Thank You @acmchughwriter for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Chloe Cates is missing. This was a solid novel for me. This book kept me guessing until the end. I enjoyed reading multiple perspectives as well as reading journal entries from Chloe. I cannot wait to read another book by this author!

This one was intriguing and had me questioning my social media. It was a great concept to make a book out of. Overall this book was thought provoking, addicting, and good!

Chloe Cates (real name Abby) is a child celebrity, whose Mother (Jennifer) is pushing her for success, eager to increase her status and presence in the online world of social media. When Chloe goes missing, it causes the start of the unraveling of this teenager's double life.

Told from multiple points of view, including diary entries written by Abby. These chapters give the reader an insight whilst building tension and suspense. This was hard to put down, as the curiosity of how this was all going to conclude became addictive. Fast-paced, full of family drama and characters that are loathed from the first few chapters, this is a great read for fans of this genre.

There are plenty of things to think about within this plot, including the dangers of the internet, and children not giving consent to having their lives shared online. When does it become too much? What impact does this have on their childhood? This would be an ideal book to discuss in book clubs.

Highly recommended read, and I will be looking out for more from this author in 2022.

Wait a minute! Debut?? WHAAAAT??? This was non-stop GREAT!! Holy cow! This story is a combination of a lot of things. A missing girl, a murdered girl, an overbearing stage mom, a great commentary on social media, detective with a secret, twists and turns, I could go on. Very well written and hard to believe it's a debut! Thank you to #NetGalley, Mandy McHugh and Penzler Publishers Scarlet Books for this ARC!

📚Book One of 2022: Chloe Cates Is Missing by Mandy McHugh

💬Readers digest version: Abigail Scarborough aka Chloe Cates and her mother Jennifer are hell bent on becoming “insta famous.” As “Chloe” starts to rebel from this dream of fame in favor of living a normal teenage life, Jennifer finds she is willing to do anything to maintain her daughter’s status as a famous influencer. The book kicks off with Chloe’s disappearance and reveals a tangled web of lies and deception so deep..no one saw it coming.

🏃🏻‍♀️My Take: not going to lie..I went into this one thinking it was going to be yet another predictable, one dimensional thriller…and hot damn was I ever wrong. This book managed to pull off using multiple narrators while also maintaining the character development of each one. The monster momager Jennifer is a fascinating thrill ride all on her own. If you need a twisty, turny, un-put-downable thriller to kick of 2022…this is the one. Make sure to scoop up Chloe Cates is Missing when it comes out February 15th!

🌟My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

🙏🏻Big thanks to @netgalley and @penzlerpub for the e-arc

The premise of this suspense novel is intriguing, but I couldn't get past the bland writing and the main character's usage of "fake" curse words.

This was a book that had me hating certain characters and not really liking any of them, but in a good way. Basically, you’re not really following any heros here. The writing style almost felt like I was reading a confessional scene in a reality show (not sure if that’s just me though) which I felt really suited the story itself. The characters make very questionable decisions but they fall in line with who the characters are. It’s a pretty solid story that I think a lot of people will enjoy, though it can be a bit predictable. The journey there was just a fun, hot mess.

Chloe Cates is missing. The window is left open in her room, her phone still by her bedside. The whole world is watching, thanks to Chloe’s mom, Nicole, who has thrust Chloe (Abigail) into the spotlight through her mommy blog since she was only four years old.
Local investigator Emilina Stone arrives on the scene to discover Nicole, her old best friend, with whom she shares a dark secret. Has history repeat itself? Has Abigail fled the spotlight for a quiet, private life? Or is there a local kidnapper targeting young girls?

Nothing is as it seems in this story of a missing teenage influencer and star of a hit YouTube series. Thanks to the dysfunctional parents (that's a kind description), this family is a mess!

Jennifer, the mom, is self-absorbed and controlling. To picture her, think of the tv show Dance Moms; Jennifer is a mom who wants fame, attention, and money far more than her daughter does. This mom cares more about clicks, likes, and shares than her children. Sadly, dad Jackson lives in denial about the state of his family. He's physical there with them but mentally absent.

Even though the parents are despicable, you feel for the children, Abby and JJ. JJ sincerely cares for his sister Abby (her stage name is Chloe), but as a 15-year-old, he can't help her. The family's social media empire dominates Abby's life, so she does not have any friends or outside interests. She is homeschooled because attending school would interfere with the family business. Her mother controls every aspect of her life, and Abby wants to be independent.

Yep, it's a lot. Did Abby disappear on her own? Or did someone take her?

The fact that everyone has secrets and is telling lies enhances this already intriguing mystery. This twisty story is riveting between the family drama, social media's pivotal role, and multiple POVs.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penzler Publishers, and Scarlet for a digital copy to read and enjoy.

An "un-put-down-able" suspenseful masterpiece. Chloe Cates is missing is a must-read for fans of suspenseful fiction.

Chloe Cates is Missing follows the sudden disappearance of Jojo Siwa-esque tween internet influencer Chloe Cates and the quest to find her. We get the perspective of Chloe's very unhinged momager, Jennifer, her aloof father Jackson, the lead detective Emilina, who harbors a secret past with Jennifer, and past tense Chloe through diary entries. (I'm sorry y'all, I tried to condense that as best I could, but there's a lot going on here.) Not only are we investigating the disappearance of Chloe, but we're looking at this family and their whole weird deal, and also getting pulled into this mystery of Jennifer and Emilina's past that involves ~a dead body.~

Needless to say, this is fast paced. I sped through it, reading it over the course of an NYE snowstorm. I just found this on NetGalley randomly and had never heard anyone talk about it, but something about the premise gripped me. I love reading about and analyzing the relatively recent history of internet personalities, social media, etc, so I knew this would be up my alley in that sense at least. This kept me thoroughly entertained. I never knew for sure where this was headed, and there wasn't a single character I trusted, right up until the last page.

If I think about this book too hard though, I can see there are a lot of holes. The secret history of Jennifer and Emilina felt both entirely unbelievable and anticlimactic, although it did make me really hold a big question mark above Emilina who, going into this, I thought would be our voice of reason in this whole mess. I also had a hard time truly understanding what everyone's motivations were as this went on. I'd sometimes get it, but then it would sort of slip through my fingers. The ending to this is relatively open ended, so if that's something that frustrates you in thrillers, especially whodunnit sort of stories, this might be a let down for you. It didn't bother me much at all. In fact, even though it was sort of nonsensical, it also made the whole story feel a lot scarier in the end.

All in all though, I got what I wanted from this - a fast-paced thriller with bat shit characters that I could zoom through on a holiday weekend. I think for a debut especially this is pretty good. Mandy McHugh doesn't rely on cheap plot twists or reveals that have been done 100 times before, and I appreciated that. Will definitely keep my eye out and read more from her in the future.

Thank you Penzler Publishers and NetGalley for an e-arc.

The whole mommy blogger/influencer world is pretty terrifying and I think the author raised some very relevant questions about consent from the children involved and other online privacy concerns. I also really liked how the author left the ending. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from the author in the future.

A tightly plotted thriller, this book flows quickly and keeps you turning the page throughout. The characters are well developed and the book is enjoyable from start to finish

Synopsis: The disappearance of a young internet celebrity ignites a firestorm of speculation on social media, and to find her a detective will have to extinguish the blaze.
Chloe Cates is missing. The 13-year-old star of the hit YouTube series, “CC and Me,” has disappeared, and nobody knows where she’s gone.

Review: The book is a typical domestic thriller with the added element of a young teenage influencer. The story is told through the eyes of the mother, father, and the assigned detective; as well as some chapters from Chloe's diary.
One of my favourite tropes is used in this book - the detective assigned to the case, and Chloe's mother Jennifer have a shared secret from 20 years ago.
There were turns and surprising elements to the book and I enjoyed it.

My only issue was the references to popular media were a bit too often for me.

This book sounded so intriguing and at the start I was really into it, but as it continued I began to lose interest. I felt like I did not like any of the characters in the book, so I found it difficult when reading their thoughts. This book has chapters from the POV of Jennifer, Emilina and also from the diary of Chloe Cates. I felt like this book had a lot of potential at the start but then it sort of just fizzled out for me. That being said I have seen quite a few great reviews for this book so you may really enjoy it. I just found it was not really for me.
Thank you to @Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book which releases on the 18th of January.

This was ok, I liked the concept but it did fall a bit flat for me with the writing and just the way the storyline unfolded.

2⭐

Chloe Cates is missing! Chloe is the thirteen year old star of CC and Me, a web series created by her ruthless Momager, Jennifer. All looks good on the outside ... BUT ... Chloe is sick of it all, with no life other than the blog, she’s starting to rebel. Is she really missing or has she run away? Another thirteen year old girl is also missing, could the two possibly be connected? When Emilina Stone enters the investigation she quickly realizes that there is a connection between her and Jennifer, a connection that she would just as soon keep buried, one that could change her entire life. Can she remain objective or should she pass on the case? Told in multiple voices, the unlikable, dysfunctional Scarborough family starts to unravel. Will their fairy tale empire remain or will it crumble completely under the public scrutiny?

Chloe Cates is missing....Or is she?
That is the premise of this wonderful book by Mandy McHugh. At thirteen years old Chloe is sick of being in the spotlight of her mom's YouTube channel. When she disappears the questions begin of is Chloe is really missing? IS this just a publicity stunt or did Chloe finally had enough of the spotlight and run away?

This book makes you question the lengths a person will go to for fame, how psychologically damaging it can be for a child with fame-hungry parents and the after effects on a child star who has had to suffer this kind of manipulation and psychological abuse from his/her parents. It also reminds you of other books that looks at Munchausen by Proxy.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The first half of this was so intriguing, I loved the crime aspect of it and getting pieces along the way to help you solve the huge puzzle. After the half way point then it felt like it started to drag and I just wanted to hurry and know where Chloe was and what happened. The ending was okay, and the mom is definitely cray throughout, but I was just hoping for more.

Thank you for the advance copy

This was such a good read. It’s about a girl Abygail who is known as Chloe Cates and she has gone missing. Another girl is found dead. Will Abigail be found dead or alive