completely capture me and make me excited to keep reading.

There is a horror element in the story towards the end, some gory scenes, some chilling moments. I haven't read anything like this book before, especially the latter part of the book.

This book wasn't for me, I'm not a fan of thrillers, but i'm positive thriller lovers will, well.. love this book!