The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

 

“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 . . .” - taken from Goodreads.

Bel has never known her mother, only what she knows about the day she disappeared and left her behind. Now, sixteen years later, a documentary filmmaker is in town telling the story of the disappearance of Rachel Price. Bel cannot wait for the nightmare to be over and get back to her normal life. Having left filming one day, she comes across a woman who looks like her mother. Running home to safety from her worst nightmare, Bel realizes that she cannot hide from the truth, her mother has come back from the dead. 

The reunion isn’t what Bel expected and everyone’s reactions seem to be of relief. The more time Bel spends with her mother, she begins to realize that Rachel’s story doesn’t seem to add up. Why has Rachel Price suddenly reappeared after sixteen years? And is Bel justified to question her mother’s return?

This book kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end! Definitely my favorite book of 2024.

A Disaster in Three Acts by Kelsey Rodkey

 

“Saine Sinclair knows a little something about what makes a story worth telling.

Your childhood best friend refuses to kiss you during a pre-adolescent game of spin the bottle? Terrible, zero stars, would not replay that scene again. The same ex-friend becomes your new best friend's ex? Strangely compelling, unexpected twist, worth a hate-watch. That same guy--why is he always around?--turns out to be your last shot at getting into the documentary filmmaking program of your dreams?

Saine hates to admit it, but she'd watch that movie.

There's something about Holden that makes her feel like she's the one in front of the camera--like he can see every uncomfortable truth she's buried below the surface. Saine knows how her story's supposed to go. So why does every moment with Holden seem intent on changing the ending?” - taken from Goodreads.

Saine dreams of going to Temple University and becoming a documentary filmmaker. When the subject of her film bails on her, Saine is left scrambling to find a replacement. Her savior turns out to be her former best friend, Holden. The two come to a mutual agreement to help one another with their respective projects. But when Saine decides to change the storyline of her film to one Holden will not agree with, can her resurrected friendship with Holden survive when he discovers the angle Saine takes with her film?

Visit Kelsey Rodkey’s website.

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

"Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun."

Emaline has spent her entire life in Colby, just like her mother. Her family has owned Colby Realty since her grandparents were married fifty years ago. She is the result of a summer romance between her mother and a vacationing boy from the north. He went back home and started college while Emaline's mother had a baby by the time she graduated from high school. Her father and his family initially didn't have anything to do with her. At the age of two, her mother married a young widower with two older daughters of his own and he adopted her. Her father wasn't a part of her life until she contacted him at the age of ten about a family tree project for school. Finally, Emaline had found someone with whom she could talk to about school related things.

Emaline and her boyfriend throughout high school have just graduated. Both of them are going to attend the local university. She has a full scholarship. Her birth father had pushed her for several years to think about attending Ivy League schools. When her acceptance to Columbia comes, she is disappointed when he can no longer pay for her to attend. In Colby, she sees people come and go all summer long putting aside their regular lives to enjoy a vacation and she begins to long for the opportunity to escape her reality. Colby is a small town where people either stay their entire lives or they leave as soon as they can. Everyone expects her to stay in the family business and marry Luke but Emaline dreams some times of leaving the little town for bigger and better things.

When a documentary filmmaker from New York City arrives in Colby for the summer to work on a film, she brings along an intern, Theo. Emaline soon starts to see Theo everywhere she goes and he always goes out of his way to speak to her. Then she gets a phone call from her father that he will be in Colby for the summer to settle his aunt's estate. He wants to meet with her even though she heard nothing from him about her graduation. Her mother is a nervous wreck that Emaline's father will disappoint her daughter like he did her all of those years ago. Soon, both her father and Theo think she is too smart to stay in Colby. Even though she longs for a bright future, Emaline also clings to her loving family and the familiarity of her small town life. All she has ever wanted is the moon and more.

Will Emaline stay in Colby or move away? Why has her father come back to Colby and will he disappoint her again? Will she and Luke stay together? What happens when Theo pulls her into the making of the documentary film? Can Emaline find balance between her life and dreams and achieve the moon and more?