The Return

by Rachel Harrison

First published 2020

Elise never stopped believing her best friend Julie would come back. While everyone else gave up hope, Elise felt certain Julie was alive somewhere. Two years after Julie's disappearance, she walks back into their lives with no memory of where she went or what happened. Elise, Molly, and Mae arrange a reunion weekend at a remote inn to celebrate Julie's return. The moment Elise sees Julie again, she knows something is terribly wrong. Julie looks gaunt and pale. Her appetites have changed in disturbing ways. As the weekend progresses, the three friends can no longer ignore the truth staring them in the face. The woman who came back may look like Julie, but she is not the person who vanished two years ago. The question that haunts them all becomes impossible to avoid: if this isn't really Julie, then what is she?

Genres: suspense, mystery, contemporary, thriller

Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking

Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator

Setting: Remote Inn

Period: Two Years Ago

304 pages · Paperback · Penguin Random House USA

Content warnings: mental-illness

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