Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Return by Rachel Harrison

10 reviews

randilion28's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I would rate this a 4 star simply because I haven't read anything like it before. It was a quick and easy read. It is really a story of friendships and how beautiful and tough to navigate they are. One of four friends goes missing for two years and shows up without remembering the last two years, so she says, and her friends notice she isn't the same friend they lost two years ago, even though she has a lot of the same qualities, they know something is wrong. The only complaint I have is when you find out what happened to her, they just don't give enough of an explanation and you're left thinking, well WTF. Maybe that was on purpose? It is set in October so definitely a fun read for this month, and again, it has plot that I've never read before so I thoroughly enjoyed it minus the details in the end. If you want something quick, easy to read about friendships and monsters - definitely recommend picking this up. 

Also, because I didn't recognize her name at first, this author wrote "Such Sharp Teeth" and I've read great things about it and have had it on my TBR for a while now. Enjoy! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

aparker89's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

freemakd's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Eating disorder, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

wheresminnie's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Such a different book from what I usually go for, but loved it! Super fast paced and just the right side of supernatural.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about the ending when it became apparent that Elise got away, but found myself reflecting afterward about the story being something of a metaphor for toxic friendships that have run their course.

I think I’ll be thinking of this book for a while!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gore, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

cursivewolf's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

actually had me weeping.
grief and guilt are both monsters

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Cancer and Eating disorder

livlamentloathe's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I think this story got ahead of itself. It told more than it showed. And I don’t even quite understand what happened? Was it paranormal? Supernatural? What? I’m unsure. It felt on the cusp of something but kept eating away at odd backstories instead of revealing the truth. Very repetitive. I wanted it to be much more than it was.

And I set myself up for that too. I was trying to predict the twist. In actuality, there wasn’t enough there. A lot of hyped up secrets only for them to fall flat. A lot of build up only to blow away in the wind. And it was so close to queer but was not, my biggest disappointment of all. Don’t hope for surprise lesbians, you will be disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Blood

Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Infidelity, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cancer and Car accident

ktdakotareads's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Grief, Stalking, and Abandonment

traa's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Vomit, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Minor: Bullying, Racism, and Xenophobia

lovesit1892's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book exceeded all of my expectations. After being drawn to the neon pink cover at B&N, I was surprised to read that the synopsis sounded similar to one of my favorite movies, Jennifer's Body, so I couldn't resist. I'm usually more of a gothic horror girl than contemporary horror, so I went into this book not knowing how much I would like it, but it blew me away. It is like Jennifer's Body, but somehow even more eerie.

There was a line in this book that gave me literal chills, and as a ghosty, ghouly, macabre-loving weirdo, that never happens to me while reading books. The small, blink-and-you'll-miss-them details that give a sense of something being "off" were so subtle and perfectly placed that it kept the creeping dread slowly escalating throughout the entire book. The setting felt so realistic--from

the try-hard, trendy/creepy boutique hotel to the dreary New England weather--that it was easy to imagine all of the absolutely unhinged occurrences actually happening.

I don't normally like dialogue driven books, especially centering around a young adult friend group like this one (the friendship dynamic usually feels forced and cheesy), but Harrison does a superb job of showcasing the individual voice and personality of each character. She really captures the emotions and growing pains that these women go through while navigating their friend's disappearance and subsequent "return," and the strain that it puts on their friendships. This is a great narrative on grief, friendship, growing pains, and social dynamics told through the lens of contemporary horror. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Cancer, Stalking, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

little102red's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-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: Infidelity, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail