The Return by Rachel Harrison (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"An edgy and haunting debut novel about a group of friends who reunite after one of them has returned from a mysterious two-year disappearance.

Julie is missing, and the missing don't often return. But Elise knows Julie better than anyone, and she feels in her bones that her best friend is out there, and that one day she'll come back. She's right. Two years to the day that Julie went missing, she reappears with no memory of where she's been or what happened to her."

My Thoughts:

The Return was a creepy and atmospheric read that I really enjoyed!  One of the things that I enjoyed the most about this book was the feeling of wrongness that was present throughout the entire book.  It was in the characters, the hotel where they were staying at, their history with one another....everything felt just slightly off and wrong.  It made for a very sinister and creepy feeling that was present the entire time while I was reading this one.  For me, it was like the characters could sense this feeling of wrongness as well even when they were doing their best to ignore it and pretend everything was okay.  I've seen some reviews that didn't care for the characters and how they interacted with one another. I thought it creepily fit with everything else that was going on in this book.  Nothing was right and the question lingered on if it ever had been.  I really don't want to say too much more in order not to spoil anything.  This book was creepy at points but not so much that I ever felt truly scared while reading.  I just enjoyed this book and everything that the author was doing with it.  It felt at times like it could be from an episode of America Horror story where you just kind of know that bad things are going to happen.  The wait can be the scariest part!

Overall, I enjoyed this book and am eager to read more by this author!  The fact that this is a debut just astounds me.  I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next (and I truly hope that she keeps to the horror/thriller type of genre because I would love to find more books like this)!  Horror readers should definitely check this one out!  I will say that this book slowly builds up with the creepiness factor so I wouldn't expect a fast paced page turner.  Instead, this is one where the atmosphere builds until it felt like I couldn't take it any more.  Then I rushed through the pages having to see how it would all end!  Recommended!

Bottom Line:  An atmospheric read that has me SO excited to read more by this author!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher.  Honest thoughts are my own.