Blurb: Lucille Hargrave’s son has been dead for over forty years. Now he’s standing on her doorstep, still 8 years old. Still looking for her to welcome him with open arms. This is the beginning of the Returned. This is a new world where nothing – not even death – is certain.
I had wanted to read The Returned by Jason Mott for a while so when I finally bought it I was quite excited and now that I have finished it I can only say that I have mixed views. On a good note I like the concept of having a second chance with loved ones that have died, it was well written and really thought provoking. I also like that the characters have their own little quirks but I have to be honest and say that I didn't once sympathize with any of the characters and actually found most of them irritating, especially Lucille. However, Mott did an exceptional job addressing the emotional issues between Lucille and Harold Hargrave.
Throughout reading The Returned I found myself fighting the urge to skim read chapters until something interesting happened. I also felt as if no one was really wanted answers as to why people were returning from the dead, which seemed very unrealistic to me. There were so many questions I had that were just passed over to focus on minor details.
Overall i would give it a 2/5 because although it is fascinating and a great character study, I found it boring and lacking of an actual story line.
