From the author of the multimillion bestselling A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series and Five Survive comes a new true-crime fueled mystery thriller about a girl determined to uncover the shocking truth about her missing mother while filming a documentary on the unsolved case.
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.
- Title: The Reappearance of Rachel Price
- Author: Holly Jackson
- Publisher: Delacorte Press
- Publication Date: April 2, 2024
- Genre: Mystery/Thriller
- Source: ARC provided by Publisher/Author as part of a blog tour
- Targeted Age Range: YA
- Content Warnings: mentioned death of a grandparent (cancer), mentioned death of a parent, brief mention of fertility problems, vascular dementia (caused by multiple strokes), kidnapping, stalking, police, physical violence, murder, blackmail
- Rating: ★★★★★
When she was just twenty-two months old, Annabel “Bel” Price was found in her car seat, alone, on the side of the road in an abandoned car. Her mother, Rachel Price, was nowhere to be seen. Now, sixteen years later, the question of what happened to Rachel Price is still on everyone’s mind and Bel’s family has agreed to participate in a true crime documentary currently in production regarding Rachel’s disappearance. One day, when filming a segment for the documentary, Bel leaves the film site and on her way home stumbles upon a woman who looks eerily familiar to her — by some twist of fate it turns out that this mysterious woman is her mother, the infamous Rachel Price. Bel’s world is once again turned upside down as her mother returns home, but she’s left with more questions than answers. Where has Rachel been for the last 16 years? What happened to her? Why is she reappearing now? As Bel, her father and the rest of their family try to navigate this sudden change, Bel has a bad feeling. Something about Rachel doesn’t seem right, and she’s determined to find out the truth, even if it ruins her entire family and everything she’s ever known.
The Reappearance of Rachel Price was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 and I was so excited when I got a spot on the TBR and Beyond Blog Tour for it, so a huge thank you to them! I had high expectations for Rachel Price as I’ve loved all of Holly Jackson’s previous works, and those expectations were met. I read The Reappearance of Rachel Price in one sitting, and stayed up all night to do so. As always, Jackson’s writing pulled me in from the beginning and I didn’t put the book down until I had read the very last page.
I can’t lie, I love a good true crime podcast or documentary, so the documentary element of Rachel Price definitely appealed to me. I loved the scenes where they were actively filming the documentary, and it was really interesting to see how everyone reacted differently to being interviewed and recorded throughout the process. It was especially interesting reading everything from Bel’s point of view, considering she was a toddler when her mother disappeared. It definitely felt like people wanted her to feel and react a certain way, which didn’t always line up with what she was going through mentally or emotionally — I really loved reading from her point of view and being in her head as she navigated this situation.
Something that true crime gets criticized for quite often (and rightfully so, I believe) is how invasive it can be. The documentary director, Ramsey, was so focused on getting a big story that at times he seemed to have completely forgotten that this was a real tragedy that happened to real people. At times there was a real callousness to him that was difficult to read, and you could feel Bel’s frustration with the situation as things progressed. I liked those aspects of the story; I thought it was important and I would’ve loved a little more commentary on it, however, I understand why there wasn’t more as it’s not the central focus. I’m glad that Jackson included it though, as I think she did a good job of that in A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder,
This book was filled with twists and turns and I loved every single one of them. I think that Jackson does such a good job of putting a lot of twists into a mystery without them feeling overkill or like they’re out of place. She knows how to craft an intricate story with complex characters, and I think that really shines in Rachel Price — I guessed a lot of elements of most of the twists, which I personally think is a good thing. I think a good mystery writer leaves bread crumbs throughout the story, and if the reader is observant enough they’ll pick up on them. Jackson once again did a great job of creating reveals that made sense with the story that she had established.
We all know that I’m big on complicated family dynamics and boy was the Price family complicated. They were a great example of a family presenting themselves one way in public and being another way underneath the surface. I thought the entire family was completely fascinating and loved the way everything fell into place.
I was shocked by how hard this book hit me emotionally — that’s not to say that I am surprised that I was emotionally invested; I’m always emotionally invested in Jackson’s books and characters, and two of her other books have made me cry as well. The Reappearance of Rachel Price really felt like a gut punch with that big reveal. I had a feeling it would turn out the way it did, but the truth was so heartbreaking that I didn’t want it to be true, and the fact that it was just…even thinking about it now hurts my heart.
The Reappearance of Rachel Price really was everything that I wanted it to be, and it was everything that I’ve come to expect from Jackson’s works. It was high stakes, full of twists and turns, had shocking reveals, and characters that you come to care deeply about. If you’ve enjoyed her previous books, you’ll definitely enjoy Rachel Price! I already can’t wait to reread it once my physical copy arrives!
Links for The Reappearance of Rachel Price: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Holly Jackson is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling series A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, an international sensation with millions of copies sold worldwide as well as the #1 New York Times bestseller and instant classic, Five Survive, and her forthcoming novel, The Reappearance of Rachel Price. She graduated from the University of Nottingham, where she studied literary linguistics and creative writing, with a master’s degree in English. She enjoys playing video games and watching true-crime documentaries so she can pretend to be a detective. She lives in London.
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