3 Stars

Now I'm a HUGE fan of YA prep school stories and had extremely high hopes for this one, but I think it missed the mark a little.

It's extremely well written and has great perspective of a 17 year old affluent girl who hates what her parents want for her to become. I also loved the other characters : Jake, Aubrey, Willa, and Marcel. I just found the killer was easy to figure out and the motive behind his actions wasn't explained very well. Also, some parts were a bit slow and the good parts were a bit choppy.

Overall, I think this was an entertaining read and look forward to seeing what Andrea Contos comes out with next!

A special thank you to NetGalley, Kids Can Press, and Andrea Contos for providing me with an ARC.

This was an amazing thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed!
While it started off slow, it soon enough picked up enough to make me stick with it which I'm glad for since I turned out to love it!

Caroline is a great MC to read about since she is loyal and protective of her friends and also, has her own secrets that she is trying to protect!
The suspense was also very nice, with clues given that made you point in the right direction but also suspect everyone and everything at the same time!

I also enjoyed the romance, although maybe t could have been a bit better.

I actually quit this book because I wasn't in the right mood for it at the time.

I don't have any issues, but have no intentions to give it another try in the very near future!

No full review to come!

3.5 stars

Mmm I really thought this would be a 5 star read for me, because of the synopsis, but it didn’t turn out that way. The book is written really well, and the I like Caroline,Jake and Aubrey. But, it felt like nothing was happening sometimes, and at others it was just a rush. I also figured out the culprit, and there was no connection established(except in the later cases)to the MC.

I do look forward to reading the author’s other books.

Thank you to NetGalley for this eArc to read and review.

I love thrillers and was excited to check out this YA thriller. I think it was a pretty solid story, although I did figure stuff out before the end and there were no huge plot twists. It was good and I think young adult readers will enjoy it a lot.

I think Caroline the protagonist is a character students will be able to connect with while reading. I like the social issues and the discussion that this book addresses. I think it would be great for a book club with young adult readers and provide some really great discussions and commentaries.

I would definitely purchase this book for my class library.

likes
- lgbt+ rep in a mystery/thriller
- social commentary on who is considered a "throwaway girl"

dislikes
- pretty slow moving until the last bit
- no motive or reasoning is ever given for the killer
- everything just felt so messy and I was confused for most of this; I felt like I was plopped down into a story that had already started and wasn't given enough backstory/info to catch me up
- one of my least favorite twists/tropes -SPOILER [we're reading from two perspectives & don't know who the second is and the people in both perspectives are the same person but go by different names.. bleh

This was a really solid thriller and I enjoyed my time reading it. Young adult mysteries can be so hit or miss but this was a hit for sure!!

The mystery was compelling, the characters were interesting and I’m really glad that I read it! I can’t wait to read more of the authors work in the future!

✨REVIEW✨ Publication Date: 9/1/2020
🌟🌟🌟 3/5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Kids Can Press for the ARC.

Throwaway Girls was a 3 star mystery for me. The book is about Caroline, a wealthy teen attending a private school, who is grappling with the disappearance of her best friend and a heartbreaking breakup with her girlfriend. Caroline decides to take matters into her own hands and solve the mystery of what happened to her best friend. She soon discovers the “throwaway girls”, girls who have also disappeared, but have not received the same amount of media and police attention due to their low social and economic status.

Throwaway Girls has a good storyline and is darker than the usual YA thriller. It is definitely a slow burn mystery and I struggled at times to get into the story. However, it is a solidly written mystery that addresses many important topics. Fans of Karen M. McManus and Holly Jackson should check this book out when it releases on 9/1/2020.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, that was not a book for me. The ideas were there, but I found the execution to be very lacking. I didn't like the writing, it felt plain and a little confusing, which was ultimately the reason I couldn't finish reading.

This was... fine. The story is twisty and very convoluted at some points, detrimentally so. I wouldn't say you need to necessarily suspend your disbelief, but there are a few moments where it felt like the I-Guess.gif meme. The main character also goes through misery after misery, which can be realistic but also was tiring at some point. Even sections of her happiness were clouded with sadness. The twist was interesting, though towards the climax I was able to correctly guess how the book was going to end.

This book was solidly good, but not quite great. The writing felt disjointed, with a relatively slow first half & and a fast paced interesting second half. The characters were interested but I struggled to connect with them- that being said I felt deeply connected to the larger theme... that society does not equally value or support disenfranchised individuals.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫 rounded to 4.

Promise you won’t forget us. Don’t forget to let the light in. Love is forever.

I would describe this novel as beautiful prose. The story is well written and captivates your attention with well descriptive metaphors. The story follows Caroline Waverly Lawson, a graduating high school student from St. Francis Preparatory Academy, gay and from a wealthy family. She’s a miracle child for her parents who believe that she will be straight when she attended a conversion camp. Caroline struggles connecting with her parents due to her being gay and decided that she will leave her parents once she turns eighteen, three days away after her graduation. Until her best friend, Madison was reported missing.

The Wayside Diner is Caroline’s second home when things are turning south at home. Caroline met Willa at the diner’s walkway and soon they had a relationship. Willa decided to leave for California to pursue her dream of going to college and Caroline was left heartbroken. Unbeknownst to Caroline, Willa lied about the real reason she left her.

The story explored the issues of class differences, social injustices, and LGBTQ phobia which highly mirrors some of the current issues in our society. I do have mixed feelings with the story though, thinking that if Caroline is not wealthy, she may have not involve herself in her best friend’s investigation. She may have just let the law officers do their jobs. But since she worries so much about her best friend and due to her reasons for not trusting the police, she decided to take matters into her own hands. Another question that comes to mind is, what is the killer’s motive of abducting underprivileged girls of the community?

The story is engaging with surprising twists at the end. I find this YA thriller enthralling and would surely check out the author’s future works.

I'm grateful to the publisher and to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review the eARC of this novel.

I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars

I was super intrigued by this story when I read the synopsis, but for some reason it didn’t totally grab me. I think it’s because there were quite a few characters and I had a bit of trouble keeping them all separate. Especially when two of them used different names. I had not guessed who the killer was. But I do want to know what his motive was, it never really said why. Also I want the victims perspective.
Overall it was decent.

Thank You NetGalley/Publisher & Author for this gifted e-ARC.

Summary:
Caroline Lawson is three months away from freedom, otherwise known as graduation day. That's when she'll finally escape her rigid prep school and the parents who thought they could convert her to being straight.

Until then, Caroline is keeping her head down, pretending to be the perfect student even though she is crushed by her family and heartbroken over the girlfriend who left for California.

But when her best friend Madison disappears, Caroline feels compelled to get involved in the investigation. She has her own reasons not to trust the police, and she owes Madison — big time.

Review:
Throwaway Girls was a very interesting YA thriller.
I like this novel. It was very easy to read. Very enjoyable. I liked it.
This book will really get you thinking a lot.
It was beautifully written, the plot, twist. I loved it

Rating: 4/5

OOOOP!

I am conflicted about this one. I liked it, I loved it and then I didn't. Would I recommend it? Probably yes, if you are new to the YA thriller genre, but if you are into the genre for a while, this will definitely not blow your mind.
The story had so much potential, like every YA thriller does where the MC is in search of her kidnapped/disappeared friend and to be honest, I was loving the thriller quite a lot till the middle, it definitely had SADIE-esque vibes but with lesser gloom (if you have read Sadie you will get what I mean by this) but then the characters just didn't woo me.

Caroline, for starters was quite likeable at the beginning and I was empathized with her but after some time, she got on my nerves. I, for instance thought the plot was heading to a strong climax for real but how the author (tried) to tie up the ends and the reasons behind the disappearnce of Madison just didn't sit well with me. SORRY. But, this is just my opinion and IF YOU ARE SOMEONE WHO LIKES UNPREDICTABILITY YOU MIGHT FALL IN LOVE WITH THE ENDING.

This book was a very entertaining thriller on the surface, but brought so much more with it in terms of social issues, LGBTphobia, surviving, and so much more. This was a good but not perfect read, and a lot of it felt a little forced, which I excused a bit for this being a debut. Even though some things were not entirely credible to me & I ended up guessing the murderer pretty early on, I still kept turning pages and wanted to know how things would end. This was a very good read!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

Caroline is only three months away from freedom, from leaving her prep school with its stern rules and away from her parents, who don't accept her sexuality. So she has to keep her head down, but everything is turn upside down when her best friend, Madison, disappears. Not able to trust the police, Caroline decides to conduct her own investigation, trying to understand what happened to Madison and discovering uncomfortable secrets. The investigation becomes even more complicated by her teacher, Mr McCormack and by the knowledge that other girls are missing. Girls from other social classes, whose disappearance didn't attract the same attention Madison's did.

Throwaway girls is a captivating and intense thriller, full of twists and intriguing plot, with interesting characters, able to capture the reader's attention and involving him/her/them in the story, until the very end. I really liked reading the book, the story was absolutely thrilling and I enjoyed the investigation, I was involved.

thanks for the ARC. this book surprised me, poetic, heart breaking , gritty and so real. a heroine we care about and many thruths mixed in the mystery. I believe this is her first novel, will be on the lookout for others

I have been raving to friends and strangers alike ever since I read this stunning debut. By the end of the first page, I knew I would read anything Andrea Contos wrote for the rest of time. The prose was so gorgeous, the narrator's words both haunting and captivating. This book is a super fast page-turner with nuanced, complex characters that keeps you guessing until the very end.

I've already pre-ordered two copies, one for myself and one to give as a gift, though I suspect I'll be doing that more than once!

Throwaway Girls is a must-read!

He grabs my wrist, tracing over the scar on my left hand with a wide fingertip. “What are these from?”
“Fire.”
His eyes flare wide. “They set you on fire?”
“No. I set the building on fire.”

Okay, so this was surprisingly good!
I was really tired of the best-friend disappearing trope, but Throwaway Girls makes it work. The main reason is that Madison’s disappearance isn’t due to some dark secret that Caroline has been hiding. Yes, Caroline has secrets, but Madison has much bigger ones, ones that got her in trouble. So this is a proper mystery. Yes, there are flashbacks, and a couple things that the author hides from us until the end, but this is a proper whodunnit.
I found the mystery to be very, very gripping. The pacing of this book was great. It never felt boring, and it never felt too fast. The clues wind around enough to keep you guessing, but enough to make you lose hope. However, the villain’s motivations are not well fleshed out, but it felt awfully realistic so it wasn’t a huge problem.
There is a lot of discussion about class in this book. Caroline goes to an uber-fancy prep school, where around 85% of the kids live on campus. The world outside campus, however, is not nearly as well-off. And this is where the problem starts. Caroline sets herself up as an ally, someone who has been immersing herself in the less savory parts of the nearby towns. However, she often comes off as preachy when she dips into this topic. The fact that she finds the perp who has been snatching girls from the “wrong side of town” stinks of a savior narrative. Still, the fact that the book repeatedly acknowledges this, and shows that Caroline doesn’t know it all, makes it a lot more digestible.
Caroline’s sexuality also makes up a large plot point in this book, with the “conversion” mentioned in the blurb being an obvious source of a lot of trauma and mental anguish. My only bone to pick was how late we find out that Caroline is bi (as opposed to lesbian). Would not be a big deal at all if she didn’t most of the book being sidekicked by a guy (who knows that she’s bi). Super minor, but it obviously flipped a switch in the way that I looked at him.
The way that time flows in this book is a little weird. I could not, for the life of me, keep track of how many days and nights passed. At a couple points in the book, a reminder is dropped in (ex: it’s been four days since Madison disappeared), but it was a little confusing overall. Along the same lines, the physical movements of the characters also seemed a little clunky. Like if a character is sitting behind you and then suddenly they’re … on top of you? It was a little difficult to follow at times, but it didn’t get in the way of the story.
Overall though, this book has a very solid plot. Though there were a couple small hitches in the details, the story is very gripping and keeps you on your toes the whole way through.