Cam and Blair, two odd couple friends who create a podcast for a high school Journalism project. Their subject? Clarissa Campbell, a beautiful, popular girl who went missing in the forest twenty years before. There were parts of this book I absolutely loved. The opening before chapter 1 even began is excellent--I loved the flow of the language. The way each chapter is based on a different podcast episode is really clever.

But there were other things I didn't like. Things that felt forced and heavy handed. The gay story lines--a teacher, some students, one of the people Cam and Blair interviewed--they seemed out of place and distracted from the main plot. If they were there to throw the reader off the scent of the guilty party--which may have been the intent--it didn't really work. I REALLY didn't like that this is being marketed as a YA book and has the "c" word in it--twice. How completely unnecessary. Lastly, the ending was very sensationalized. Overdone, in my opinion. I wish the writing quality had stayed as good as it was at the beginning, but it went downhill. I found myself knocking stars away as I read. Too bad, because there is so much to like about Missing Clarissa.

missing clarissa was a good ya mystery!
i think it’s became a little redundant and wordy at times.
it does have the vibes of agggtm so i enjoyed the podcast element.
i think the mystery was really well written, and something that could be shocking for a lot.

Synopsis:
In August of 1999, dazzlingly popular cheerleader Clarissa Campbell disappears from a party in the woods outside the rural town of Oreville, Washington and is never seen again. The police question her friends, teachers, and the adults who knew her—who all have something to hide. And thanks to Clarissa’s beauty, the mystery captures the attention of the nation. But with no leads and no body, the case soon grows cold. Despite the efforts of internet sleuths and true-crime aficionados, Clarissa is never found—dead or alive.
Over twenty years later, Oreville high-school juniors and best friends Blair and Cameron start a true crime podcast, determined to unravel the story of what—or who—happened to this rural urban legend. In the process they uncover a nest of dirty small-town secrets, the sordid truth of Clarissa’s relationship with her charismatic boyfriend, and a high school art teacher turned small-town figurehead who had a very good reason for wanting Clarissa dead. Such a good reason, in fact, that they might have to make him the highlight of their next episode…
But does an ugly history with a missing girl make him guilty of murder? Or are two teenage girls about to destroy the life of an innocent man—and help the true killer walk free?

This one for me had a LOT of parallels to Good Girl's Guide to Murder, and I couldn't really overlook it. A nice, short read (I finished it in about 3.5 hours) for someone who really enjoys the podcast/true crime fiction "genre".

The characters were very young & naïve, and I think this book would be more appealing to a younger audience because of this (which makes sense since it's advertised as YA). There was a nice, not totally predictable twist at the end that I thought tied the novel up very well. This one is great if you enjoy the genre and want a light read in between your next thing! Not for everyone.

3 stars - thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Two best friends take on a journalism project by starting a podcast to uncover the truth of a missing girl. Over twenty years ago Clarissa went missing outside of a party. Now the girls must interview possible suspects from the cold case while trying to figure out Clarissa's whereabouts back then and who would want to harm her. I didn't feel like this story had much depth and when the reveal finally happened at the very end, I wasn't surprised or anything.

I had so much fun with this book! I had to set aside some of my more realistic thoughts while reading (hello, do not confront a suspected murderer alone??), but this book takes you for a ride that I was into.

I loved how this was written -- the POV and voice really made the book feel like it was moving quickly, and really helped me to get sucked into the story. I liked how it was structured as episodes of the podcast, which also made it feel bite size and digestible.

My one critique is that the mystery itself felt a bit too sprawling. I like to be able to figure out the mystery along with the narrator and didn't feel like I was able to do that with this one!

3.5
One of my most anticipated and it was just alright? Underwhelmed rn.

Ok, reading the synopsis of this book had me hyped. It was calling to me. But it fell flat.

The plot was good enough but the characters were very hard to connect to mostly because they weren't flushed out well enough. And Blair was annoying as hell with her constant self doubting.

The podcast bit was great! But I wanted more.

I don't know about you but teenagers in my city would never be allowed to be so close to a crime scene, let alone talk to people including the police without any issues such as pushback. Like, these people were just throwing secrets at these kids and they were finding things the police didn't ever find, like come on!

Thank you for the advanced copy!

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was invited to review this title by the publisher, and usually, I'm reluctant to try an unknown to me/ debut author because of the time commitment with other books. The title and synopsis grabbed me right away.

This book is a little bit of a slow burn to a steady crescendo towards the last act. I got into it right away. In 1999, popular cheerleader and recent high school graduate Clarissa Campbell went to a party in the woods and never came home. The police suspected the boyfriend, but no body or solid evidence meant no arrest and a 25+ yr cold case. I liked the references to the late 1990's as I was just a little older than Clarissa.

Current day, two best friends Cam Munoz and Blair Johnson are taking journalism their junior year and need a research project. They chose to do a podcast about Clarissa, who went missing in the small town of Oreville, WA. At first, you can see they are amateurs, the sound quality isn't great, and Cam is interested in the sensationalism of the story. Everyone loves a true crime / missing likely dead white girl story. Cam and Blair start interviewing people close to Clarissa: her mother, her best friend, her boyfriend, the sheriff, and the former art teacher and a former student who was involved in the search. To me, it was fairly obvious who was most suspicious, however, along for the ride as the girls discover some alarming secrets. You can tell the reactions to certain topics are different now than they were in 1999. There is some CW for grooming / sexual assault in the past that would have been handled differently now, I'd hope.

The issue with having 2 16 year old girls investigate a case is the impulsivity and undeveloped logic and reasoning. Cam, in particular, throws accusations around rather than being more subtle to get people to talk. It did remind me a bit of the movie Dick, with Kirsten Dunst about Richard Nixon. Except there are dire consequences for ignoring the voice that usually tells an adult to proceed with caution. Cam and Blair have adults telling them to be careful - even Clarissa's friends. The ending of the book was impossible to put down. I recommend that once you get to the last 20%, you don't stop, if at all possible.

I really enjoyed Cam and Sophie - her love interest, which was not the focal point of the book, but Sophie adds an important element about the injustice system. Blair is a gifted writer who realizes she should believe in herself. 4 45/5☆ release date 3/7/23.

Two high school girls, Cam and Blair, decide to make a podcast for their journalism class. They focus their podcast on a girl that went missing 20 years ago. Clarissa Campbell was a popular cheerleader that went missing from a party in the woods - she disappeared without a trace. The plot was good, the mystery was good, and there was a good amount of suspense that kept me reading.

The main characters, however, were pretty annoying, especially Cam. The writing style also didn't really work for me as it jumped back and forth between the characters without having any distinctive POV. I would read another book by this author in hopes that some of the rough edges can be smoothed out.

Missing Clarissa was thrilling and intense, and I absolutely could not put it down! Can't wait to read more from this author!

My Thoughts

In August of 1999 the disappearance of popular cheerleader Clarissa Campbell rocks small-town Oreville.

The case was never solved and Clarissa Campbell was never found.

Set over twenty years later we find two Oreville high-school juniors and best friends Blair and Cameron starting a true crime podcast that brings those memories back to life for not only Clarissa’s friends but her enemies as well.

What started out as a way to create something unique for their class project, and of course get an A grade, soon takes on a life of its own bringing buried secrets and lies into the light and putting Cam and Blair in the middle of more than they bargained for.

Finding the truth becomes more important to the teens than their grade ever was, also becomes more dangerous as they find out firsthand.

Missing Clarissa has many moving parts, its main characters include of course Cameron Munoz and her best friend Blair but the most compelling one is the missing-for-over-20-years Clarissa.
[EArc from Netgalley]

On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.

Missing Clarissa is one of those stories that is exciting, page turning and relatable. Why does everyone love a dead girl? And what was so special about Clarissa that 20 years later 2 teens want to do a school project on her??

This YA thriller/suspense story caught my eye right away with the setting. I love when a story takes place in the state I live in because I can imagine the people, the places and just the whole feel of the book better. Missing Clarissa takes place on the coast of Washington in the small town of Oreville (fictional city). For a journalism project, Blair and her friend Cam decide to do a podcast and focus their research on the unsolved missing person case of Clarissa Campbell who went missing 20 years ago from a high school party. She was a cheerleader and the person that apparently everyone loved. Who would want to do anything to this seemingly perfect teenage girl?

Blair and Cam start the podcast knowing very little about their subject and her story, but once they start researching a little bit and interviewing different people from that time, they soon get more involved with the whole case and are not only looking for a good grade. Now they want to find out what happened to Clarissa and who killed her (because they just know she is not just missing).

I really enjoyed the fact that these teens took the idea of a podcast and made it their project. A little murder mystery for teens was a great way to combine the podcast and a high school assignment to give it a bit more excitement. It was the perfect setting with interesting suspects that leave you wanting to believe a certain someone did it. Although I guessed the culprit as soon as they were introduced, it was still entertaining to see these 2 teens put all the pieces together and solve something that even the police couldn't do 2o years prior.

The story wasn't perfect and neither were the 2 main characters, but that's what made the story fun and me wanting to keep turning those pages. These girls had a good connection and the way they worked together as friends and supported one another to succeed, even when they made poor decisions made me like them even more.

If you enjoy YA murder mysteries or even unsolved mystery podcasts, I think you'll enjoy this book. It is a solid debut and I'm excited to see what Ripley Jones will come up with next.

I was in for a young adult fix and this definitely suited my fancy. As a pair of students team together to produce a true crime podcast for their class, they unbury more than meets the eye when they take a new look into the disappearance of a local girl from years ago. As they develop their podcast, and meet with community members who were in the area when Clarissa went missing, they uncover salacious acts of misdeeds by trusted community members, and become one popular podcast to watch out for. As it seems they come closer to finding out the truth, friends and family try to dissuade them from continuing on before they themselves go missing. I love a true crime podcast story line and I feel as if the characters were interesting enough to keep me engaged. While not the most detailed plot line, I feel as if it was age appropriate and definitely kept you turning the pages. I enjoy the story and look forward to more by this author.

Clarissa Campbell disappeared in 1999 with no explanation, and hasn’t been seen since. Police never figured out what happened to her, and the town of Oreville, Washington hasn’t been the same since her disappearance. Since then, she has turned into a bit of an urban legend.

Twenty years later, high school juniors Blaire and Cameron decide to take on her disappearance for a high school journalism project: a true crime podcast. Determined to find out what happened to Clarissa, they start investigating her disappearance. Their investigation uncovers a slew of small town secrets. And there’s one that just might put them in danger…

Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy of Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones to review! Teens and adults alike love a good mystery, so this book is sure to get a lot of buzz! Especially when one of the comp titles is A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.

For me, the mystery was the best part of this book. While the clues to what happened to Clarissa are pretty in your face, if you’re not paying attention, you might miss it. The pace of the book definitely picks up towards the end, as things snowball pretty quickly when Blair and Cam think they’re onto something. As mysteries usually do.

This book is pitched as a podcast book, but I wish that the podcast sections read more like a podcast transcript. Since podcasts are generally conversations between people, that would have made them read more like podcasts than monologues. However, you still get important information in them, and you get to see some interesting characters throughout.

The point of view of the book also threw me off a bit. Blair and Cam did have distinctive voices, but the third person made it difficult to gauge who’s mind we were in at certain times. Maybe more obvious chapters throughout would have helped.

All in all, if you’re a fan of fast-paced, true crime mysteries, you’ll definitely want to pick this up when it comes out in March!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
This was a really fun YA mystery! I love a good podcast trope and this was a welcome addition to the genre, perfect for fans of AGGGTM!
Cam and Blair are best friends who decide to investigate their town's most notorious cold case for a project in their journalism class. In 1999, Clarissa Campbell got into a fight with her football star boyfriend, then disappeared and hasn't been seen since. What starts out as a school project and a fun way to earn some notoriety turns into something else entirely when they realize they might actually be able to solve it.
Despite my normal dislike for long chapters, I found myself flying through the pages of this one. It read easily and kept my interest, even without many big plot twists. The only thing that kept it from being five stars for me were the characters. Cam was just too obnoxious and frustrating for me to root for, and most of the others fell flat. This is definitely a plot-driven story, but that was okay by me and enough to hold my attention.
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @11%

This book is annoying me already. The writing is terrible, the characters are annoying and don't have personalities. The podcast is an ok idea, but very poorly executed.

Okay, so, I really hope that actual teenage girls aren't out there solving dangerous crimes via podcast as often as it happens in YA literature. Because there were many moments in this book when I literally shook my head and said "why would you do that???" out loud. Blair and Cam are best friends in a very small town in Washington state, and Cam basically bullies Blair into agreeing to do a podcast as a journalism class project. They focus on Clarissa Campbell, a popular girl who went to their high school and mysteriously disappeared in the summer of 1999, never to be seen again. While I definitely found this readable, I struggled with the way the third person narration worked. It took me a while to figure out what wasn't quite working for me, but I think it was the sort of omniscient narration that pinged back and forth between knowing what Blair was thinking/feeling and knowing what Cam was thinking/feeling. Also, Cam was an interesting protagonist because she was kind of a bully who seemed to care very little about how her actions impacted the people important to her, like Blair and her own mom. I guess maybe that's just how teenagers are? I think I would put this in the same general category as The Good Girl's Guide to Murder, but I don't think it's quite as effective as that series. Still, a quick and entertaining read that explores some of the issues with true crime/podcast culture and its harms.

Missing Clarissa is a phenomenal YA thriller from start to finish. Ripley Jones really knows what he's doing. If you enjoy true crime podcasts, this is a perfect thriller to get your hands on. Filled to the brim with twists and a captivating plot, this one is sure to keep readers hooked. The characters are well-developed. The story is incredibly fast-paced. This is one not to be missed! Highly recommended! Be sure to check out Missing Clarissa today.

Cam and Blair are in high school and have to choose a project for their journalism class. The disappearance of Clarissa Campbell 20 years ago is an unsolved mystery that put Orville(their town)on the map for all the wrong reasons. So many people have searched for the truth, but no more is known about what happened to Clarissa. This is the topic that they choose.
Have Cam and Blair ever done a podcast? Nope. They also haven’t figured out an unsolved mystery, but that doesn’t stop them. Two very different friends, each with their own skill set who somehow manage to work well together.
This was a quick read that I started and finished in a day. I kind of figured from the description that these two would find Clarissa, either dead or alive. I mean they had to right or what’s the point. Cam gets first prize for making the most awful decisions(for someone so book smart, she was pretty lacking in street smarts), and yet she still might figure out this mystery.
If you enjoy YA combined with a very old unsolved crime and a quirky main character(Cam),this book seemed to just turn the pages by itself. The killer wasn’t a surprise based on my amateur sleuth guesses(yeah me) butI was still interested to figure out the why.

Definitely a good read, and not the way I thought it would end. It gave me a good girls guide to murder vibes. Definitely worth the read! loved it!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!!

This book was so unexpected for me. I thought I would be going into this obsessing over a new teen murder/mystery. However, what I loved most out of this story were the incredible characters, particularly Cam.

Cam and Blair are best friends, so when their favorite class, journalism, has a huge project, they (mostly Cam) decide on a podcast about a girl that's been missing for 20 years. This leads to some awkward reporting, both of them learning together their strengths and weaknesses pertaining to this project, and, of course, many secrets revealed.

I loved the relationship between Cam and Blair. The overwhelming kindness and honest love between two best friends who are opposites in so many ways was absolutely endearing. Cam is not great communicating with people, she's honest, she's honest to a point that can at times be detrimental. But her honesty is what made me really love this book. The compassion Blair shows, being caring and very uplifting for Cameron, simply made my heart grow.

The last part of this book was a whirlwind. I could not read fast enough. The story around the podcast and Clarissa seemed to be moving slowly, but the last several chapters were explosive.

I loved this book and recommend it to fans of ya mystery/thriller reads!

Out March 7, 2023!