The Return

Remember Me #2

by Christopher Pike

Librarian note: Alternate cover edition for ISBN 10- 0671872656

Pike brings readers the terrifying sequel to his most popular novel (nearly 650,000 copies in print). Shari Cooper, victim of a murderous attack, is given a rare offer: to return to Earth, into the body of a depressed teenage girl, to become a Wanderer. Shari gladly accepts, but not everyone on Earth welcomes Wanderers. . . .

Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Fiction, Paranormal, Thriller, Supernatural, Teen

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Christopher Pike is the pseudonym of Kevin McFadden. He is a bestselling author of young adult and children's fiction who specializes in the thriller genre.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

McFadden was born in New York but grew up in California where he stills lives in today. A college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and programmed computers before becoming a recognized author. Initially unsuccessful when he set out to write science fiction and adult mystery, it was not until his work caught the attention of an editor who suggested he write a teen thriller that he became a hit. The result was Slumber Party (1985), a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend. After that he wrote Weekend and Chain Letter. All three books went on to become bestsellers.

Reviews

[Ophelia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've given up on this book... I bought the trilogy edition and loved the first story. The second one however, I just could NOT get into. Normally, when I find a book I like, I can't put it down. This one I had to force myself to pick up. I feel like since I didn't finish it, I'm not in a place to write a review but I found it to be slow and difficult to follow in places... one page the main character is herself, then she's a ghost inhabitant another dead girls body, and then she's floating in space with her ghost friends. I gave it my best shot and read at least half of it, but I'm moving on (and creating a whole new bookshelf for books that fall in this category.

Sorry Pike, I just couldn't tell if you were writing a ghost story or an alien sci-fi story...

[Zoe Robinson · Rating 1 out of 5]

While Remember Me was a fast-paced book with a little spiritualism here and there, this sequel foregoes plot in favour of chapter-long author tracts on spiritualism, new age hokum and how god is in everyone. This is NOT an appropriate sequel to an excellent novel.

A major disappointment.

[Carrie (brightbeautifulthings) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I’m sure I read them multiple times growing up, I’ve forgotten almost everything about the rest of this trilogy. I feel like I need to finish it before I move on to other Pike novels (even though The Last Vampire and Final Friends have been calling me lately). I started out thinking that perhaps Pike wrote the last two Remember Me novels under pressure from his publishers since the first was such a success, making it less a product of love than a contractual obligation, but now I’m not sure. There’s even less in Remember Me 2 that makes it widely accessible to the general public. If Remember Me was strange because its main character was a ghost telling her own story, this is even weirder. There are mild spoilers ahead for the first book.

After solving her murder from the afterlife, Shari is ready to go on–whatever that means for a spirit like her. When her Teacher offers her the chance to return to earth in the body of a troubled teenage girl, she accepts. As a Wanderer, she’ll be given an important task for the betterment of humanity. Jean Rodriguez has given up on her life. Living on the poor side of L.A., she and her family scrape to get by each day, and Jean has just discovered that she’s pregnant. On the one year anniversary of Shari Cooper’s death, Jean survives a fall from a balcony, but like Shari’s, it may have been no accident.

Structurally, this book is kind of a mess. The chapters move back and forth between Jean’s life and Shari’s experiences in the afterlife, and it isn’t clear immediately what one has to do with the other. Shari’s chapters are strangely didactic; Pike has a habit of veering into the spiritual. While there are few things more spiritual than a dead protagonist, it’s less like a story than a series of philosophical theories. There’s little resembling a plot for most of the novel; it’s more like a lengthy set-up for something else.

There’s an even odder section where Jean/Shari reads a story she wrote. I forgot most of the rest of the novel, but I remembered this story perfectly (it’s the kind of thing that sticks in your brain, especially if you’re a writer). As a younger reader, I didn’t find it strange at all, but as an older reader, I’m less clear about why it’s there. This isn’t the first time Pike has included stories inside of stories; it’s practically the premise of The Midnight Club, and Master of Murder also includes a short story written by the main character, who’s a famous author, but it makes less sense in the context of Remember Me 2. Shari wants to be a writer, and it’s suggested that her purpose as a Wanderer is connected to her storytelling, but this particular story seems unconnected to her Teacher’s lessons and it doesn’t seem to echo or advance the plot the way typical stories within stories do. It’s just there, presumably for entertainment. This is an odd narrative device, but… I kind of like it? It takes the English teacher insistence that everything is a metaphor and turns it on its head. On the other hand, I can see some readers being irritated by a section of the book that apparently has little to do with the rest of the novel.

Jean Rodriguez is not the only instance where Pike turns his attention to characters of color who are struggling to get by, and since he’s a longtime resident of L.A., I’m glad he pays attention to the reality of his city. I’m less certain about his representation (I don’t recall a lot of my years of Spanish, but his strikes me as a little iffy), but I feel like it’s a good faith effort. I still love the relationship between Shari and Jimmy the most; her love for her brother comes through so much clearer than her romance with Peter. The novel picks up pace in the second half and ends up being quite suspenseful, with a small twist I’m not sure I would have seen coming had I not read it before. Fans of Pike will probably find something to like about it, but it lacks most of the dark charm of the first novel, and I don’t think it’s strictly necessary to read them all. It’s perfectly possible to enjoy Remember Me as a stand-alone, without the additional weirdness of its sequels.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

[Alex Nonymous · Rating 1 out of 5]

So y'all already probably know I hated Remember Me but I own the whole trilogy so figured I should give The Return a shot, right?

I feel like I could read any single page of this book and you'd understand why I've given it such a low rating. This book's first chapter tries to be more diverse by introducing a lesbian "but it's okay because she's never tried to seduce our straight lead" and then instantly doing the whole bi-erasure thing. I'm going to try my best to give you a vague plot because oh boy.

So. Shari gets the option to yeet into this depressed girls body (even though the first book? Hates and punishes suicide? Jean's just like 'hello old god person i want out') in order to as the book describes it, help and inspire the Hispanic community :):):):):):) Why was it chosen to put Shari into a hispanic body? Could it be because Pike wanted to include gang scenes and god forbid white kids be in gangs? Could it be because he was just dying to write crappy spanish dialogue? Either way how did anyone okay a literal god being like "yes random white girl of no importance, it is your destiny to fix the hispanic community. Go be their savior". Anyways Shari can't remember she's Shari. Then she does. Then we spend 10 pages reading a short story a random hopital patients wrote that she reads. Then Shari and her brother from the last book are like "omg we friend again" then Jean's boyfriend shows up and is like "pew pew I'm going to kill you" then Jimmy and Shari's friend from the last book run in and save her and we find out shooting boyfriend is really Peter, Shari's old love interest and he also knows who he is and they're all like 'lol that was crazy' the end.

OH MY GOD I FORGOT YOU GUYS Jimmy (Shari's brother) tells Jean (who has Shari's soul in her) that he randomly sleepwalked one night and wrote a story then she goes to read it and its implied that its the ENTIRE FIRST BOOK OF THIS SERIES. And at no point was Jimmy like "huh. Pretty funny I wrote a 300 page novel in my sleep nothing going on here".

I'm sorry this is such an unreadable review but it was also an unreadable book so I don't know how to talk about it.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is just proof that somethings are better left alone. It's one of the reasons why people hear the word "sequel" and cringe. Not a good follow-up at all. Boring and pointless.

[Christina Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Return is the second book in the Remember Me Trilogy. It picks up a year after Shari Cooper's death. Shari is given the opportunity to return to Earth as a Wanderer in another young girls body.

The plot follows Shari, now Jean, as she tries to fulfill her purpose on Earth. The reader is brought back and forth between the present and the time just before Shari is returned to Earth. While Christopher Pike stays true to his roots with the ghost story, he also seems to expand his horizons in the scenes prior to her return. A great deal of time was spent talking about esoteric and metaphysical issues. I did enjoy this book because it challenged me to think beyond what my usual pleasure reading evokes. Yet, I think it is this same quality that can turn many Christopher Pike and horror fans off from this book.

I enjoyed this book for what it was, an experiment with the ideas surround life's purpose. It is not however a strong book when considered in its supernatural/thriller genre. It is a worthwhile read if you are looking for something deeper, without getting too deep.

[Mariah Leal · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so excited to start this book because I loved his first in the trilogy and I quickly became disappointed. I haven't the slightest idea where he brushed up on his Mexican-American culture but it's so incredibly stereotypical and ridiculous its comical. I kept thinking maybe it would pick up, and it never did. It's a truly terrible book in so many ways, the characters personalities lack. Shari turns into an insanely stupid Mexican girl with insanely stupid Mexican friends. Dear Lord I can go on but I think I'll come back and finish later. Hopefully the next one is better or else wasted three days of my life for nothing.

[Lindsay · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure what happened between the first novel and this second story......the first book was really good and had a bunch of crazy twist. this book however was HORRIBLE! It was almost as if a completely different person wrote this book. The story was choppy and seemed rushed. Things that should have had more explanation were written about in two sentences and thrown aside while other parts that needed no explanation were a whole chapter. I was extremely disappointed in this book. It was almost painful to even finish it.......

[Becca · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book reads more as an episode in a larger story than as a novel in its own right. Very little happens in any of the plot threads. Plus we’re subjected to the full text of a fairly crappy 40-page short story for no apparent reason.

It feels problematic that Jean Rodrigues is so quickly cast aside so we can get back to being in Shari’s p.o.v., not to mention Shari’s mission to bring enlightenment to the Hispanic community in L.A. This did not age well.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess he tried to handle a POC character, but it still felt off. Liked that it had a bisexual character. Kind of ableist. Thought the references to his other books were cute. Will write more in my review of the omnibus.

[Andrea Juarez · Rating 1 out of 5]

•spanish was EXTREMELY forced
•the way that the author implemented spanish into his writing felt like he just googled translated words (ex. used “menso” instead of “mensa” when main character was referring to a girl, using the word “estupido” is a strange way, etc)
• also felt like author googled “ghetto spanish slang” and slapped it wherever he could
• white girl savior plot (main character is Latina growing up in the hood)

[Justice · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

The beginning is Remember Me but with a BIPOC cast and goes about as WELL AS YOU'D THINK. Yes, everyone DOES smoke weed, live in the 'ghetto', get pregnant in high school, and join gangs.

Also, the whole premise of this is that, for the "poor hispanic" girl who is directionless to turn her life around and encourage others in her community, she has to be possessed by an rich elightened white girl. YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS UP. I think this is the most problematic of Pike books because its not just throwaway lines or minor stereotypes that are easy to identify, but the whole premise of plot is very demeaning towards the people it's representing.

I was actually pretty bored by this, but then pages 116 - 144 turned out to just be a short story that Jean wrote about a fictional writer. It was WEIRD and GROSS and THRILLING and one of the best I've seen from Pike.

This fictional author's fictional author's first book is titled Slumber Weekend, which is in NO WAY reminiscent of Pike's early novels The Slumber Party or The Weekend hahaha

DAMN page 125 - 127 would have been PERFECT for my thesis as the fictional author's fictional author argued about what was acceptable for a Young Adult book - while ironically providing examples in this YA book, showing a tongue-in-cheek attitude about these 'rules.'

Yet another fictional author by Pike has a younger sister named Ann.

Pike is really walking back his attitude from the first book where Shari was like "the reason I loved my brother so much and didn't like his girlfriend was because she and I were switched at birth so I should have been his girlfriend and she should have been his sister!!"
Wait the brother says "you'll meet plenty of guys with those [redacted]" I don't think Pike is walking this back 😭

Okay the ending was a little too tidy but overall the second half of the book was the same intemse shock to my system as the second half of the first book. I'm glad I pushed through and got there. However, I stand by that this is the most ~problematic~ Pike book I've read so far due to the "possessed by an elightened white girl" plot and boy is that saying something.

[Belle Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Y’all honestly I kinda liked it despite all the crazy
Like it was cuckoo nonsense

But it also kind of made sense
If you liked the first book, you might like this
It dives a lot into the afterlife and the take on it is really weird but interesting too

I’d have to reread to write a better review because if I’m honest I forget a lot of what I read if it doesn’t impact me a lot

[Roberta R. (Offbeat YA) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excerpt from my review - originally published at Offbeat YA.

Pros: Well-established female lead (well, part of the time, that is). A sweet siblings reunion.
Cons: Very small action. No real mystery. Some clichés. Some new age blurbs (if you're not into it). Weird and abrupt ending.
WARNING! Moderate sex references (though a not deliberately induced miscarriage is mentioned).
Will appeal to: Those who need more Shari Cooper.

When you reach perfection, you'd better not tamper with it. Most of the time, it doesn't work (very well).
There's no denying I was excited when I found out that there was more to Shari's story. And, to Pike's credit, it wasn't a three-or-four-books-deal era back when he wrote this. Nowadays, most books are born with a sequel, often two or three, already attached. Remember Me was originally a standalone book, till - after five long years - Pike was struck with inspiration (ahem, not sure), or maybe Shari possessed him too, after her brother (see RM, I mean book 1). So Remember Me 2: The Return came to life - and Shari with it. In the sense that she was actually back, flesh and all. Only, she wasn't really Shari anymore.
OK, first off, the blurbs about this book are deceiving. There's no conspiracy against the Wanderers in RM 2. Now, onto the actual review. Let's start from where RM finished. Amanda was Jimmy's real sister. Amanda killed Shari. Shari solved the mystery of her own murder. Shari and Peter are now in the light.
RM 2 opens a year after Shari's death, with a total different story about a total different character. Poor, Hispanic, can-see-no-future girl as opposed to rich, all-American, eager-to-live one. Wrong side of town, wrong boyfriend. We follow Jean to a disastrous birthday party (history repeating), at the end of which something happens to her - we're not sure of what. It seems it all turned right in the end though, because after the accident (?) Jean is apparently able to recover (while her bf Lenny, also involved, is crippled for life).
In the meantime, we also follow Shari (and later on, Peter) in the afterlife, chatting with a superior entity called the Rishi, a lot of new age blurb really - though I can't say I was annoyed by that. We learn that Shari can go back in someone else's body, if she agrees - and Peter too, but in his case, because he injured his previous body by purposely ending up his own life, he can't go back in a healthy body, but must suffer a disadvantage of sorts. Guess whose body will Shari wear? and Peter? [...]

Whole review here.

[Syrdarya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. The New Age material was boring and even ventured into offensive territory (historical figures' achievements the work of Wanderers?!) and the storyline was odd and sometimes ridiculous.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm vacillating between 1 and 2 stars for this book. There were parts that I really hated, I mean HATED, and the rest I thought was just ok. That said, I didn't have as visceral a hate reaction to this book as I have for other 1-star books that I have read, so that's why I'm rounding up. I just really found myself rolling my eyes for most of the book. I have what I call completion syndrome--once I start a book I *have* to finish it and generally once I start a series I *have* to finish the series, but I don't think I'm going to continue with this one.

[Phoebes · Rating 4 out of 5]

La trama è avvincente. Lo stile si Pike molto piacevole, anche se a volte un po’ ingenuo (ma, dopotutto, è un romanzo per ragazzi!). I personaggi mi sono piaciuti forse anche più che nell’altro libro (Ricordati di me), in cui mi erano sembrati trattati un po’ superficialmente.
Insomma, un libro davvero molto molto bello.
http://www.naufragio.it/iltempodilegg...

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second Remember Me book, The Return, is really kind of weird. It’s short and reads fast and is as simple as the original, but the subject matter and very loose timeline is just so bizarre. I found myself making a lot of faces at the strangeness of the story. It’s an odd combination of Christianity and New Age and is sort of reincarnation, but souls trading places, not starting over as a baby. If you really enjoyed the first book, this one is fine, but it’s totally skippable.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was so hard to rate! Purely for entertainment I'd give it 5/5 but the story was... Well it was something?? Very chaotic and all logic went right out the window, so I settled on a 4/5
It seemed such an opposite to part one, which I love with all my heart. This book felt like a fever dream, it was very entertaining, but would I recommend it? I honestly don't know

[Sadey Hibiske · Rating 3 out of 5]

A page-turner but in the weirdest way possible. This book was written from a Latina girl’s perspective living in the slums with a “bad-girl” accent. The author is a white man. It was quite funny and interesting reading his interpretation of “bad girls” from the projects. This book would never be allowed to be published now a days 🤣

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was a crazy roller coaster. It was a little slow starting but once it did, I couldn’t get enough. To get a second chance at life with the people you love with the knowledge of past mistakes. I love the ending. Really great story.

[Paulina Banda-Chavez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Personal Response
The Return by Christopher Pike is a good book. It is the second book of the Remember Me trilogy. I personally think that the first book is better. This book has a hint of romance and suspense, but it does not give me that feeling of excitement like the first book does. I rate The Return a 6/10 because it is kind of boring and it does not give enough detail to make the story interesting.

Plot Summary
Jean Rodriguez has a hard life. Her father dies when she was little, and her mother has her when she is 18. Jean smokes a lot of Marijuana. She ends up pregnant at the age of 18 with Lenny Mendaz’s baby. The night of Lenny’s birthday party, Jean goes out to the balcony to think about her situation with the baby. While she is up there, the balcony collapses under her and on Lenny. They end up in the hospital where Lenny is told that he is paralyzed and Jean loses her baby. Jean does everything she can to make Lenny happy because she loves him.

Shari is dead but her spirit is alive. She is in a place where there is no time. While she is there, Shari meets, the Rishi, her master. He helps her when she asks for help. The Rishi offers to give Shari the opportunity to be a wanderer and live in someone else’s body. Jean said that she did not want to live because her life is tough. Therefore she is giving the Rishi permission to give her physical body to anyone.

After Shari enters Jean’s body, she has to find a way to remember who she actually is. Jean ends up in the place where Shari Cooper is pushed off of the balcony. While she is there, she bumps into Jimmy Cooper, Shari’s older brother. Jean doesn’t know why but she is attracted to Jimmy in a non-sexual way. Jimmy takes her to his apartment where she reads the book that Shari writes in Jimmy’s body. Jean is then brought back to Shari’s memories. She finds a way to convince Jimmy. Jimmy then finds a way to convince, Jo, Shari’s best friend.

Jean finds herself in a bad situation when she takes Lenny to Jimmy’s apartment and he pulls a gun on her. He thinks that she is sleeping with Jimmy and that she slept with his best friend Sporty. He admits to having sporty killed because he believes he is sleeping with Jean. Lenny makes Jean stand on the edge of the balcony where he shot her off. Lenny shoots her and she falls. Before she falls he remembers that he is also Peter. Peter tries to help Jean but it is too late. She falls off the balcony but luckily she lands in the pool. Jimmy and Jo help her out and Peter is glad that he remembers who he is.

Characterization
Jean Rodriguez is an 18-year-old Hispanic girl. She lives in the poor part of town. She is outgoing and cool. She does drugs and has a reputation for sleeping with a lot of guys. She has many problems at home and to add to the list she gets pregnant and falls off a balcony.

Lenny Mendaz is an 18-year-old Hispanic boy. He along with his friends are all into the crazy life. He is Jean’s baby father. He is jealous and a murderer. He sends his friend to be killed and attempts to kill Jean. His plan backfired when the balcony collapses on him.
Carol is Jean’s best friend. She is nice and outgoing. She helps and supports Jean through everything.
Shari copper is an 18-year-old girl who is dead. She fell was pushed off of a balcony. She is sweet and cares for others. She wants to change the world, so when Jean fell off of the balcony, she decided to give her body to someone else and Shari took the chance. She becomes a wanderer.
Peter Nicholas is a 16-year-old boy who is also dead. He is Shari’s boyfriend. He along with Shari becomes a wanderer. He took Lenny Mandaz’s physical body because he does not want to live anymore knowing that he was going to be paraplegic. Peter took the opportunity knowing that if he had lived, he would be paraplegic.

Setting
The Return takes place in California. Shari and Jimmy lived in the good part of town, where as Jean, Carol, and Lenny lived in the poor part of town. It was dirty and there was a lot of crime. It is referred to as the “hood”. The years it takes place in is around 2005 to 2012. The time frame is not very specific.

Recommendation
I recommend The Return to females ages 16 and up. It is not fit for younger audiences. I recommend this to females because this does not interest the majority of males. It is a confusing book to understand which is why I recommend it to those ages.

Thematic Connection
The main theme in The Return is fear. Jean is scared of losing Peter and Lenny. She has one life but remembers her past life as Shari Cooper. Peter is in Shari’s life and Lenny is Jean’s life. Jean fears that Peter would not believe her. She fears losing her brother from her other life. Peter has a fear of the dark shadow. It shows who you really are. The person you do not want to be. The characters are all full of fears.

[Amber Wiser · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can’t believe this book has an overall good reads rating of almost 4 stars. That disappoints me! This book was a little slow in several parts. It was pretty lackluster compared to part 1. This book is what you would get if a guru and a teenage girl sat down and tried to write “something deep”. 90% of the book was cringe for me. I hope part 3 has something of a recovery. Please please please young adult genre 90s gods, let part 3 be better.

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will round this one up to 3 stars.

Not a lot of people seem to like The Return but I guess you could count me as the small percentage that does.

It is not as amazing as Remember Me and I didn't hate it so I guess I liked it because I also didn't LIKE Like it so...does that make sense?

When Pike does go off on one of his new age, philosophical and religious tangents I do kind of zone out but I also do that when he goes all sci-fi detailed as well. I have nothing against religion it is just...I use to do that when I did go to church the handful of times I did but I was also young.

There are also a few choices of language that I DID NOT LIKE AT ALL in describing certain characters. I know in the early 1990s stuff was not as PC as it is now but I don't think it is called for even if you have POC characters or LGBTQ+ characters.

I also have no problem with it having such a different "climate" of focusing on inner city Latino characters instead of white teens from the O.C. instead. If I tried to write for anything other than the white and nerdy culture of which I come from...it would be cringe even if I tried my best.

I'm mostly going over what I have seen in other reviews that seem to be the points that make it not a favorite of other Pike readers. Remember Me may not have needed to have a sequel or be a trilogy but it is what it is *shrug* and we should all be glad they aren't out of print and forgotten.

One last thing to be sort of on the pro side is understanding how the narrative seems to shift from character to character and place to place. I do the same thing in my own writing so I had no problem with it it is just non-linear storytelling...

The plot almost seems to go in eerie coincidence as foreshadowing so for anyone who has not read Remember Me...you can come back later if you wish but it won't matter as you will get details spoiled in this one from the get-go.

Jean Rodrigues is about to graduate from high school and she lives in South Central California with gang violence all around her since she was a small child. Since she was a teenager, Jean has done dope and underage drinking and having sex. Jean has been raised by her mother who works as a nurse since her father died and she is just a product of circumstance.

It is all different now because she has found out that she is pregnant and Jean knows that the father is her boyfriend Lenny. She isn't sure if he will be happy about it because ever since his best friend Sporty was gunned down, Lenny has been a little distant.

The only person Jean plans to tell besides Lenny for the moment is her best friend Carol. The two of them have been friends forever and even if Carol seems to like both boys and girls but has never thought of Jean in that way...they are close.

It also doesn't help that tonight Jean is planning to tell Lenny the news at his birthday party but she has been raised as a Catholic and if Lenny wants her to get an abortion, it also costs money to do the procedure. Jean knows that her mother was eighteen when she had Jean and she does not want the same life as her mother...

Lenny seems to take it surprisingly well in that he doesn't scream at Jean and throw her out of the party but not exactly happy either. When the party thins out to only be Lenny, Jean, Carol and another girl named Darlene...the tone shifts even more.

Darlene use to be Sporty's girlfriend and ever since he was killed, she has wanted revenge for his murder because she knows who did it and that it involved drugs. Carol and Jean listen to Darlene wanting to murder a man named Juan as payback for Sporty's death...with Lenny considering it himself.

Jean isn't thrilled about that even though Sporty was her friend as well but Darlene and Lenny take that as a sign of her being a chicken, a traitor to Sporty's memory and her own Latin heritage. From a stand point of thinking the father of your child wants to go out and kill someone, knowing that the gang will just continue the cycle of revenge and violence in retaliation...Jean has every right to be upset.

How does all of this tie in with Shari Cooper?

Shari is ready to move on almost a year after her death alongside Peter Nichols...go into the light and have eternal peace and all of that. Being on the other side and talking with others who have their own ideas of life after death, Shari learns she can return to Earth in another person's body.

It isn't just also being reborn and reincarnated but becoming a Wanderer, a spirit who is in another person's body. You have their memories and a vague remembrance of your own that can influence the life you live now...everyone to complete a sort of "mission" that differs for each individual.

It just so happens that an upset Jean goes out to the balcony of Lenny's apartment after the discussion and silently prays for help.

Right before...it collapses under her.

Jean is in a coma but eventually wakes up and she receives the news from Carol because her own mother couldn't bear to tell her just yet...and it is a double whammy.

She lost the baby and apparently Lenny went out to the balcony to get Jean so he fell from the balcony as well.

He is in the same hospital...but paralyzed from the waist down. With therapy it is still unlikely that he may ever walk again and Jean is devastated.

When she eventually is strong enough to walk and not suffer from headaches, Jean goes to see Lenny and finds him angry and depressed and bitter. Being lucky to be alive herself, Jean tries her best to be there for Lenny out of love but he doesn't want her pity.

The two of them drift apart but it isn't the only thing that changes. Jean's mother and Carol notice Jean acting completely different from the person she use to be. One day after a painful visit with not only Lenny but a girl in the hospital named Debra, dying of leukemia at Jean's new volunteer job, she decides to go for a swim on the beach.

It is close to the condos and Jean can't help but be fascinated by the eyesores and it is there that she learns about the death of a teenage girl one year prior. Jean doesn't catch the first name but the last name is Cooper...

Everything else that follows is an area I want to keep spoiler free but it is still a very emotional rollercoaster of a book. There is a lot for Jean to deal with and it is more her story than Shari's but it handles that aspect surprisingly well in a serious tone than being some comical farce or a horrifying tale of a ghost taking over another girl's life.

I don't think that The Return deserves as much negativity as it does and I am kind of glad that I didn't let anyone else's opinion sway me away from reading this one for myself.

Much in the same way I don't think my opinion should stop you from reading it and decide for yourself whether The Return is worth remembering...or being forgotten.

Okay well maybe not forgotten but maybe not a book that will make your list of favorites...

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly enough, this book almost got a two. I think if it wasn't for my love for the character of Peter, it probably would have.

The Return did not live up to its predecessor unfortunately. This book had a lot of moments it could have done without (mainly, the random short story in the middle that was more self serving on the authors part seeing as how it didn't move the plot along at all) and the dialogue some of the time seemed more fanfiction than anything else. On top of that, I felt this book became too spiritual and relied more on this new notion of spreading a "message". Pike should have tweaked that to be less kitschy philosophical and told more about the fact that these two characters did get a chance at life again.

The good things about this book, though? There are still laugh out loud moment. Despite feeling like the dialogue was off some of the time, when Pike did get it right, he really got it right. There were moments were this book was smart and funny which is what I had come to expect from reading the first novel. The character of Shari has actually grown through the series and the darker understory of Peter is intriguing.

Overall, it is worth the read. But be prepared not to love it as much as book one.

[Meighan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed Remember Me, so at about age 14 I attempted to read Remember Me 2. I was devestated. Not because the writing was suddenly unreadable, but because the books depiction of Latin@-americans was based entirely on stereotypes and was, for a non-white girl in an urban environment, disturbing to read.

[Elijah Dye · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are very few books that stuck with me from my childhood as truly bad. If I remember correctly, I literally tossed this one away from me because I was so upset about how bad it was.
I don’t like to recommend people do Not read a book, as each person can take something different from it, but this one is a definite skip.

[Blanca Cruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

If i loved the first book i loved this one too !I liked how her and peter became wanderers and lives and learned from the rishi.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

White savior: ghost edition .

🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

[Daniel Stalter · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ll start out by saying that I have yet to give a negative review to a Christopher Pike book, so this will be my first. While Remember Me is rightfully celebrated as one of his best (and scariest) books, Remember Me 2 was a problematic mess. Its existence stands as a testament against making unnecessary sequels, even if the fans and publishers really want one. The book goes back and forth between the story of Jean Rodriguez, a Latinx girl living in a rough part of Los Angeles, and Shari Cooper, our protagonist from the first book who is now becoming further enlightened in heaven. While Jean’s story was both boring and laced with problematic representations of Latinx, queer, and disabled people, Shari’s chapters in heaven were insufferable, sanctimonious, and preachy. Literally, the only thing I liked about this book was the short story about the troll muse. It was shoehorned in and didn’t really fit with anything else, but I genuinely loved that story. The entire concept of Shari, the spirit of a rich white girl, being placed as a “wanderer” in the body of a troubled Latinx girl is problematic as fuck. This is a white savior narrative taken to a spiritual level. I get that it’s a product of its time, and that comes up a lot in these books, but I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one where the entire premise was this flawed. If you loved the first book, I recommend just stopping there and thinking of it as a stand-alone. I, however, am a glutton for punishment and will continue reading to see how this all wraps up in the final book of the trilogy.

Score: 0.5

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