Review: Bad Dolls by Rachel Harrison

Author: Rachel Harrison
Publisher: Berkeley
Publication date: December 2022

In this stunning new collection of four horror stories, Bram Stoker Award nominee Rachel Harrison explores themes of body image, complicated female friendship, heartbreak and hauntings.

I think I'm going to have to admit to myself that this author is for me.  I have read 2 of her other books, which I gave 2 stars to) and DNF'd a third.  This is my final try.  I love horror anthologies so I had high hoped for Bad Dolls. The collection has four short stories.  Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy any of them.

Out of the four, the only one that I remotely kind of enjoyed was "Goblin".  I liked the twisted ending.  Other than that, the other three had promise.  The openings to the stories were intriguing enough to make me listen.  However, each one lost gas halfway through and just petered out.  Other than Goblin, none of them had great endings.  It felt like the author just didn't know how to end them, maybe?  This is probably on me.  When I read a horror anthology, I want horror.  None of these were close to what I would call horror.  They were essentially boring.  I think fans of this author will like these.  They just weren't for me.  

Review: Cackle by Rachel Harrison

Author: Rachel Harrison

Publisher: Berkley Books

Publication Date: October 2021

All her life, Annie has played it nice and safe. After being unceremoniously dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Annie seeks a fresh start. She accepts a teaching position that moves her from Manhattan to a small village upstate. She’s stunned by how perfect and picturesque the town is. The people are all friendly and warm. Her new apartment is dreamy too, minus the oddly persistent spider infestation.

Then Annie meets Sophie. Beautiful, charming, magnetic Sophie, who takes a special interest in Annie, who wants to be her friend. More importantly, she wants Annie to stop apologizing and start living for herself. That’s how Sophie lives. Annie can’t help but gravitate toward the self-possessed Sophie, wanting to spend more and more time with her, despite the fact that the rest of the townsfolk seem…a little afraid of her. And like, okay. There are some things. Sophie’s appearance is uncanny and ageless, her mansion in the middle of the woods feels a little unearthly, and she does seem to wield a certain power…but she couldn’t be…could she? 

I was looking forward to reading Cackle. But in the end, it ended up being another book that I had mixed feelings about. I liked the premise of the story.  A woman moves to a small town after a break-up.  She makes friends with a mysterious woman who turns out to be a witch.  Curses and mayhem endues.  That is what I was hoping for, but it didn't work out in the execution.  

The main character Annie was annoying and whiney.  I could almost understand why her boyfriend ended it.  Instead of taking her time to live a little, she then quickly attaches herself to Sophie.  It's like she traded a boyfriend for a bestie and never wanted to do anything else.  She never tries a hobby, never goes out of her way to better her life.  I hated the ending.  She learned nothing and didn't end up where I would have hoped she would after everything she went through in the book.  I won't spoil it, but it was a cop-out.  But, hey the spider was cute.  This is the second book I have read and not loved by this author.  Not sure she is for me.

Review: The Return by Rachel Harrison

Author: Rachel Harrison
Publisher: Berkeley
Publication Date: March 2020

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.

The Return is told through Elise's point of view. Her friend Julie goes missing for two years.  When she returns, Elise, Mae and Molly travel to a hotel and spa for a girls' weekend and reunion with Julie.  Quickly, they realize there is something different about their best friend.  I wanted to love this book, but I just didn't 

I was all in for this book from the start.  I was intrigued by the synopsis and the frist 2/3 of the book was good.  What killed the book for me, was the last 1/3 of the book.  Don't get me wrong I loved the setting of the book.  The hotel was gloomy and creepy and the author did a great job of setting a spooky and mysterious atmosphere.  I enjoyed the characters.  I appreciated that we got some back story on four women.   I do kind of wish we had more perspectives than just Elise's. 

What ruined the book for me was the ending.  I was invested in trying to figure out what happened to Julie during her two years away.  I was also invested knowing what was really happening to her because it seemed pretty horrific.    If you are going to take the time to have your "villain" explain what happened to her and what she has become, at least make it clear.  Because it wasn't.  So overall, I was disappointed with the reveal and the ending of the book.  I'm not sure I would really recommend this one.