Book Review | The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

Title: The Reappearance of Rachel Price
Author: Holly Jackson
Genre: YA Mystery / Thriller
Publication Date: April 2nd, 2024
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Lights. Camera. Lies.

18-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on.

But the case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agree to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.

Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And – could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . .

From world-renowned author Holly Jackson comes a mind-blowing masterpiece about one girl’s search for the truth, and the terror in finding out who your family really is.” (Goodreads)

Even though I haven’t loved every book by Holly Jackson I still find myself drawn to read every book that she rights, haha.

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Bel. She is 18-years-old and her family has decided to star in a documentary about her mother who has been missing for 16 years. The money is too good to pass up when her grandfather needs it for his medical issues. Things start to get weird when her mother shows up one day.

This was such a an intriguing plot! I can’t say I have read something like it and even though I had read the blurb previously I had forgot and then all of a sudden her mom showed up. It was kind of crazy. With her mom showing up it only brings up more things about the Price family that should have been forgotten, but Bel is on a mission to figure it all out. I don’t blame her for being curious. It would be odd to not see your mom for 16 years and it would make me question a lot, especially when things don’t add up. She has a lot of guts!

I wouldn’t say that there is much character development because it really is plot based. I didn’t mind this since it worked for the story. The only thing that could have helped from more character development would have been the relationship forming between Bel and someone else. I didn’t feel the chemistry between and the story would have been fine without that added plotline.

Overall, this was a really good mystery and had me guessing all the way up until the big reveal!