I am currently reading Holly Jackson's new book, The reappearance of Rachel Price. Holly Jackson is most well known for her series A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, a series that I enjoyed very much; another one of her works is Five Survive, which I read for two days and could not put down, it was so good. I hold Holly Jackson on a high pedestal, so my expectations for this book are very high. The story follows eighteen year old Bel, whose mother(Rachel Price)disappeared when she was two and was presumed dead for sixteen years. While a documentary is being filmed about Rachel Price’s disappearance, Rachel reappears… Rachel has a big and terrifying story as to why she was gone for sixteen years, but Bel notices some weird gaps in her story and decides to investigate her suspicions further. The more Bel suspects something, the more of what Bel believes is the truth comes to light. Eventually Bel is obsessed with proving that her mother is a liar, Bel states, “My goal is to find the fucking truth and get that liar out of my house”(Jackson, 198). I am only about halfway at the moment, so the “truth,” if there is one, is not yet revealed.
I do think that Rachel is lying about something, I’m not sure exactly what, but I also do feel a little bit bad for her. The novel is from Bel’s point of view, and Bel doesn’t trust Rachel at all, making Rachel to be a villain of sorts. But Rachel does make quite the effort to make a connection with Bel, to which Bel constantly pushes and shuts down Rachel, which strikes some empathy for Rachel. For someone who has been gone from her family and is having trauma, Rachel doesn’t seem as affected as someone might think, she doesn’t really show any major signs of PTSD or depression. Which does lead me to guess that she is lying, and that her disappearance and reappearance were intentional, which is what the main character, Bel suspects as well. I am very fond of the main character, she is very headstrong, which I always appreciate in a main character, Bel says, “‘To the most fucked-up family in Amercia. Cheers(Jackson, 182)!” Bel yells this at the first family dinner since her mother returned, which the crew that was working on the documentary decided to film. There was a lot of tension at this dinner, and Bel has a lot of built up anger in her life, but I was very entertained by her boldness.
I will say that this novel is a little bit slower than Jackson’s other work, in the sense that there are a lot of slow or informational parts, which I suppose is more similar to a Good Girl's Guide to Murder rather than Five Survive, where I was on the edge of my seat through the entire book. It's still a little bit slower than a Good Girl's Guide to Murder, but I’m only halfway and Jackson’s never disappointed me before, so I’m very excited to find out what happens. The Reappearance of Rachel Price and Jackson’s other work are very exciting, I’m never bored, and I’m always extremely excited to find out what happens.
Holly Jackson is a brilliant writer, whose mysteries and thrillers always surprise me. She creates a world of deep disturbance and satisfying unraveling of mysteries. I would recommend this author in general though, my favorite of her books is Five Survive, Although A Good Girl's Guide to Murder has better character development. I am extremely eager to finish The Reappearance of Rachel Price, because there are so many unsolved questions at the moment, and I am excited to compare the ending of this book to her other books. I have a few theory's as to what may have happened to Rachel, but I'll keep them to myself in case I'm right, which I can't wait to see if I am.
I've read and watched other books and movies about disappearances before, and this seems like a good addition to that list! I find it interesting how there's always the balance between tension and reality, where the disappearing character is portrayed coldly but gets spots of warmth dotted across their personality. I think the family tie, especially now that Bel is 18 plays a big role in her mistrust, although she probably has little to no memories of her mother.
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