Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - The Reappearance of Rachel Price

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

68 reviews

jessw17's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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katharinaamaliae's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

I've thought Holly Jackson is maybe a little bit overrated since I read agggtm, but since I liked Five Survive slightly more, I wanted to give her one last chance. It wasn't worth it. Holly Jackson once again managed to write an entirely unlikeable and clichee female main character with the personality of a brick wall, whose only character traits were being "mean" which felt entirely forced and wannabe edgy and a fear of abandonment because her mom supposedly left her when she was a child. Groundbreaking. Everytime the main character mentioned "pushing people away because they'd leave her anyway" (approximately every 10 pages) I felt like I was reading 2014 emo tumblr posts. And I don't even want to start with the mmc and love interest. He felt like a recycled version of Ravi from agggtm and since he was popular on booktok Holly Jackson decided to write a knockoff and not even a good one. Everytime she started describing his outfits I wanted to cry. I could honestly only imagine him as a 10 year old child because there's just no way. Giving a character ugly clothes doesn't make them more interesting, sorry. The plottwist was maybe slightly surprising at best

but if I'm being honest, I suspected the dad from the beginning probably because Holly Jackson has a habit of making a character the mc trusts the villian in the end and it's getting old.

The ending might've been the worst part because it was SO unbelievable and unrealistic. One last thing that made me want to throw the book out of the window were the constant pop culture refrences. Again totally forced and millenial like. Who told authors they need to do that to be "relatable" or "modern". You don't, please stop. Everytime I see the word "Tik Tok" in a book it makes me want to scratch my eyes out and set the it on fire. No offense. In retrospect: Save your time, don't read this book.

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hphilips's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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evelina1756's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this book so much, it’s by far my new favourite book. The plot twist shocked me for once as usually I can’t tell what the plot twists are, this book was refreshing for me. There was lots of character development, and the further I read the more I couldn’t put the book down. I definitely will reread this book.

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afrenette's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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kelseyr713's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I couldn't put this down. There's quite a bit of suspension of disbelief, especially in the resolution, but it's a wild ride. I liked Bel and how prickly she was; a bit different than the typically YA protagonist. The framing of the documentary was also an interesting angle and led to some unique situations. I love Holly Jackson and will read everything she writes!

I also liked the use of a late night McDonalds trip as a little nod to As Good as Dead.

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mikathereviewer's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Summary of my review: Great character depth (no flat protagonists), great humour and funny temperament of Bel, most plot twists were shocking, awesome ending, 1 plot twist was obvious, unnecessary romance parts, 1 logic mistake, used all the time real platforms, work titles, etc. not showing creativity

‘“I don’t know.”
Those three little words Bel knew better than most. Both the truth and a blockade, to hide behind when you needed it. But now that she was on the other side of those words, she finally saw why it drove people mad.’

I LOVE the temperament and humour of Bel. Even though the book is supoosed to be sad and more on the emotional side, I couldn't but catch the little jokes and actually chuckle. Especially when she gets annoyed and add some insults out of nowhere that leave the room silent.

Even though I didn't like that her attidue sometimes came across as too bitchy, I think that it was done on purpose as we know that she never wanted to be filmed in the first place and surely got annoyed at some point being asked about her mum while she always said 'I don't know' or 'I was too young to remember anything that happened'. So I totally get her. Would also be pissed off at some point when people would ask me the same questions all the time and I always answer the same but they don't stop asking. Especially as she never really knew her mum.

And from what we get to know later, she didn't even want to be like her. Surely 'cause she never felt any stronge emotions to her except when she was still a baby and she is (I think at least) mad that she left her in the car as she thinks that she left her and didn't tragically passed away or something really bad happened to her. So she is upset about her, the situation and don't want to be like her therefore.

But that's also what I like. Maybe she seems a bit too rude sometimes, but that just shows her true feelings and her way of copying with the loss of her mother and the way everyone kinda pressures her to remember to what exactly happened.
Scene that shows that:
“I wonder, does being here in these exact same conditions, does it spark anything in your memory? Any images, feelings?”
“Yes, now you mention it, I’ve just suddenly remembered everything and solved the entire case, can you believe it? What a plot twist.”

Maybe I misinterpret it, but her way of leaving people first could be a copying mechanism for her, when her mum left her as she doesn't want to be left first ever again so she leaves people first before it ever happens to her again. Which can and also did as we see in the book destroyed any kinds of relationships she had as she only had her dad left every time. But that whole copying and her attitude and stuff give so much depth to that character that I really think she's three-dimensional.

Now we come to the plot twist. As some might know me, I usually get/know them before it's revealed, but I still make a difference between how hard it was to find out and if it was obvious or not. And I can only say; 1 was obvious and the other 2 weren't.

The obvious one: Charlie Price being evil (as he was suspected from the start all the time, you didn't need strong brain power to just say the same)
The one that wasn't obvious: The grandfather being also involved in it (I guessed it, but still was surprising as it wasn't very obvious and needed time to get to)
And that Carter wasn't the cousin, but Bel's sister.

I mean, I knew the plot twists yes (only got 2 of 3 right as the last plot twist was something I never payed close attention) but I know lots of thriller so I know the pattern and the foreshadowing, but honestly if you aren't thinking about it as much as I do and investigate and read between lines as excessively as I did, you would be good to go with a surprise (at least for 2 of the plot twists). I loved the twists, they were interesting to see revealed!

Only thing I didn't get correct was that it was in a truck, as I thought for whatever reason that it was in a basement.
I also never got the idea of thinking about Carter a lot as I got a different idea with the baby sock, so that was actually surprising.
I thought when the message said WE are being kept by Patrick Price that it was someone but Carter. I thought someone we don't know, just adding to the shock effect of knowing it wasn't just one he kept.

The ending was fire!!!
Like what happened?
Was that even a good idea??

I'm a bit disappointed that the book only used real platform names, real film names, etc. and didn't make one up or something. I think it shows more creativity if one makes one up and doesn't use existing ones.

I didn't care AT ALL about that mini love of this book. Unnecessary. Just wanted to read some thriller and not some romance, that also felt rushed as it only started in chapter 30.

One thing I never understood in this book was how Rachael wasn't just allowed to disappear with Bel, as she WOULD be safe from Charlie, so why did the grandfather take such measures instead of just letting her leave for good? I know he didn't know she was trying to disappear, but why did Rachael never mention it to get free?

At the end of the book there is a logic mistake. You turn your phone off to not be traced back, but it only works BEFORE you go to the place you don't want to be traced back. Since they were there already it would in real life logic would be too late.

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All books mentioned in this book:
1. The Memory Thief
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3. Bring up the Bodies
4. Behind Closed Doors
5. Gone Girl
6. Station Eleven
7. The Vanishing Half
8. The Guest List
9. The Green Mile by Stephen King
10. The Midnight Library
11. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
12. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
13. Game Of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
14. Malibu Rising
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Read: 1.-2. August 2024
Review written: 2. August 2024

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