The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson Genres: Young Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by Delacorte Press on April 2, 2024
Also by this author: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, Good Girl, Bad Blood, As Good As Dead , Kill Joy
Format: Audio/Physical (448 pages) • Source: Purchased, Spotify Audiobooks
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A new true-crime fueled mystery thriller about a girl determined to uncover the shocking truth about her missing mother while filming a documentary on the unsolved case.
Lights. Camera. Lies.
18-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 dragged up from the past when the Price family agree 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 . . .
From world-renowned author Holly Jackson comes a mind-blowing masterpiece about one girl’s search for the truth, and the terror in finding out who your family really is.
I never got around to reading Jackson’s previous release after the AGGGTM series but there was something about this book that called to me. I think it’s because I only listen to true crime podcasts centered around missing people and unsolved cases. I always thought about how insane it would be to have someone who was missing for so long, presumed dead, turn up VERY much alive.
That’s the basis for this story – Bel Price has always assumed that her mom was kidnapped (right from the car they were in together when she was two years old) by an evil stranger and murdered. Her case became one of the more popular ones in New Hampshire and her family was in the middle of filming a documentary when the unthinkable happened… Rachel Price reappeared.
I didn’t love Bel as a character – she was definitely prickly and jaded, which was fine, but just didn’t make for the most fun main character POV. There were plenty of times where she annoyed me (ex: asking someone to explain themselves and then repeatedly interrupting them so they couldn’t get a word in). There was an unnecessary romance that I wish wasn’t in there – I think it made the book longer than it needed to be and could have been tighter without it.
On that subject – it IS very long for a mystery/thriller but I wasn’t able to put this down. I read it so quickly and used up a lot of my Spotify audiobook listening hours to get it done whenever I had a free moment. While I don’t think it was as twisty near the end as I expected, I didn’t predict any of the main mystery or whodunnit.
This was a very memorable book and I will continue to preorder all of Jackson’s books forever. I’m glad I still have another one of her books in my back pocket. I also know that rereading AGGGTM by audio will happen in the next few years too.
Funny Story by Emily Henry Genres: Adult, Contemporary
Published by Berkley on April 23, 2024
Also by this author: Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, Book Lovers, Happy Place
Format: Audio/Physical (400 pages) • Source: Purchased, Spotify Audiobooks
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A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common.
Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.
Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?
But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?
I always wonder if there will be an Emily Henry book that isn’t a total win for me. Maybe someday she’ll write a stinker but today is not that day!
This book follows Daphne and Miles, unexpected roommates with very different personalities. Daphne’s fiance decides during his bachelor party trip that he’s actually in love with his longtime best friend, and decides to leave Daphne. His new girlfriend also unceremoniously dumps her longtime boyfriend Miles. Living with your ex’s new fiance’s ex-boyfriend sounds complicated but it works for both of them… until they get the invite to the wedding. Enter fake dating!
I don’t know if this is the right word but this book felt a little quieter than her other books? I feel like there was a lot of cute “getting to know you” without heavy drama. Like with all of her stories, there was a full cast of other characters, strong friendships, family feels and complicated dynamics, and a cute setting. I love that Daphne was a librarian for obvious bookish reasons as well. She’s starting over in a new place without the dude she moved to the town for so there’s a lot of personal growth for her throughout the book and I really liked it. Miles was a fun MMC – he had a good personality and I really liked that there were more complicated feelings under the surface.
Her books always have unique premises, IMO, so they never feel formulaic – but I’ll say that all of her main characters have a lot of wit and excellent banter. I’m not sick of it yet and it remains so fun to read for me. I can see how others criticize the dialogue (is it realistic? Not sure) but I don’t care.
All in all, this is a top favorite for me. I just can’t think of any reason to give it less than five stars.
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