Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

The Return by Rachel Harrison

8 reviews

randilion28's review

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

cursivewolf's review

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

traa's review

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

cjblates's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cancer and Car accident

f18's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I should have really enjoyed this but the last-act infodump really drug it down for me and everything after had zero tension or intrigue.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Sexual content, Grief, and Car accident

teacher/student relationship, a LOT of tooth trauma

directorpurry's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Infidelity and Vomit

Minor: Cancer and Death of parent

sarahholliday's review

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

I've only recently realized how much I enjoy horror stories, and novels like The Return are a huge part of that. 

Harrison manages to make the fears and anxieties that plague all twenty-something women--evolving friendships, the search for identity, financial insecurity--into tangible, terrifying horrors. 

I would have loved to catch more glimpses of the girls' group dynamic before Julie disappeared, and I wish there had been more explanation regarding the strange incidents at the hotel, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed this feminist horror and will be recommending it to anyone looking for a good jump scare!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, Murder, and Alcohol