This book was fast paced and thrilling. It kept me engaged and wanting to find out what had happened. I felt the author did a great job overall with this one and it will appeal to not only YA readers, but also adult thriller readers as well – if they can get over some minor annoyances.

Twenty years after a local high school student goes missing Blair and Cameron start a podcast outlining her disappearance for their journalism class. The more they delve into the stories, the more secrets are exposed putting them in danger. They manage to narrow down the suspects to her charismatic boyfriend and the old high school art teacher. When a mistake is made, and an episode is shared without much thought – both girls find themselves wondering if they should have let sleeping dogs lie.

This was a great book with one exception. Every single character had their skin color defined. I’m sorry but I really don’t care. I think skin color is only important when it has to do with one’s culture. Simply saying the “white teacher” etc gets boring and repetitive. Also, completely unnecessary. However, despite this annoying detail, the book was pretty solid. I don’t normally read YA but this one was fun overall.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press, @stmartinspress, and @netgalley for my advanced e-arc in exchange for this honest review. This one is out March 7th, 2023.

This was a really captivating true crime type novel. The pacing was a bit off sometimes but overall the ending was great. I honestly didn't guess who it was, which is great. I wish the ending hadn't been so quick though!!

"MISSING CLARISSA." is a book that I have mixed feelings about, for sure. I enjoyed the story and got invested in the plot and characters, but I wasn't a fan of how the girls were treated or how the ending played out. I didn't like how they continuously kept pointing out that people only cared about Clarissa because she was a "missing white girl." but then continued to obsess over her to the point of confronting several dangerous people and continuing their podcast. There's is a need to point out that 'true crime' and the nation only focuses on victims that are cishet white women typically, but it just felt disingenuous with everything else going on in the story.

It's a fun 'true crime' thriller that's easy to forget it's a YA novel, and I think it's a good story with a straightforward twist. I'd recommend it to anyone who liked just a good, quick thriller/mystery to read.

Absolutely adored this book. Five stars! I really loved the two main characters, Cam & Blair. They are two best friends who set out to produce a podcast regarding a girl who has been missing from their hometown for 20 years. What starts out as a simple project, quickly turns into the dangerous possibility that they will solve this mystery!

This was such a great debut YA thriller! The mystery element kept me guessing. I loved the podcast portion, it was very well done.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I thought it was a solid YA mystery and a fast read about small towns and secrets. It's a good one to keep in my back pocket for high school readers.

Great thriller, always on the edge of my seat when I read it. It was written really well, and it was very long. I enjoyed it tremendously and recommend it to others.

I really enjoy epistolary books. I've read books that are written like a podcast and was expecting this one to be the same but it's not. Each chapter represents an episode and has italicized text that would be the audio from that podcast episode.

If you love YA and true crime then you'll love this book. Two high school girls decide to investigate a missing girl from their home town and discover what really happened to her in the process.

The author did a great job at fleshing out each character no matter how minor they are so it feels like everyone is a well rounded person you can relate to.

I was invested in the mystery of this book and it kept me on the edge of my seat. It gave major Good Girls Guide to Murder vibes and I liked it. The book did tend to use some descriptors that didn't fit the circumstances of the scene or just seemed unnecessary. Also, the flow between points of view wasn't always clear to me. I did like the character development though, and I was intrigued all throughout and for that it was a great book.

Clarissa was a small town It girl who went missing and triggered nationwide interest over twenty years ago. Cam and Briar start investigating the case as part of a true crime podcast, and quickly find there are a lot of questions still unanswered...

This was pretty good as far as small town murder goes, and the reveal at the end was clever. However, it was too short to really build any sort of connection - I wasn't all that interested in the victim or the investigators so the ending fell a bit flat!

Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really did enjoy this new domestic thriller by Ripley Jones. Great premise with awesome characters. So many lies, twists and turns. Seemed to veer of into white supremacy and abolitionist theories unnecessarily. Just felt out of place in the story. But overall I really liked it.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

I kept hearing a lot of great reviews for this book, so I bumped it up my TBR and boy was that a good decision. I began reading this late at night thinking I would read a few chapters and ended up staying up way too late to get to the end.

Cam and Blair are an unlikely duo.. at least from the outside, but they make a perfect team. For their journalism project, they have come up with the idea to do a podcast on one of the most famous cases in the history of their small town. Missing teenager Clarissa, walked into the woods one night after a party, and no trace of her was ever found. I really liked that these girls hey felt like real teenagers, flaws and all and it made me root for them all the more. They really had no idea what they were doing, with investigating the case and recording the podcast itself, everything was kind of fly by the seat of our pants. Especially with Cam, who is a lot more impetuous, and once she gets an idea in her head nothing will stop her from running with it.

This story is full of twists and turns, a whole mess of suspects, and a thrilling mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. I can't wait to see what this author will write next!

Two best friends in high school start a podcast to explore a teenage girl's unsolved murder from 1999. Along the way, they revisit the story, and as you can imagine, there are still secrets aplenty throughout town. This is a YA read, and it definitely has that vibe. What I mean is that I as an adult who takes in true crime in various mediums wanted even more thrills, AND I could also see I wasn't the target audience for this one. For the target crowd, I think it has some good suspense to keep them reading! Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this March 2023 release!

I picked this book up because it claims to be for fans of “A Good Girls Guide to Murder & Sadie” both of which I really enjoyed. This ARC was provided by the publisher and Netgalley.

It’s 1999 and Clarissa, a popular cheerleader goes missing. The police do all they can, but ultimately the case goes cold. The cheerleaders body is never found. It’s 2020 now and two of the high school students start a true crime podcast. They are determined to figure out what happened to this it girl. They think that they have a great lead, and they are making the podcast fit that narrative, but what if the man they think did it is innocent?

I had such a fun time with this book. Something about teenage true crime is very entertaining to me. Is this the most unique or twisty story? No, but it is a fun and quick read. Perfect for fans of AGGTM and Sadie. It definitely did a good job in the comparison!

Did I just basically binge read this entire book? Yes, yes I did. I could not put Missing Clarissa down. Missing Clarissa was quick, entailing and the perfect read for crime mystery lovers! It reads like a true crime podcast and you are in the thick of it!

Thank You, Wednesday Books, for alllowing me to read Missing Clarissa early.

What a great mystery story! I sat on the edge of my seat and couldn't put my Kindle down. Definitely one of my new favorite YA books!

Clarissa Campbell goes missing without a trace in Oreville, Washington right after her high school graduation. Twenty years later, two high school best friends, Cam and Blair, decide to make this case the object of their podcast project for their journalism class.

This book attempted to tackle a lot of hot button issues in a short span of time & I appreciated it. I do think the synopsis on the jacket gives too much away, so best to go into this one blind.

I loved the friendship between Cam and Blair and how they balance one another out. I also appreciated that they call each other out on their BS.

Was every part of this totally believable? No way, but none of it was so over done that I couldn't suspend disbelief. Overall, this was a fun and empowering novel. I read it in one sitting (does a plane ride count as a sitting?).

Read if you like
- young adult
- female friendships
- cold cases
- empowering female leads
- podcasts

This novel hits shelves in March!

It seemed like a good idea at the time - Blair and Cam, two high school juniors, start a podcast to discover what happened to a popular cheeleader who vanished from a their small town in Washington state 20 years ago. Many of the students who went to school with Clarissa have remained, and the would-be Verionica Marses have surprisingly good luck (maybe too good) interviewing Clarissa's former friends. They come across as Breakfast Club archetypes - the nerd, the jock, the best friend who was equally blonde and popular.

Then there's the worst-kept secret, an enigmatic art teacher whose interest in his prettiest students went beyond their painting skills.

There must be some suspension of disbelief here as Blair and Cam seemingly unravel a mystery police, reporters and friends could not solve for decades. But in the end, this bright and fast-paced read is just as much about Blair and Cam finding their voices as it is about them finding the Missing Clarissa.


Thank you Netgalley for this preview!

Book Title: Missing Clarissa
Author: Ripley Jones
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press ~ Wednesday Books
Genre: Teen/YA -Mystery
Pub Date: March 7, 2023
My Rating: 4+ rounded up!

Aww one of my favorite reads! In fact, this is the my best YA read for 2022!

Clarissa Campbell is a beautiful cheerleader and is dating Brad Bennett the handsome captain of the football team - both are high school seniors. However, 20 years ago Clarissa disappears from a party in the woods after graduation. Everyone is there - Oreville, Washington is a small town – naturally a lot of underage drinking going on. Party goes witness Clarissa crying and Brad kissing Renee Munoz. Foul play is assumed and Brad is thought to be guilt.
Story made national news ~ everyone is curious. Friends and family are questioned regarding Clarissa’s whereabouts. But Clarissa is never found!

Cam Munoz and Blair Johnson are high school juniors and have been best friends since sixth grade. They are noting alike ~ Cam is very intelligent, self-assured, risk taker, but socially awkward. Blair is the opposite but they balance each other: Blair is bright, logical, and kind but has insecurities about her abilities.
It has been twenty years since Clarissa went missing and Cam and Blair decided to take on her disappearance as their project for journalism class.
With the help of true-crime podcast, they set out to interview friends, family etc. and they do find out some things that weren’t revealed earlier.

This was a surprise read for me. As a high school guidance counselor, I like to read YA novels and make recommendations or even just be aware of what my students are reading. I have found that most YA stories follow a formula ~ excessive graphic sex, profanity, bulling, drugs, drinking, and suicide.

I 'go-to' novels are mysteries and psychological thrillers. Love the twists and turns and trying to guess Whodunit. In this case, the mystery of whodunit wasn’t a shock. However, I found Cam and Blair to be such a delight – they made the story enjoyable. I am hoping they will be in another adventure.

Want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press ~Wednesday Books for the pleasure of reading this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for March 7, 2023

I had been seeing this book advertised quite a bit so after receiving an email from NetGalley I decided to request it and I'm glad I did. This book took me by surprised and I immediately liked it! It was a quick and enjoyable young adult mystery! Cam and Blair need a project for their journalism class, so why not a podcast? They decided to research a teenage girl that went missing from a party in the woods after graduating high school 20 years ago. But what makes them think they can figure out what happened to Clarissa Campbell?

Missing Clarissa is an action packed book. The characters are well written and not without flaws but they work well together. It's YA because the main characters are doing a school assignment, a podcast about a missing girl. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for the copy of Missing Clarissa.