Well developed novel based on modern day ideas of solving a missing persons case with a pod cast and two super sleuths. The clues and the mystery behind the disappearance are slowly revealed throughout the story.

For such a short book, this was really all over the place. The author tried to touch on subjects of grooming, prison abolition, the corruption of the law enforcement system, and of course, murder, but none of it felt like it was handled with much care. I think there is a way to write fun YA mystery books while still taking serious beats to discuss these subjects if authors want to talk about them, but it all felt extremely surface level. Add in the fact that the main characters, especially Cam, consistently made extremely boneheaded decisions that even the most reckless teenager would not do in real life, and I was just frustrated. I was intrigued enough by the premise of this book to keep reading and find out what happened, but I did clock the killer as soon as they showed up on the page. There was also a stylistic choice here that is not my preference, which is that the story is sort of told in third-person omniscient. And I say sometimes, because it went in and out of bouncing quickly between Blair and Cam's perspectives from one sentence to the next, to just focusing on one of them at a time when it suited the narrative. I think most kids in the target audience range probably wouldn't notice, but it felt very jarring to me to constantly be reorienting whose head I was in. There were glimmers of a good book in here, but unfortunately it largely fell flat for me.

I really enjoyed this one! It was fast paced and I loved the characters and how they reacted to each other. Great writing with a great pace. Wish I would have picked this one up sooner!

This book is about a girl that goes missing back in the day. Now a couple of young girls are doing a school project and it turns into them figuring out if Clarissa actually went missing or not. I really enjoyed this book and following them around throughout the book. I was a little disappointed only because I have read "A Good Girls Guide to Murder" already and they are VERY similar! I did think this one was a little more kidish writing and I feel the ending could have been 100% better. It really showed how much it belonged in the Young Adult section. In the end I did enjoy this book I just wish it was not as similar - I wish it was its own book.

Cam and Blair are two high school besties that start a true crime podcast about a former high schooler Clarissa that went missing years ago for their journalism class. They soon get invested in the case for more than just a good grade.

This one was a pleasant surprise. If you liked Listen to the Lies I think you will enjoy this YA murder mystery that incorporates podcast episodes. It was well done and kept my interest the whole way through.

This mystery alternates between a podcast investigation and the disappearance as it happens. The podcast poses questions and thoughts about what possibly happened to Clarissa. The podcast takes place 20 years after Clarissa has disappeared. The current students in the school are determined to figure out what happened. The hosts of the podcasts are interviewing suspects from back when Clarissa disappeared. Digging up the clues and talking to the people who may be hiding something helps the teens eventually uncover what really happened to Clarissa all those years ago.

YA thrillers and mysteries have been my happy place this year. Interesting plots combined with a bit of nostalgia and a side of suspense have kept me company throughout this busy year.
 
Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones immediately hooked me in. Dual timelines? Best friends solving a cold case? AMATEUR SLEUTHS giving me hope that I, too, can solve a cold case? SOLD.
 
Clarissa Campbell had everything going for her until one night, she disappeared. A decade later, best friends  Blair and Cameron have started investigating what really happened to Clarissa for a school podcast, opening up a part of history many people have worked hard to keep hidden.
 
The writing style is easy to follow, the plot has substance and the characters are relatable. I love Blair and Cam's friendship. The tension builds up nicely as Blair and Cameron get closer to unravelling the truth and there are some fun twists to keep you on your toes.  If you're a fan of YA mysteries, Missing Clarissa is a book that will keep you turning the pages.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the gifted copy.

Cam you ARE a genius!
Cam has the most off the wall thoughts, and they almost always pan out to something brilliant. But she also makes some terrible mistakes. I would imagine those mistakes would turn some people off of liking this book, but Cam is a naive sixteen year old from a small town. I think she added a lot to Missing Clarissa. I really enjoyed the investigative process of this novel and the character development as well. But Cam made it for me.
Thank you, Netgalley, for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for a free and unbiased review.

This was a fun and quick read! I love the podcast elements of the story and felt it made the story more interesting. The two main characters were a bit too juvenile in my opinion, but that was my only gripe. I will say that I figured out who the killer was close the beginning, but then I changed my mind and should have stuck with my gut! Haha that always happens to me though and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s always a good time when the author can make me doubt myself halfway through the story. Overall I gave this one 4 stars. I’m excited to read Ripley’s next book!

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: YA thriller/mystery 📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
A fun and entertaining podcast style mystery

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Small town secrets
Missing girl
High school journalism students
Slow burn mysteries
True crime podcasts
Entertaining reads
Best friends

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
Gave AGGGTM vibes

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
Not super realistic
Pretty predictable

this book is good for its intended teen audience and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to someone looking for a YA mystery.

I will be honest, this book was a bit of a struggle for me, because of how similar it is to A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. I couldn’t help but compare the two, and I didn’t think this one was as well written. However, I think if I had read this book first, I wouldn’t have felt that way. The story is good, and if you liked A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, you will probably like this - as long as you can keep them separate in your head! I think another thing that did me in was I didn’t connect to the main characters as much as I could have. Overall however, it was a pretty good book!

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

This book sounded so good when I first read the description. I was extremely excited to read it because it reminded me of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, which I really enjoyed! I love a good teenager-going detective theme. While the story was definitely this… and the theme was spot on, the delivery could have used a little work.

The story follows Blair and Cameron, best friends who try and start a true crime podcast as an assignment and decide to solve a decades-old case of a girl from their high school. Right off, I did not love both of these characters. I don’t think we were supposed to though. One was extremely pushy, bossy, and almost unhinged at times with how she would let her mouth run and what rules she was willing to break for some listener numbers. Her inability to listen to those around her or even take any form of critique was a turn-off, and I found myself annoyed with her regularly. Even with that said though, I loved the general story, I just found some of the characters to be bothersome.

The story itself was interesting. It did remind me quite a bit of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, which I noticed it compared to a lot. It had the same premise and same general idea of teenagers trying to solve an old crime. I did really enjoy the flow of the crime solving and I was thoroughly confused for a long time. I don’t feel like the story-telling was flawless, but overall it told a great story.

I wish I liked the one main character more than I did, but generally speaking, the book was good and definitely will appeal to the target audience. If you love books like A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, then this book is for you!

The story follows Cam and Blair, two girls in a journalism class who decide to make a podcast about a local missing girl for their final project. I’ve read Sadie by Courtney Summers which is written in a similar format including podcast transcripts, so I wondered if Missing Clarissa would capture the same tone of thrill and mystery as that book did. I did see some of the main plot twists coming along the way, but that didn’t stop the book from being an entertaining read.

Since the mystery is 20 years old by the time the girls are investigating, they do all kinds of archive research and interviews with local adults to try and uncover the truth. Along the way, they get into quite a few dangerous situations mainly due to Cam’s impulsive nature. Blair is the steadier character who has very low self esteem at the beginning of the book, but her narrative arc is very compelling. Her work on the podcast helps her feel more confident as a writer.

Of course I wouldn’t want to go without mentioning that this novel has queer representation as well, which we always love to see. Cam is a lesbian and she when gets to know another girl at her school, their friendship turns into something more. The romance aspect was sweet and I appreciated that lighter aspect to the storyline.

On a more serious note, I think some of the social justice issues were kind of shoehorned in, but I did appreciate the novel touching on subjects such as restorative justice, prison abolition, and the thousands of missing indigenous girls and women. These are all important issues and I believe that complex topics can be tackled in novels that aren’t strictly contemporary social justice novels. The discussion around why pretty white women who are missing get the most media attention is important to have while also recognizing that the true crime style can be exploitative and unhealthy for victims’ families.

I really don’t want to compare this book to Sadie because they are such different reads. I think Missing Clarissa is a lighter novel, mainly because I just didn’t feel the same level of attachment to the characters as I did in Sadie. It’s also a quicker read, and I was able to finish it in an afternoon. That being said, if you like true crime podcasts and you’re interested in reading a novel based on that premise, check out both of these books!

I’ve been loving books that have anything to do with podcasts so this was perfect for me.
A beautiful, white and popular girl goes missing from a woods party and is never found. This case goes viral and is nationally known.
Years later, two classmates make a podcast about the missing girl. They investigate the disappearance and it felt like I was right there with them.

DNF @ 22%

I have tried this book multiple times-- including one more time this last week-- and I just cannot. I just could not get into the story telling of this one. The writing was just not for me.

Short synopsis: Popular cheerleader Clarissa Campbell disappears in the woods, over 20 years later two teenage friends Can and Blair start a podcast to hopefully solve the case.

My thoughts: This totally gave me AGGGTM vibes, I love the solving a mystery aspect of a story. And the podcast element was fun.

This is perfect for a young adult just getting into thriller or mystery books. The high school setting and best friends working together made the perfect combo.

I saw the ending coming, guessed it really early and it wrapped up a little too quickly with a nice little bow. But the ride was still enjoyable.

Over 20 years ago a beautiful and talented cheerleader, Clarissa Campbell, vanished from a party in the woods. At the time, her charismatic boyfriend was the main suspect in her presumed death. Evidently, the police never looked at anyone else. In the small town of Oreville, WA, Clarissa’s vanishing is still news and part of the town’s history or perhaps urban legend, if you will, for better or worse. So much so that when high school student Cameron needs a subject for her journalism class, she decides to do a podcast on Clarissa Campbell and ropes her best friend Blair into working with her, despite Blair’s wishes. Will the two high school podcasters uncover anything new in the Clarissa Campbell story or will it continue to be a cold case in Ripley Jones’ Missing Clarissa?

With so many novels out about true crime podcasters solving mysteries, it is definitely hard to rise above the crowd, but Missing Clarissa does just that. With interesting characters, especially quirky, uber-intelligent and awkward Cameron and her complete opposite in best friend Blair, not to mention Cameron’s mother Irene who is more than just the cool mom, Missing Clarissa does stand out.

The mystery keeps the reader-sleuth guessing right up until the climactic scene, which is exactly what every thriller reader wants, although I did have my suspicions early on but was almost successfully led astray by a red herring. Jones deftly creates evocative atmosphere that adds to tension, especially in woods where Bigfoot is reputed to live.

Overall, an outstanding, highly recommended mystery.

Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy.

Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones

256 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books
Release Date: March 7, 2023

Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Teens, Young Adult, Missing Person, LGBTQIA+

August 14, 1999 Clarissa Campbell was a popular cheerleader before she went missing from Oreville, Washington. Twenty years later, Blair Johnson and Cameron Munoz decide to use this unsolved case to make a podcast for their high school journalism class. Their teacher, Mr. Tom Park, advises them to tread carefully. They begin interviewing Clarissa’s friends and family They follow leads and dead ends. Meanwhile Cam is coming to terms with her sexuality.

Who in Clarissa’s life wanted her dead and why? By asking too many questions, Blair and Cm are putting themselves in danger. Will their work be enough to get an A on their project or should they be worrying about more important issues? The story is fast paced, the characters are somewhat developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. This reminds me of Nancy Drew stories. If you like amateur detective young adult stories, you will enjoy reading this book.

In the fictional small town of Oreville, Washington, Cameron Muñoz and Blair Johnson, an unlikely duo of best friends, delve into the 1999 disappearance of Clarissa Campbell for a school project. As they navigate the complexities of their investigation, their distinct personalities and backgrounds add depth to their pursuit of the truth. The story unfolds through a blend of podcast transcripts and third-person narration, addressing various social issues while keeping readers engaged in the suspenseful whodunit. The one drawback I found is that this feels a bit too similar to "A Good Girl's Guide to Murder." Putting that aside, it was an engaging, fast-paced story and an enjoyable read overall.