I appreciate that the author had the courage to go all the way. In a story about girls this young, I think some people would have pulled their punches. But this story isn't afraid to let its characters be vile, which is much more realistic.

Chloe Cates is Missing by Mandy McHugh centers around young Chloe, an internet star. Her mother Jen absolutely drinks in the attention her daughter gets and is what you’d call a classic momager.

When Chloe disappears, Jen’s entire life is thrown upside down for many reasons. Jen of course turns to social media to help but you can imagine how that goes, as the search intensifies and the attention on Jen is multiplied. I loved this timely story!

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 — least of all ruthless momager Jennifer Scarborough, who has spent much of her daughter’s young life crafting a child celebrity persona that is finally beginning to pay off. And in Chloe’s absence, the faux-fairytale world that supported that persona begins to fracture, revealing secrets capable of reducing the highly-dysfunctional Scarborough family to rubble.

Anxious to find her daughter and preserve the life she’s worked so hard to build, Jennifer turns to social media for help, but the hearsay, false claims, and salacious suspicions only multiply. As the search becomes as sensational as Chloe’s series, Missing Persons detective Emilina Stone steps in, only to realize she has a connection to this case herself. Will she be able to stay objective and cut through the rumors to find the truth before it’s too late?

This is a relatively new concept for me when it comes to the genre of mystery and thriller. The idea that it is an influencer / internet celebrity who goes missing is modern and I enjoyed it.

When internet sensation Chloe Cates goes missing, the world is watching. Detective Emilina Stone takes the case, even after realizing that she had a past history with the family.

What a debut! I could not put this one down. Yes, some of the characters were a little over the top and exaggerated, but it was just so darn entertaining. I couldn’t believe some of the twists that happened at the end; I never would have seen the coming. There’s a lot of pop culture and tik-tok references that I didn’t get and just made me feel old, but that’s what google is for. This is one where you will want to re-read to pick up missed clues. There’s also a lot of history and depth for the size of the novel.

“They say - whoever they are - a person’s true colors show in moments of unimaginable hardship. I thought I knew who we were. I thought I knew what our family was.

Chloe Cates Is Missing comes out 1/18.

I flew by this! I was unable to put it down. An intriguing page turner.

The story is about 13 year old Chloe Cates who has been an internet star since she was 4 and her mother Jennifer started her blog “CC AND ME”, and then became obsessed by likes and attention. She will do anything for the fame, but then Chloe disappears and her world crashes.

A great and enjoyable thriller.

Ruthlessly Compelling…
Young, talented internet sensation, Chloe, is missing and, momager Jennifer Scarborough appears to be on the case. Told from multiple viewpoints in a ruthlessly compelling narrative this is a first class suspense with unexpected twists and turns, a superlatively drawn cast of characters and a creeping sense of menace. First class.

Well to start off with I thought I am not going to enjoy this but then it got so much better. This is a book that you cannot just read, you have to concentrate with all the timelines and memories. Wow what a mother, I thought some of the mums on the school run were bad, this takes it to a whole different level. Really wish the dad would have protected Chloe/Abby more.

This is definitely worth a read and raises a lot of questions.

I was given an advance copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

This book! It started so incredibly strong - missing internet famous 13 year old, perfect family, idyllic neighborhood. I mean...IM IN!

Unfortunately about 1/2 way through it not only became very repetitive, but we started getting introduced to one too many characters and there were so many sub plots from 30 years ago, to these new characters issues, to the Mom and Detective having a past. But none of them ever really came to fruition in the story, they just added unnecessary pages/word count and confusion to the reader.

Then the ending. There wasn't one. I hate a book that ends the way this did. I just spent the better part of 8 days reading this and was not given an ending. Everything and I mean everything was left up in the air and I just think that is a disservice to the reader. This book has the makings of a huge hit, but I think it needs another round of edits.

Unfortunately this fell flat for me - I hope the finished copy went through more edits than my ARC copy did, because this could seriously be a mega hit.

The copy I received was too messy to read which was rather unfortunate because I was excited to read this book.

One star
No ending. What a convicted jumble of a mess. I had such high hopes for this book and it is beyond horrible. What a mess.

Chloe Cates is Missing was a wild ride that kept you wondering what had actually happened until this very last page! I loved that even when I was almost finished with the entire story I didn't feel like I had pieced together everything! It also reveals the scary truth of what can happen with social media obsessions. You will definitely have lots of feelings about Jen and Abby's relationship. A fast page turner that I'd recommend!

My first five star for the year!! 👋🏻

At the beginning of 2021, I binged a lot of physiological thrillers that fell flat at times with their twists/ending. Don’t get me wrong, they were still good but not five star good! I went into this book with zero expectations and it worked out!

In Chloe Cates Is Missing, we meet 13 year-old “influencer” Chloe! Chloe became known to the world at the age of four from the blog “CC & Me”, created by her mother Jennifer. Almost ten years later and Chloe is fed up with the “perfect” life, being an influencer, and being her moms main attention. Jennifer on the other hand, has no plans of stopping the blog, in fact she’s working really hard on getting the blogs views back up! Chloe wants out and Jennifer is obsessed with the blog going viral. How far will they go to get their way?

This story had me enthralled from beginning to end. A LOT was happening but it somehow worked and completely made sense. Trying to find out what happened to Chloe had me on edge. However, finding out who did it was a lot of back and forth, which some might find annoying. For me, it stopped just in time lol
The story is told from the POV of the detective, Jennifer, and Jackson. Which I enjoyed, I also enjoyed getting to know Abbey through her journal entries! I absolutely hated the parents lol which I’m pretty sure was the whole point! This family was dysfunctional and I loved it 🥴
I also enjoyed seeing the behind the scenes to a blogger family, truly what made me want to read it in the first place.

The ending could’ve been better. Let’s just say I have questions dammit!!

Overall, it was a good read!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an early copy in exchange for my honest review!

I recommend. Keep me engaged and interested, thank you for the advance chance to read this. I’ve already told family and friends about it

3-4 stars. I don’t know how I feel about this one, found it to be good at parts, but muddled a bit at others. I think maybe the author tried a bit too much on adding too many different things within one book and it would gave been better with a bit less. Overall, I was able to read it all and did enjoy for the most part. Would recommend to those whom are okay with a bit of confusion.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers for the eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Release date: January 18th, 2022

Synopsis: Teen influencer and YouTube star, Chloe Cates, is an internet sensation, thanks to her mother, Jennifer. Since her daughter was young, Jennifer began sharing parenting stories and advice on her blog, CC and Me which include the life of the loving mother, their beautiful family, and the ever so sensational CC, who their world revolves around. From the outside looking in, the Scarborough’s have it all .. or so it seemed. When Chloe goes missing, the lies and deception begin to unravel before their eyes and is a perfect example of that everything you see on social media isn't always as it seems to be.

Talk about a Lifetime movie in a book! If you've ever been intrigued by family bloggers or celebrity children then this book brings an interesting twist into just that! This book had me hooked from the first page all the way until the end and I cannot lie every time that I thought I knew what was going to happen the next page completely caught me off guard. Such a great read!

I was on the fence about purchasing this one for my high school library, as it is an adult mystery with some teen appeal. But there is a LOT going on in the book, which makes the plot really muddled. Kidnapping, murder, some sort of horrific childhood event that doesn't come until way late in the book then seems ridiculously implausible, influencers, catfishing, weirdly-places flashbacks, more murder. I would have enjoyed it more if it weren’t so all over the place, as the general premise is appealing. Not my personal cup of tea overall.

Read this if…you watch reality shows with momagers like Dance Moms or Toddlers and Tiaras.

Jenn is the mastermind behind the popular blog “CC and Me,” where she chronicles her life with her young teenage daughter Chloe Cates. Most of what people see on the blog or at CC’s meet and greets is just an act though. Chloe is actually Abby Scarborough and while she originally enjoyed all of the attention her mom and sponsors lavished on her because of the blog over the years, she’s starting to struggle with balancing who she really is with her alter ego.

Jenn is relentless, as a lot of momagers can be, and controls Abby’s world to the smallest details in an effort to get her daughter to Hollywood. So it’s not a total surprise one day when Abby disappears. Until the cops find some gruesome clues that lead to a body of another local girl who went missing. Time is ticking as the police and Abby’s parents race against the clock to find the missing social media star before it’s too late.

Mark your calendars for this upcoming release because it was so good! I could have easily read this book in one sitting if I had enough time in my schedule. From the first few chapters, I was totally hooked on the mystery and unprepared for all the twists and turns! I loved hating Jenn’s character because wow! Was she an awful human being! The ending made everything come back full circle. I enjoyed the multiple POVs and the flashbacks into the past which helped explain a little bit more about why Jenn was the way she was. I had no clue who to believe and so the suspense never let up!

A big thank you to Netgalley, the author, and Penzler Publishing for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My rating: 4.5/5

Very disappointing.
The story is told from a number of different perspectives but at times I couldn't remember who was talking, which was confusing. More importantly though, there was too much hinting and not enough being delivered, the tension just wasn't building.
From the beginning McHugh hints at a very dark secret in the past, linking the two protagonists. She brings it up so much, the suspernse is gone: there was obviously a death or murder, and it was obviously another person, since they are both there to (not) tell the tale.
Some twists are surprising, but I wasn't sold on the story or the storytelling and I just wanted to finally know what happened, but it was built-up annoyance more than suspense.
It's a shame because the story of the disappearance itself - without the backstory - would make a good plot in itself.

Inside look at life behind the scenes of a successful influencer. The toll fame takes on a family, the relationships and the child star of blog/Instagram/videos was brutal. This story is told from multiple perspectives with a past and present timeline. Lead detective, Emilia, has a very interesting past with Jennifer. The backstory of these two characters was so important to the story. Really gave a lot of depth to the characters and showed how one person can become so focused on being an “it”person in real or “perceived “ real life. Great pacing and mystery with the added mystery of Emilia and Jennifer’s past. A little “twist’ near the end. Definitely raises questions about right and wrong and justice. Thoroughly enjoyed this one and highly recommend to fans of mysteries and influencers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Scarlet, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to like this much more than I did.

Chloe Cates isn't a real person. She's the celebrity social media persona Jennifer Scarborough created for her daughter, Abby. The whole family has a highly curated online presence - endorsing products, filming skits, faking every aspect of their lives... and then Chloe disappears.

The mom is a caricature of stage mothers/influencers and the dad is a generic Chad who has zero personality other than "mad at his wife most of the time." The detective investigating Chloe's disappearance is connected to the mom because they were friends growing up, and they have Big Secrets, and it's all a bit much, especially the ending.

Lots of people have really enjoyed this book, but it was not a good one for me.