I do love a good YA mystery book - and the first half of this book didn't disappoint! The story was engaging as a podcast helps with the mystery of Clarissa a missing girl. The second half of the book was good but not as engaging and the ending lacked substance. I felt like there was a big lead up to the ending and it felt complete flat and uninteresting. an ok YA book for sure

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books & NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital ARC

Missing Clarissa is a book about a 20+ year old mystery of a missing woman named Clarissa. Where is she? Is she dead? Was she kidnapped? Murdered? Two high school journalism students set out to answer those questions for a classroom project.

Cam and Blair are friends and each young woman is different from the other. Where Cam is brash and often less than considerate, Blair is thoughtful and more reserved. Their dynamic plays out in interesting ways and many issues (like sexuality) explored.

The book, to my mind, was more a character study of the two girls as a primary arc and a murder mystery podcast as a secondary one. I wish it was reversed actually. I felt the girls’ stories overshadowed the mystery and the mystery was what I wanted from the book. Don’t get me wrong…they do tackle the podcast. There is information discovered. Yet for me, it never felt the primary focus somehow.

So as a YA focused podcast mystery it’s a good solid 4 stars once rounded up.

Why does everyone love a dead white girl? Appealing to the trendy podcasts investigating murders, "Missing Clarissa" is a witty narrative about two teenage girls who have a journalism project that turns out to be more than they can chew. They create a podcast to investigate what happened to Clarissa, a white girl who mysteriously went missing twenty years in the past. With a diverse cast of characters, the story takes an interesting twist on what might happen when someone investigates a missing persons' unsolved case that leads to an exciting, yet dangerous, plot.

I love books about Podcast and this one definitely lived up to my expectations! If you're a fan of A Good Girls Guide to Murder then this is a must read!

The mystery of this novel is lost on me. I found the characters to be one dimensional, the surprises non-surprising, and the plot overall lacking in substance.
The podcast style of writing could have been better executed more development could have gone ito the characters.

I really enjoyed this story, and it kept me on the edge of my seat. I love how it was set up and felt that it made the story more suspenseful and captivating! The two main characters were so well-formed, and I think that their differences in personalities made them so endearing! If you love YA mystery and thrillers, I would 100% recommend this one! It’s such a quick and easy read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the preview copy of this book.

Missing Clarissa has a very interesting and of-the-times premise. It should hit a lot of notes that I love -- best friends, true crime, an unsolved murder in a small town -- but it just doesn't get there for me. Both of our main characters are unlikeable, which normally is okay if there's something to root for, and I just couldn't find it here. I knew what happened to Clarissa as soon as the key element in solving the case was mentioned, and from that point on, I just couldn't enjoy the ride.

I wanted to like this, but I just didn't. It'll be a pass for my library.

I have always been a true crime fan (I know how strange that sounds given the comments I am about to make) and over the past two years or so I've become an avid podcast listener. There's a big difference between reading a book on murder cases and watching in-depth documentaries and listening to two white women read off Wiki for money. I do know a lot of podcasters that do good in the true crime community (donating, sharing GoFundMe's, important links and numbers for Crime Stoppers and even starting their own non-profits to help victim's families and bring their killers to justice) The past few months have left me jaded with some of the true crime podcasts and I was hoping this book would touch upon the controversial issues with the true crime community.

Instead, it only perpetuated all the problems I have with it.

For a school project, Cam decides to focus on a thirty-year-old missing person's case and make a podcast about it. The podcast aspect (which drew me to the book, to begin with) wasn't very well done IMO. I pictured their podcast as In My Own Backyard (give it a listen if you haven't), yet it lacked the heart and integrity.

Cam is the most selfish person in the world and she really doesn't get any better by the book's end. She makes mistake after mistake and then, just when you think she's going to FIX THINGS THE RIGHT WAY (a very important part of the Save the Cat Writes A Novel writing book) she does something completely and utterly devastating for so many people and gets off with an apology and learns absolutely nothing. The one thing I hate is when podcasters lead their listeners to believe someone was the killer, kidnapper, etc without any proof whatsoever. This leads to doxxing and can be so very dangerous.

Blair is an all-right character with a better character arc that sorta comes into fruition but I do wish we focused a bit more on her abusive boyfriend. I also wished Cam would have said a little bit more about it.

The POVs bounce back and forth within chapters, which jarred me a bit. The writing also seemed clunky at times.

I liked the mystery of what happened to Clarissa, but the solution didn't hit quite right. I think I was missing an after-shot.

The ethics of true crime podcasts really should have come into play more than a long speech from a B character which Cam basically ignores. For a long time, Cam doesn't see Clarissa as a person with families who cared about her. What she comments on is how crazy her mom became after losing her daughter and has zero empathy for her ordeal. This is exactly what is wrong with true crime podcasts. I would have loved the two girls getting to know Clarissa on a human level rather than the mistakes she'd made in her life.

A lot of things happened appeared to teeter on Deus x Machina's. Deus Ex Machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly resolved by the inspired and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability or object-via the web. It left a bad taste in my mouth.

I think this book had the potential to really bring to light "white-woman syndrome" and the unethical practices of true crime podcasts, but falls flat.

Best friends Cam and Blair decide to do a podcast for their class project on the wildly popular cheerleader Clarissa Campbell, who disappeared in the 1990s and was never seen again. These two are not criminal lawyers, but they are typical of the time in thinking they can finally solve this mystery with a podcast!! They are an interesting pair, to say the least, and at times I was sure one or both were going to be missing themselves! It reminded me of the Nancy Drew mysteries I read many years ago. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy of this quick, fun read.

This is a YA story about 2 high school students who decide to do a podcast for school about an unsolved murder in their hometown. They get in over their heads quickly and dig up some old town secrets. This was a fast paced page turner that young adult readers will enjoy! Strong characters and an interesting plot. I liked the spirit of the 2 lead characters. Definitely recommend for a suspenseful read for younger readers!

This book was gifted to me via netgalley.

Missing Clarissa is definitely a book for fans of agggtm. I love the true crime podcast vibe feel! Honestly I couldn't put this book down! I had to keep reading! I would definitely give this one a read! I will say I think this book could've used an extra 50 or so pages to really develop those characters and smooth out some sections of the book that feel a little rushed, but overall a great read and would reccomend!

This was a great and suspenseful YA novel about two teens who embark on a journey to find a student who's been missing for 20 years. Their journalism assignment prompts them to create a podcast where they interview friends and family Clarissa, the "victim." Because it's been so long since it happened, people are wary about talking to them but they are savvy and just young enough to be pushy without seeming arrogant; and because it's a small town, people remember and are willing to talk. It's a fascinating storyline with colorful characters and relevant themes that address teen problems anywhere. I really couldn't put it down!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

At times I found it hard to keep going with this one - the writing/characters seemed a little too juvenile for my liking. Cam was somewhat annoying. I also found it odd that after twenty years two teenage girls get strangers to spill their guts. I also got sick of reading about everyone's ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual preferences, etc. I liked the podcast aspect but it played a minor part in the book. I'll give it a weak four stars. It's nothing special for me but overall it was entertaining.

What initially attracted me to this book was the podcast aspect. It is a different take on the detective or reporter stance and is a very prominent and relevant change for me! I know it is a YA novel, but it was a little too YA for my liking. I feel like it was also somewhat realistic with the teens going forth and asking adults inciminating questions. Very minor, but just a preference for me. I do like reading YA books, but it was just a little too YA for me. I give it 3.5 stars because I liked the premise.

I knew Missing Clarissa was going to be a remarkable story.
A stunning YA thriller/mystery debut!
Ripley Jones, I can not wait to see what you give us the next time because I can assure you I'll read it!
Once I started I wasn't able to stop.
I was immediately drawn into this story.
Exciting, twisty, fascinating and engrossing read.
I found this to be fantastic and unique with great characterization.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Wednesday Books,
Thank you for your generosity and gifting a copy of this approved eARC!

I loved so many things about this! From the quirky characters to the story line. Just, everything I adore about this genre.

It’s fast-paced and engaging. I love the mystery aspect as well. But I do think the character POVs and development even outweigh that.

This is a great follow up read for fans of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. I can’t wait for more from this author.

I would like to thank the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the ARC of this book. I read an advanced copy of this book, so the final edition of the book might be slightly different. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

I always love throwing in a mystery/thriller book in between my fantasy books, as it brings a nice break from it all while still being really fun and entertaining to read! When I was approved for this book, I was honestly really excited, since it seemed right up my alley! I’d read a few podcast based mysteries before, and adored them, and was honestly so sure it would be the same here!

Unfortunately, that was far from the case. Right from the beginning, something about the writing and characters didn’t work for me. They felt so juvenile, in a way that set it apart negatively from other YA mysteries I’d read before. I know that with younger characters, more bad decisions, reckless ideas, and naivety is expected, but it almost felt absurd here. The worst character for me was Cam, and while I could relate to her on many levels, she was honestly just such a horrible person and friend. She never really had any care for others nor paid attention to how her actions would harm others, and she never really learns from her mistakes either. She consistently only cared about herself, and even after she caused more and more pain to her mother, friend, and others around her, she doesn’t really actually stop. At some point, it just also happens to work out in the favor of her loved ones, and all seems to be forgiven. Blair also felt really flat, and she really only seemed to have one driving force that wasn’t really fleshed out at all. It almost felt like she was a side character in her own story, that’s how underutilized she was.

The plot was also quite predictable, which is always really frustrating in these sorts of books. I was also just never fully swept away by the mystery, and I think from the set-up it already started falling flat for me. I never had a reason to really be invested in Cam and Blair solving the mystery, because I wasn’t invested in anyone involved (not even Clarissa, especially not Clarissa).

Overall, this book really wasn’t for me at all, and I’m so disappointed because I had really high hopes for it! (I did really like that we had a queer relationship in this book though!)

Missing Clarissa is young adult meets true crime podcast. Twenty years before the events of the book, Clarissa, a popular girl, goes missing, throwing her small town into turmoil. Now, best friends Blair and Cam are going to find out what happened to Clarissa for their journalism project. Podcasts are in! This will be fun! A joke, even! It doesn't take long for them to discover that people still mourn Clarissa and digging up dirt about her isn't the joke they wanted it to be. Hurt still lingers within the people Clarissa knew, but could one of them be her killer?

The meat and potatoes of Missing Clarissa is primarily predictable--the killer is who I immediately pegged and I didn't find the red herrings particularly convincing, which is one of the reasons this wasn't a five star read for me. I also found Sophie's incarceration policy beliefs shoehorned in and jarring, leaving me wondering what purpose those philosophical tangents were serving to the theme, which seemed mostly focused on the place dead girls serve in society's greater mindset.

That said, I did enjoy the characters, although Cam could be overmuch and her decisions toward the end did not seem entirely realistic to what the reader understands about her leading up to that point. I loved Blair and how she came into her own by the end.

Overall this is a nice little mystery, probably better suited to younger YA readers.

Blair and Cam are best friends and working on a journalism project about a girl who went missing 20 years ago. The 2 girls become local sleuths and are trying to uncover what they can about Clarissa, what happened to her, and also themselves. 

I wanted to like this book more than I did. Some things worked well and some were misses. 

What I liked...
1. The setting - I thought the small town vibe and politics were portrayed perfectly. It was authentic and helped enrich the plot. 
2. Some of the characters 
3. The actual writing was strong. I think this is another reason I was kind of bummed. 
4. The entire premise. I love a mixed medium delivery. 

What didn't work...
1. Our main characters are surface level, annoying, and quite unbelievable. They both have such low confidence and self-esteem, parts of the story were difficult to consume. I also wasn't invested in either of them.
2. It's way too predictable. I'm pleading with the publisher and author to change the cover because it's released to the masses. I knew the twist and what was going to happen, way too soon. 
3. The ending is rushed. 
4. The podcast is more of a toe dip rather than a significant immersion and I really missed that element. 

All in all, I did want to get to the end and enjoyed pieces of it.

Enjoyed the story! A podcast was a unique angle and the characters were interesting. Was able to figure out where the story was headed before the climax but still enjoyed reading as it played out!