I DNF'ed this one after trying to get through it multiple times. The story was compelling, but the writing just wasn't there.

What a book! I was absolutely gripped the entire way through. I really appreciated the way that the author wasn't afraid to go dark - I find a lot of YA thrillers hold back and underestimate the intelligence of the reader, but Throwaway Girls didn't at all. It is a very emotionally intelligent book, and one I'm sure I will return to, and will definitely recommend.

When her best friend Madison goes missing, Caroline, a prep school student with three months left until graduation and freedom from her domineering parents, decides to look for her, despite everyone telling her to leave it alone. When she digs deeper, she discovers a trail of missing young women, though many are considered “less than” so they’ve fallen through the cracks. Determined to find Madison and get justice, Caroline sets out to uncover who’s been hurting the region’s girls.

This book has a great premise, very “Gossip Girl” meets “Pretty Little Liars.” The mystery really pulled me in and I was really intrigued to figure out what the heck was going on. I did not figure it out at all. There were quite a few twists and turns in there. But I felt quite satisfied with the ending. It really seemed to fit well.

The main issue was really the protagonist, Caroline. She’s not early likable. She’s kinda miserable. But she’s a teenager so….I guess that’s par for the course right? I enjoyed seeing her emotional development over the course of the book. I do think she matured.

Overall this was an excellent YA thriller. Perfect for fans of the genre!

A huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of Throwaway Girls in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

I am a sucker for anything mystery and thriller, and when I saw this book it looked so interesting and I just had to read it.

Caroline is a senior student at a wealthy high school. On the outside, she’s acting to be the perfect student and daughter. On the inside, she’s crumbling from the weight for her parents’ expectations and from the heartbreak of her girlfriend’s leaving. Three months, and then she can graduate and leave. But when her best friend Madison disappears, she knows she has to find her. She can’t trust the police, for her own reasons, but she owes it to Madison, so she works with her other friends to find out what happened. However, she might not like what she finds.

The storyline of Throwaway Girls was definitely interesting. I’ve read several mystery novels where the lead plays detective and tries to solve the mystery, but they’re all different in their own way. And this book was also different from them. The intrigue starts off immediately in the prologue, and then shifts the focus to the present: Caroline’s best friend is missing. Unfortunately, that’s when my interest started declining. The pace was slow and seemed to be repetitive; shefinds a clue and follows it to a place, there she finds another clue, and so on. However, the pace did pick back up later on and it did keep my rather hooked. The problem I found I had with this book was that it didn’t give me the amount of thrill I seek when reading mysteries and thrillers. The suspense wasn’t as satisfying or gripping. That did affect my enjoyment of the book as a whole.

Another thing I wasn’t too big a fan of: the revelation at the end. There were more than one, and a couple of them I had already guessed. But the large, central one was the one I didn’t like. (It may be difficult to explain without spoilers, but I’m going to do my best.) The reason didn’t seem just. I mean, it usually isn’t in these kinds of novels, but it didn’t seem just to the plot. Through the whole book we spent wondering “what happened?” so at the end we expect a huge confession, something we totally were not expecting or a hidden reason that when shed light upon, keeps us at the edge of our seats and makes us go damn. But that didn’t happen for me. The reason behind the antagonist's motives, I think, was stupid. Maybe that’s how the author wanted to make it, but it really ticked me off that this is what I got. Now, don’t get me wrong, the ending was still pretty interesting and suspenseful and I wanted to know how it would all play out. So I didn’t let that ruin my enjoyment of the last quarter of the book.

Overall, I rate this book 3/5. stars

I’m looking for a word to describe how I felt reading this book. The regular ones - enjoyed, interested, and even engaged certainly don’t seem to fit. This was a hard book to read. Caroline’s experiences as she attempts to determine what has happened to her friend Madison, and all of her background that is revealed as she goes about this makes for heavy reading. The discussion of throwaway girls - the ones the police don’t seem to care enough about to look into - is all too real, as are the cultural, class, and race commentaries brought up. This book... it was hard. And heavy. And thought-provoking, and slightly depressing, but very raw and real. If you’re looking for a light read, skip this. If you want something deeper, give this a shot. I know it’ll stick with me for awhile.

This YA thriller from debut author, Andrea Contos, kept me guessing and intrigued.
As soon as one question was answered, another happened and I couldn't wait to not only know what happened, but who did it and why.
I won't lie. I hesitated to read about a thriller set within the world of gay conversion therapy as I find the practice abhorrent, but Contos told a story that pushed the boundaries and asked "why?"
Hopefully, it will make many others ask the same questions.
Strong work.

I was originally drawn in to this novel due to the high school student element of it all, and that was definitely an aspect to be found in this novel. The beginning was a tad slow but once I got into it the mystery had me hooked and I didn't guess the outcome at all! I also loved the variety of representation!

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Great plot! I love the pacing. It is very well written

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

Dark and moody, this book hits hard from start to finish. An abundance of names and subplots muddy the waters at first, but as the reveals take place your propelled to a breathtaking ending.

I love thrillers but this one fell a little flat for me. It was confusing to me and I wasn't really sure what was going on. However, I stuck with it and it did get better as I was able to dive into the story more. The neding provided quite a twist and I love that!

While reading this I try to keep it mind it is written for a younger audience. That being said it was a good captivating book. I felt some of it dragged a bit in the middle at times. There was a lot of filler in it. That twist at the end I didn't see coming. Great ending!

honestly, this was an okay book. it definitely wasn't the best thing in the world. i do think the author tried to compact so many things into this small book it got to be kind of crazy, which also let things be brought up, but never really explained, since there was so many thing in here. i also didn't completely understand the whole family structure, and there was all this talk about the mom's boyfriends, but then she was married to Caroline's dad, so this overall just needed more explanation. but, overall this was still a decent book, not the best but also not thee worst.

Great read!!! This book did kind of start out slow for me. It was also somewhat confusing at first. However, the pace picked up and I was excited to find out if Madison would be found. There was so much happening and I just could not figure who kidnapped Madison and why. Would Caroline get hurt trying to find her friend? I did feel bad for Caroline because she lost her Best friend and didnt know if she was okay or not. Before her friend went missing her girlfriend moved away. So Caroline was lonely in a world that she felt like she had no one and could trust no one. She had so many secrets, then she finds out shes not the only one. Madison has secrets and her her ex girlfriend had secrets. I am not sure how I feel about the ending though. It was very fast paced and surprising which I loved. But there were some things I did not like but I will not share that due to spoilers.

Throwaway Girls is a YA mystery with real bite, delving into cutting social commentary and forcing you to question the imbalance around victimhood and who is considered ‘good enough’ to be a victim.

Cantos leads you down so many distracting paths, constantly keeping you guessing. One aspect of the book that I really enjoyed was the use of an intriguing extra POV, whose identity isn’t revealed until later in the book. This adds to the suspense and sense of dishonesty lurking behind this facade of respectability clad in privilege and wealth, which is arguably the key theme of the book. Some of the girl’s cases are dismissed and considered less important because of their social class and individual situations, rather than demanding justice for all. It calls into question who fits this ‘ideal’ victimhood and sadly reflects real life.

I really liked Contos’ writing style, which felt eloquent while also successfully capturing the essence of teenage voices. It was engaging and easy to follow along, though she threw in some narrative curveballs that hit home hard. The reveals are so well-executed and logically built up to, though I was still surprised. We delve into some dark places in the story, but I felt like this was well-handed and I would encourage readers to check trigger warnings. Contos doesn’t shy away from the ugly reality of many of these topics, but it never feels exploitative or shocking just for the sake of it.

Caroline was a great protagonist. I really liked the fact that she wasn’t perfect, but her loyalty and underlying commitment to finding justice and the truth really shone through. She’s all too human: complex, messy and scarred by her traumatic experiences. Throughout, she’s trying to find her place in the world and somewhere that accept all of her, as she has to hide her identity from her parents.

Throwaway Girls is a stimulating, complex YA mystery with uncomfortable roots in the truth of our world.

Too many POVs for me but interesting enough. I liked it but felt like some of it was pretty slow at points. Thanks for the advanced copy of this book.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of THROWAWAY GIRLS by Andrea Contos in exchange for my honest review.***

I was very excited for this YA mystery/thriller, but it unfortunately fell flat for me. The differing POVs were confusing, the beginning was very slow, and the main character was forgettable. The plotline was done well, but the rest of the novel could've been better.

Hi, I lost the eARC of this book so I won't be able to review this book. I hope you understand. I really wanted to read it but unfortunately my phone got formatted and I lost the copy.

3.5

Throwaway Girls was one emotional ride after the other. It really a bit slow to pick up, but overall kept me interested until the very end.

There were moments when the plot would pick up, and puzzles pieces were slotted in, that had me just clutching at my e-reader because I didn’t want to believe it. While not a very happy book, and I wouldn’t read it if you’re looking for a happy ending, I wouldn’t turn away your chance at picking this book up.

3.5 stars. This is a very dark take on a missing girl/murder mystery, which I was not immediately sold on but that really grew on me.

It took a minute to get into — the style seemed a bit overwrought to me at first, but I got used to it and grew to like it. I think if you like a dark noir-ish tone, you’ll like this one. It almost reminded me of Veronica Mars (although the darker eps, not the really quippy ones. But the main character is def a smart-ass who hates the cops like Veronica).

I like that it both falls into and undermines the trope of “rich white girl at a fancy private school tries to solve a mystery,” in getting into the girls who go missing who aren’t white and/or rich so nobody cares about. It feels like a very realistic murder mystery, in that the cops are useless and/or actively harmful.

I would’ve liked the pacing/stakes to be a bit faster/higher overall (the middle in particular dragged a bit), but it was impossible to stop reading towards the end. There was one aspect of the ending I didn’t like at first, but I think maybe that was the only option that made sense. Everything else about the ending was great, and wrapped up all the strands really well.

TW violence (including murder), poisoning, mentions of/discussion of conversion therapy (not seen on the page)

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

Caroline is nearly free from the restraints of her parents and the small town that she lives in, she can go off and live her life free and be with Willa. That is until Willa disappears and then her best friend Madison vanishes. Caroline should have kept her head down but she knows something isn't right in their smalltown and also Madison wouldn't just run away from her life here without telling Caroline. Armed with a few clues, Caroline will try and hunt down what happened to Madison starting with a bar that she has frequented quite a lot called The Wayside Bar. As the book goes along, Caroline joins forces with Jake who was in a Friends with Benefits relationship with Madison - the latest in Madison's conquests. As the pair goes searching, they will discover that Madison is just another in a very long line of girls that have gone missing and never found again. The clues will send Caroline and Jake on what could become a death sentence as along the way people she has talked to are either killed or threatened. Can Caroline find out what happened to Madison? Will she like what she finds especially when she learns the killer is closer to her than she ever thought and was somebody she trusted. Throwaway Girls also does involve scenes of abuse caused by conversion camps and LGBT scenes. Overall, if you are looking for a fun YA thriller that will leave you guessing till the very last few chapters, then check out Throwaway Girls by Andrea Contos today. Fans of Karen McManus and Sara Shepard will enjoy it.