The outcome of this book was not one that I expected but this is Ripley Jones style for sure. We got Cam and Blair back and the last book was one that left me on the edge of my seat, I was so fortunate to get this book not knowing I was going to be around them again, and again these girls were AWESOME! This time the mystery is a little different, we have Mattie who claims that the sister who is living with them is not her sister Lola, but an imposter. I was questioning how this was going to go and even Cam and Blair thought the same, how can that be? She is Lola just more girly and frillier, allegedly Lola was never that way.

Lola goes missing 5 years ago as a teen and recently comes back like nothing happened and this is not sitting right with Mattie. They are not having it and even though everyone around her ignores this Blair was having second thoughts, maybe Mattie is telling the truth. While the girls are going through their own things, like navigating the fact that they are about to graduate high school, off to college and careers, also relationships, and what they went through when they helped solve the case of Clarissa, they are getting into a dark world trying to solve this situation with Mattie. And I won’t lie this story gets a little dark, secrets get revealed about Lola, is the other Lola the real one? What happened!!!!!! This book was not my fave but I love Cam and Blair!!!!!

Thanks Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

THE OTHER LOLA by Ripley Jones (★3.5)

Following the success of solving what happened to Clarissa Campbell, a girl who went missing in 1999, teens Cameron Muñoz and Blair Johnson are dealt the harsher negative side to true crime fame. From death threats to lawsuits, the two and their families and friends have been swimming against the current in the wake of their explosive discovery. They’ve sworn off detective work.

Until…a freshman at their high school shows up out of the blue to ask for their help. Five years ago, Mattie Brosillard’s older sister Lola mysteriously disappeared. Largely presumed to simply be Lola running away again, not much effort was spent looking for her. But, even more mysteriously, Lola has suddenly returned home with a story of having been kidnapped. While their mother and Lola’s twin brother accept this, Mattie is positive the girl isn’t actually Lola but rather an imposter. Hoping to reveal the fraud and figure out the fate of their sister, Mattie begs Cam and Blair to help them.

One thing that I really liked about this sequel was that Jones didn’t do the typical thing of only allowing a few months to have passed — it’s their next school year and the two are gearing up to enter the next stage in their lives: college, moving, and career paths ahead. You can feel these two at the edge of childhood.

Another element I really liked was the fact that there is a tremendous amount of self-awareness within the narrative, and exhibited by Cam and Blair, regarding audiences’ obsession with missing white girls. The two scratched at this in the previous book, but it’s more of a direct tackle here without overwhelming this story and this strange case. The only thing that really didn’t land for me was an overall lack of tension and detective work, but I think this was a conscious decision for the main characters, reflecting a realistic approach to the aftermath of their first case.

Jones again delivers a fast-paced YA thriller with an easy but intelligent narrative. In Missing Clarissa, Jones utilized a helicoptering POV, zooming in and around many of the people the detective duo met along the way. For The Other Lola, aside from a few breaks, we largely stick with Cam and Blair. This shift feels right, especially going forward into a potential third book. With hints of a young Kinsey Millhone in both Cam and Blair, and a dash of the retooling vibe the 80s and 90s gave to Nancy Drew, I’m excited to see where Jones takes these two in the future.

The Other Lola by Ripley Jones
Release Date: March 12th
Thank you to

This book caught my eye for a few reasons: I like the idea of teen sleuths (I grew up reading Nancy Drew…and no, I’m not that old! I read my mom’s old copies), loved the premise of a doppelgänger potentially taking someone’s place, and the cover was eye catching.

Lola had been missing for five years. No trace of her has ever been found, and everyone has given up the search. Not that a ton of people were searching, but still. Until one day, Lola just returns. Her vague explanations appease everyone but her little sister, Mattie, who is convinced that Lola is an imposter. With no one to turn to, she reaches out to Cam and Blair, two high school seniors who recently solved another missing girl case. With little evidence and only Mattie’s determined hunch to go on, the trio set out to find out what happened to Lola and if she really is who she says she is.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a ton. I wish I had read the first in the series, Missing Clarissa, first as this book does reference it a lot. But that didn’t deter from my enjoyment too much. I liked the main characters of Cam and Blair a lot, though I did gravitate more towards Cam if I’m being honest. It’s a slow burn this one, but that ending, it was a surprise and really kicked up towards the end. For anyone a fan of a good teen mystery, I’d recommend this one!

#TheOtherLola:⁣
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Thank you @macmillan.audio @wednesdaybooks partner for my gifted copy!⁣
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I finished my audiobook on my walk today, so might as well take a picture to document it.⁣
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The Other Lola can be read as a standalone, but honestly, Missing Clarissa was so good, why wouldn’t you want to read it? Blair & Cam are off on another Nancy Drew mystery. This time, Mattie is convinced their sister is not who she says she is. Lola goes missing for 5ish years then just comes back up. Mattie can’t afford DNA testing, (plus mom is a little more into appearances and isn’t going to ruin this moment) so they enlist the help of B+C to get this imposter and find where the real Lola is.⁣
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Inés del Castillo is one of the best in audio, so yes, audio was fantastic. I was able to finish in about two days just listening while exercising or doing chores. Lines were delivered perfectly and really had me laughing with Irene.⁣
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I was really wondering where we were going to go. I felt like the journey to get there was a while, but the end was very abrupt, if that makes sense. I don’t feel like the dots were connected in a way that flowed. ⁣
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Overall, a bingeable read, but not as gripping as the first. Regardless, whatever these two decide to do, I’m gonna be there listening and reading.⁣
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Out tomorrow 3/12! ⁣
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QOTD: What do you do to relax/unwind?

This time Blair and Cam get involved in a story that isn’t about a missing girl but about one who came back… Or did she? Maddie was close to her sister Lola who went missing five years before and now that she’s back everyone is excited except for Maddie who thinks this isn’t their sister after all. Luckily Maddie goes to the same school as Cam and Blair and tracks and follows Cam back to her home when Cam confronts them at first cam isn’t interested in helping anyone especially after what happened the year before with Clarissa and her story but something Maddie says intrigues her enough to at least tell Blair about it. She wasn’t prepared for Blair‘s instant obsession and excitement over another mystery and before she knows it Cam has agreed to at least go to one party they were invited to at Maddys home. Before the girls know it they’re all in between an ex-boyfriend who looks like a Boy Scout dysfunctional family and a girl who is not who she’s claiming to be they have a lot to unpack not to mention while all this is going on poor Cam is worried about where she fits in her relationship with Sophia we also get to see Jennifer again there’s just way too much more in the story and it is a really good story this is the second book in Oreville with Blair and Cam two characters I really enjoy I also love how it ended with Maddie because I’m not gonna lie I really felt bad for Irene having her one child go off to college and she would be left all alone not to mention everything that happened with Brad because OMG who doesn’t love Brad! This really was a great story in the more I right in this review the more I remember how much I loved it I want to thank Wednesday books and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

A year after Blair and Cam cracked the missing Clarissa case, and narrowly escaped being murdered, the two have sworn of sleuthing for good. That is, until Mattie shows up begging for help to figure out what happened to her sister, Lola, who went missing five years ago, and who the mysterious girl is who just showed up claiming to be her. Blair is pretty insistent on helping, but Cam needs some convincing. In the end, they find themselves in danger again as they get closer to the truth about Lola.

Once again I loved the character development here. I loved the introduction of Mattie and frankly I was happy to see a lot less of Sophie this time around. The pacing was a little too slow for me, but overall I enjoyed the story.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

THE OTHER LOLA is the follow up to Ripley Jones' 5 star MISSING CLARISSA. Featuring many of the same characters and using many references to the first book, readers will enjoy this book much more if they read Clarissa. Jones jumps straight into the aftermath of the brilliant ending of Clarissa as Blair and Cam are still reeling from their scrapes and bruises. They have sworn to each other....never again.....but we all know that means.....until the next time. The next time's name is Lola. Lola went missing 5 years ago and no trace has ever been found. But here's the twist....Lola's back, and her whole family swear, the young woman who came back....is not Lola. How can Cam and Blair turn this case down? Good thing for us they don't. It will not surprise me if Cam and Blair get their own Netflix series. They certainly deserve it!!!

I was excited to read this because I loved Missing Clarissa, but now I feel like I didn’t need a sequel at all. This lacked a lot of the things I loved about the first book.
I said in my review for book 1 that I was concerned it would feel too much like A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and it didn’t, but book two definitely felt a little like it was veering into the territory and I didn’t like that vibe.
I’m so bummed I didn’t love this more, but I did enjoy the new characters in this installment!

In solidarity with the SMP Boycott I will be withholding my review for this title (which I was given prior to the boycott) until SMP acts on the following:

1. Address and denounce the Islamophobic and racist remarks from their employee.
2. Offer tangible steps for how they are going to mitigate the harm this employee caused.
3. Address how, moving forward, they will support and protect their Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian influencers, authors and readers, in addition to supporting their BIPOC influencers, authors, and readers.

This is not a reflection of the author personally, nor is it a call to boycott buying this particular book. The star rating (3.75 stars) in an accurate assessment of my thoughts on the book.

loved this romance and how the characters changed through the story. also loved the friends and all of the interesting things that happened during the story. loved the growth of the main character and all of her trials .

Rating 2.5

I felt like is I was missing a bit of information since I did not read book #1. This is NOT a standalone book series, rather it should be recommended to read in order. I felt a bit of let down, as I got the impression the first book was much intense and interesting. They kept mentioning the podcast - well I wish they would've brought it back. This felt like it was just written to give one last experience to close out the characters.

Thank you, Wednesday Books.

I loved Missing Clarissa and was looking forward to reading this but it just fell a bit flat for me. It took me awhile to get through and was not compelled to pick up. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the arc of this book in exchange for my review.
2 star

I loved missing Clarissa buy for me the other Lola fell flat. I felt like there wasn't enough to keep me interested and the story line was lacking. After the reveal I struggled to finish.

I really enjoyed Missing Clarissa so I was very excited to read this second book about Cam & Blair. It seems they’ve had a bit of a role reversal after the events of the first book. Cam is now more reserved & cautious while Blair is more pushy and confident in her abilities. Mattie is a fun addition to the characters and she convinces Cam & Blair to help her prove her long lost sister is not actually her sister. The unravelling of the mystery was fun and I thought the ending was great.

Thanks to NetGalley & Wednesday Books for a copy of this book,

Jones' reluctant teenage investigators are back at it with a case that neither truly wants but they're too nice and still dealing with the trauma and the aftereffects of solving a decades-old cold case to say no.
Mattie Brosillard's beloved sister Lola disappeared without a trace five years ago and no one seemed to care. Now, someone who looks like her is back. Mattie's mom only cares about what others see and this Lola is the perfect daughter, so she's not looking beyond the surface. Lola's twin, Luke, spends his life stoned and trying not to think or feel, so he just accepts whatever's happening. But Mattie is sure that the doppelganger will know where Lola is, so they ask Cam and Blair to help them prove it. It's a twisty case where no one wants to speak and those that should know or care don't seem to want to do either. Cam and Blair are still reeling from everything that their podcast unleashed on them and their loved ones. Blair's family is even more standoffish, leaving her with no direction and zero emotional support. Cam is dealing with some major PTSD but unwilling to give therapy a try despite heavy nightmares and panic attacks. Neither is fully into finding answers, but Mattie quickly finds a spot in their hearts and what started out as a quick favor quickly turns into a puzzle missing way too many pieces.

I really like the fact that Jones wasn't afraid to show that the heroic thing the girls did came with a very heavy price both mentally and emotionally. These are not the carefree girls that started looking into a cold case on a whim, but they're still the girls who cared when no one else seemed to and that's why they help Mattie even when everything in them is telling them it's not a good idea to do so.
This case didn't keep me guessing as much as the previous book, but it got me way more invested into every single person it touched. Jones' writing breathes life into the characters so that the reader can't help but want to know what happened and will happen to the different people introduced.


Happy thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the engaging read!

The Other Lola is the follow-up to the young adult mystery novel Missing Clarissa. In this book amateur sleuths and high school seniors Blair and Cam are pulled back into another local missing person case.

When fifteen-year-old Lola Brossilard disappeared from her own house party five years ago no one searched that hard for her including her own family. She was considered a trouble maker and a drug user and running off wouldn’t be that out of character. But now she’s back and her little sister Mattie isn’t buying it. They (note: Mattie uses they/them pronouns) were only ten when Lola disappeared but they know that this person is not their sister and enlists local teen crime solvers and former podcasters Blair and Cam to figure out where the real Lola went. Blair and Cam are still dealing with the trauma and notoriety around the Clarissa case and are reluctant to jump back into crime solving. But Blair has been offered a book deal by a New York publisher and Cam is having a hard time saying “no” to young Mattie. Soon they are both questioning Lola’s ex-boyfriend, best friend, twin brother and law enforcement in the hopes of getting to the bottom of where Lola went. But the other Lola isn’t going anywhere and someone wants them to stop asking questions.

This was another solid mystery and thriller by Ripley Jones. I loved the idea of a “changling” or a “cuckoo in the nest” plot with both the reader and the characters unsure of who exactly this Lola is and if she could possibly be a fake. I also enjoy Cam’s relationship with both Blair and her mother Irene and all of the banter that comes with it. The descriptions of Washington are very spot on and add to the overall mood of the story. This was a solid young adult mystery and I look forward to reading more from Ripley Jones.

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Five years ago Mattie’s older sister Lola went missing, and out of the blue someone claiming to be Lola is trying to come back into Mattie’s life. Everyone in Mattie’s life including her older brother and mom believe Lola is back but Mattie knows that this stranger isn’t her sister and that’s when she decides to ask Cam and Blair for help, after all they did solve a case before.
After what happened in Missing Clarissa when Cam and Blair solved the case of Clarissa and shot themselves to fame, they declared they would never do another podcast or solve another case. When Mattie comes to them asking for help Blair is more willing to accept the case but Cam is very adamant she wants no parts of this. We see that the aftermath of the last case really took a toll on Cam, she has nightmares and she realizes that the people closest to her could have gotten hurt, and even worse there’s a whole bunch of internet trolls who keep coming for her and Blair. Cam is sticking to her guns in this book, and at some points her attitude about it is kind of off-putting but I understand where she’s coming from, but because of her attitude I found myself enjoying Blairs POV more. In the last book we saw Blair was the reluctant one but in this book she takes more of a lead. Blairs motivation for solving this case comes from the fact that a publisher from New York called her about a book deal and Blair needed a story and Mattie came at the perfect time. Both Blair and Cam don’t exactly believe Mattie because her story does sound far fetched especially because when Lola went missing Mattie was a little kid so how good is her memory about what happened that night. Cam and Blair are cautious about how they approach this case, they know for sure that their won’t be a podcast but they’re also not sure about what danger is involved. Mattie was an okay character she annoyed me more often than not. I thought of Mattie being more of a hinderance than an asset. Whenever Blair and Cam would suspect someone Mattie would kind of freak out and say no that person couldn’t have done it because they were always nice to me, I just thought she let her feelings dictate what was actually logical.
I found myself enjoying this book a lot more than the first, and I think it’s because in Missing Clarissa they really didn’t know what they were doing with solving mysteries or even starting a podcast. In this book it seems a little more cut and dry, interview people that were with Lola the night she went missing and try to figure out what happened that night. I did like the story and seeing the character development that both Blair and Cam had. The Other Lola is actually a pretty good book and its not often that someone comes back from going missing and isn’t actually the person they’re claiming to be but it does happen so it wasn’t a crazy idea that I couldn’t believe. I think the best thing about this book was that Lola wasn’t immediately accused of being someone else by Cam and Blair but they did have their evidence first.
Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot! I will say that I think Missing Clarissa needs to be read first just so you can have the background knowledge about why our characters are the way they are now. I truly believe that this book was better than the first and I definitely recommend it!

I loved the previous book so had to read this one. My issue from the beginning is why not just do a DNA test. If we did that there would be no book. I did enjoy the story but in today's age we would have just done a test.

After Cam and Blair solve the mystery of what happened to Clarissa, it seems to have pushed them apart instead of closer together. Mostly because Cam feels so guilty for all of the hate she and Blair have received from the news, the town, and just everyone that feels the need to share their opinion. So when Mattie comes to her with a mystery of her own she needs solved Cam is hesitant, but Blair is all in. Blair has a secret of her own and this case will be perfect for it.
You see Matties sister disappeared years ago, and while everyone thought she was just a runaway (except for Mattie) she has returned with a crazy story that nobody seems to question. Except Mattie, who knows that despite all the evidence to the contrary this girl is not her sister and she needs Cam and Blair to help her prove it.

I enjoyed this sequel to Missing Clarissa. I though the mystery was well played out, and the POV from "Lola" had me going back and forth to wether she was the real deal or an imposter. I love Cam and Blairs friendship thats more like family, despite them having drifted a bit a part after the after affects of thier last investigation. I thought there were plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing about Lola's identity and what happened to her the night she disappeared. I also really love Cam's mom and her boyfriend Brad!? They are really there for the girls including Mattie, and everytime Brad was cooking it made me hungry! lol.

I am excited to read whatever else this author comes out with!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Ripley Jones for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Other Lola coming out March 12, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I received this directly from NetGalley. I really enjoyed the first book. I thought it was a fun mystery, so I was really looking forward to this sequel. Unfortunately, this book did not work for me at all. I didn’t care for the new characters and the main characters felt different. It just felt very different from the first book. Instead of a murder mystery, it felt like a social commentary on society. Every little thing was a big deal and felt too political. I just couldn’t get into it. It wasn’t fun.