Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

160 reviews

jenniferesque's review against another edition

mysterious medium-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

3.0

A generous 3 stars from me. By the end of the book I was rolling my eyes at the repetitive language and how forced and shallow some of the characters actions/reactions felt. There are some decent twists but nothing thrilling

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body shaming, Terminal illness, and Stalking

colorful_lulu's review against another edition

emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

It was slow until 2/3 of the book. It had a very interesting concept it was just not paced as well as it could’ve been. I thought the way Holly Jackson described details, or rather which detailed she pointed out and which she omitted, was really cool. The romance plot line confused the hell out of me. The kiss scene was added in so randomly in the most unrealistic and illogical point of the scene.

The reason why they ended up kissing was because they were standing closely when placing the camera on the bookshelf but Rachel found it immediately so what’s the point of putting them in that situation?

I get that the romance subplot adds to the theme but it was so random

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Stalking, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Infertility and Pregnancy

charlee_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I have no words. Just. Wow…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

aseel_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

I enjoyed the plot twist but there were too many events post the plot reveal, which ruined the pacing at the end 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Stalking, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Dementia

amandab0514's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

chapters_and_pages's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I love a good/mystery thriller, and I’ve enjoyed all of Holly Jackson’s previous books (besides the second half of As Good as Dead, that’s a whole different story…) so I was really excited to jump into The Reappearance of Rachel Price, and it did not disappoint!

Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price disappeared from her car, leaving her two year old daughter, Bel, alone on the side of a road. Now eighteen, Bel just wants to move on, she’s accepted that Rachel most likely dead - and any answers died with her. The last thing Bel wants to do is take part in a documentary of her mother’s disappearance, but family first. All of a sudden, Rachel reappears, but Bel can’t help but think that there is more to her story than she is telling…

I love mysteries and this was a really good one, especially as a YA mystery/thriller. I really liked Bel’s character, she was very reminiscent of Pip, from Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, in regards to her mystery solving skills, however she was a completely unique character in comparison. Oftentimes, I think that when an author writes multiple books within the same genre, it can be easy to make the main characters a little too similar, but this was definitely not the case here. I loved Bel’s snarky and sarcastic attitude. 

I also really enjoyed both Carter’s and Ash’s characters, and the relationships they had with Bel. Ash and Bel’s relationship during their investigation was, again, reminiscent of Pip and Ravi (from AGGGTM), while still being very different. 

In terms of the storyline and the big twists, I will say, I didn’t really have any expectations in mind as I was reading. I read this book over two sessions, quite quickly, so I don’t think I really had much chance to think about theories before hand, and I always love when that happens!

I have seen quite a few negative reviews, so I was a little apprehensive going into it. However, I think this is one of those cases where people are expecting the book to be almost a copy of a previous book. And while this book definitely had a few minor things in common with AGGGTM (such as a mystery to solve and an investigation between love interests), The Reappearance of Rachel Price was completely different which is what I wanted! At the end of the day, if I wanted something exactly like A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, I’d just reread that book…

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I look forward to Holly Jackson’s next release!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Dementia, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

kiki870's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

 The writing is so immersive, bringing the reader immediately into Bel's world. There was such an atmosphere of suspense, which really lent itself to the storyline. There were so many red herrings, and I fell for all of them. I appreciate a story that can take me by surprise, and this one definitely did that with its twists and turns! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

guessgreenleaf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Gaslighting

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Stalking, and Death of parent

noodletime's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed the plot and the ending, I thought the dialogue and characterization was a bit too on the nose at times, like it felt kinda unsubtle and obvious 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

kaylee_kale's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

Minor: Grief, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

....HOLY SHIT