Ugh, reviewing this is going to be difficult, because arguably this book was dogshit. However, I did read it in one sitting because I just couldn't put it down. I honeslty think the writing is absolutely terrible. The switching between scenes or different character's POV's just felt so chaotic. The writing was also just extremely simplistic and repetetive. It got a bit grating at times, especially at the start when the plot hadn't really started yet. There was also so much info-dump, most of which wasn't nececary.
I do think the mystery was very gripping though. It definitely isn't a great plot either. Characters just kept just giving everything to our main characters out of nowhere. Our two main characters were also just so incredibly stupid, and honestly it's good that the side characters just told them everything with no prompting because otherwise they would have never gotten anywhere at all. They have 0 researching skills, and it was absolutely shocking when I was told they had been taking a journalism class for 3 years now, because their journalistic "skills" were abysmal. The reveal at the end was also just not shocking at all. However, it still had me completely gripped, and I just didn't want to put the book down.
I also just really didn't like the two main characters. Cam and Blair were just insufferable. I mean, Blair was just annoying, Cam was the absolutely worst. Like I mentioned before they had 0 journalistic skills, they also had 0 interest in true crime they just decided to make a true crime podcast because it's a get famous quick scheme basically. I also think it was very obvious that this book was written by a man. Like, teenage girls do absolutely not behave like that. At times it also felt a bit cringe in the way the author tried sound young. I don't know if that makes sense? It just didn't really make this book work for me.
On top of that I also just think this book tried to say some meaningful things about true crime, the justice system, and all the issues within it but I just don't think it did so succesfully. The talking points just felt very basic, and also a bit forced into the book. It just didn't feel natural. I also just feel like it could have gone a bit more in depth if it really wanted to have something to say, because now it didn't really. So yeah, in conclusion I didn't think this book was good at all but for some reason I couldn't look away, and I will probably read more (woops).

Every time I thought I knew the answer, the story said "nope, hang on tight", and took me for another run into facts/lies/danger. I loved every page!

A truly twisty and gripping story about how sometimes the best of intentions can be the worst mistakes. This book was so engaging to read that I finished it in one sitting.

5/5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc of this book.

I tried reading this several times, but had to start over every time. I do like the very beginning of the book, but it gets sooooo slow that I’d just completely forget what I read every time I’d sit it down.

I didn’t like any of the characters. I know they are teenagers, but they were so self-absorbed or trying to fit in. I just couldn’t relate. I wonder if it is because it’s written in the 3rd person? I’m not sure.

I thought it was a fun mystery to solve, but I don’t know how they would solve it with all the mistakes made along the way. I know they weren’t real detectives, but it just felt so unrealistic to me.

I loved this book! It's well-written, enjoyable, and a great read. The author did a great job of writing in a way that captures the readers attention, and makes you not want to put it down until you're finished! I would highly recommend it!

I’m giving this one 4 stars simply because I adored the main character and thought she was well crafted. While the story was good, it definitely felt firmly YA and I struggled with that a bit. I also felt that some parts were unnecessarily drawn out. I would read another book by the same author.

In August of 1999, popular high school student, Clarissa Campbell goes missing in Oreville, WA. The response to find her turned up nothing but more questions about the people who may have seen her last. Even with national attention her disappearance becomes a cold case.

Twenty years later, two high school junior students create a podcast for their journalism class about the disappearance of Clarissa Campbell. The two friends, Blair and Cameron, set out to impress their teacher but find themselves too invested in trying to uncover the truth to stop. They proceed with reinvestigating old suspects and witnesses who were around the night that Clarissa was overheard arguing with her football player boyfriend, Brad Bennett. It seems that the two girls are starting to stir up memories about the past which could likely be putting themselves in danger. Their quest for justice not only puts themselves in danger but inadvertently cast suspicion in the wrong direction.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing a complimentary review copy. My voluntary review is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones was a fast easy thriller. I went into this book knowing that Blair and Cameron the main characters in the book decided that they were going to do a podcast about a girl who went missing in their town back in 1999. They were warned that if they decided to do the assignment they needed to watch themselves and be smart on who they talk too.

I really enjoyed this book. I wanted more of the podcast aspect of it but I still read it wanting to know what will happen next. I want to thank Netgalley and Wednesday books for providing a copy of this book for an honest exchange.

This one was a good mystery that wasn't too obvious from the jump, which I always appreciate. Fairly strong ending.

I really enjoyed certain aspects of the book but as a whole, I was a little disappointed. The events that unfolded were not completely realistic which made things seem more movie like.

This book had a super interesting premise & unique execution, but it never sucked me in as much as I was hoping it would. I think I would’ve enjoyed it a bit more if the podcast element had been more extensive! That being said I did really appreciate the twist!

Thank you so much @wednesdaybooks for the eArc!

What happened to Clarissa? Twenty years ago, that was the topic on everyone's lips. The headline in every newspaper. The subject of the nightly news. Yet no one ever found any clue of Clarissa after that fateful night. Now, twenty years later, two high school juniors have decided that their journalism project will be an investigation into this very cold case. Can they solve what so many couldn't? You betcha!!! The who, what, where, when and why make an excellent story in this mystery/thriller that my friends are going to love!!!!

Cam and Blair are highschool girls in a journalism class who have decided to focus their course project on a decades old disappearance that has haunted their small town. They decide to do a podcast interviewing all the people who knew Clarissa or lived in the town when she disappeared. They have little knowledge of how to do this and make all sorts of mistakes and ethical slips as they draw closer and closer to the truth. They piss off a lot of people and drum up a lot of emotion ultimately leading them straight into danger.

I actually enjoyed the angle of these being two naive and emotional teenagers. Lots of mystery novels now focus on a podcast as a medium but this was a fresh take. The mystery had a ton of suspects but I was 100% on the person it was as soon as we came across them. What the author did was make me doubt myself on every page. Definitely a fun read!

Thanks to Wednesday Books for gifted access via Netgalley. All opinions above are my own.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

The humor in this book was fantastic! I was able to figure out the mystery pretty early but the characters are what kept me reading!

I love AGGGTM. This has similarieties but I’m very sorry to the author but it was a miss. There was an agenda pushed that I thought was excessive in this book. The main characters solved the mystery without much thought and they were quite careless with how they went about it. Overall the scenes were quite lacking in detail. However, I did enjoy the intensity at the end.

I struggled at the beginning of this book. I found Cam's character irritating at times because she always made rash decisions. It seemed to take a while for the story to get going too. I also don't think the author made the conclusion clear enough. With all of that said, there were still parts in the middle and towards the end that I did enjoy. I liked that they included excerpts of the podcast between the chapters. I feel like someone who is just starting to get into mystery novels would enjoy this book.

Although the premise seemed to be a copy of now multiple others like it, I did enjoy the story for the most part. Although the "mystery" was easily determined very early on, I still appreciated the characters' voices and their interactions. I also appreciated the social commentary that is not always included a novel like this one. Overall, I enjoyed the book, despite its similarities to other novels and its predictability.

I absolutely love podcast books and this one was no exception! I loved that more mysteries were unraveled over the course of the story.

This book was amazing. I literally sat and read it in about 5/6 hours because I could not put it down!! I recommend it to my book friends as their next read because it is not getting the hype it needs!!