I was provided an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is a fast paced YA thriller with a sprinkling of family drama. When Tanvi lost both her parents in a tragedy, she is taken in by her aunt and cousin Mimi. Tanvi and Mimi have always been like sisters, except this year. Mimi has a new best friend, Beth, who seems to hate Tanvi. As Beth's influence insidiously takes hold of Mimi, Tanvi is feeling more and more alone, and the bullying she had experienced previously is happening again. Then, one night, Mimi goes missing. Tanvi wakes up with a huge bump on her head but no memory of the night before. The police seem convinced that Mimi has run away and will return soon but Tanvi is worried as flashbacks of the night are coming back to her. I enjoyed this book and will read more by this author.

At first I found this a bit slow to read and struggled to get into it. As the book progressed it really got exciting and I couldn’t wait to read what was happening.

Over all it was well written and I enjoyed the book. 3 and a half star rating from me

I was not too sure what to expect when I requested When Mimi Went Missing. It did not disappoint; if you are a fan of Angeline Boulley, then this is your book. It will keep you on the edge of your seat and guessing. Sometimes, it seems predictable, but it is still a fun and exciting ride. I am pleased to see more diverse books entering the world, as growing up to see myself in books would have been empowering.

Y’all know I have never met a YA thriller that I won’t try. And of course, when I saw this one, I knew I needed it immediately. And the way its filled with all the things I love about thrillers, I knew this was going to be a winner for me.

Ok so the mystery in this one was unfortunately predictable. I knew where it was going as soon as the person showed up. And they don’t actually do anything to make it seem like they didn’t do it? Idk. it was weird. It was like they had a siren light on top of them the whole time and they weren’t doing anything to guide people away from that thought. Even the clues and the red herrings didn’t sway me.

But that’s why the mystery got me. I was still so into it. I really was enthralled in it. Even knowing from the beginning who did it, I was still really into it. I had to know what was going on with her mom? And it didn’t come to light until the very end, so I’m glad I waited it out. The writing style just got to me and I got sucked into the story.

I also really liked the way the flashbacks were too. It was never info-dumpy and I loved that. And they actually gave some new info with every one. That’s one thing that always annoys me about flashbacks. They repeat the same scenes with only a few things turned different. The flashbacks gave a really good background to the whole story and it really worked well.

The ending was good af tho. I had to listen twice because girl, how did you catch the rope? That’s all I’m going to say lol But even I didn’t believe that one. I didn’t care for it at all. It just wasn’t believe able. I know this is fiction, but still. It IS set in the real world, so I was hoping for a little more I think.

This was a really good story, but I do wish there was some more mystery in this mystery. But it was really fun. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but I did still really enjoy it. I will definitely still be giving it to those that ask for recommendations.

After the death of her parents due to a murder suicide by her mother, Tanvi moves in with her Auntie and cousin Mimi. Tanvi and Mimi are like sisters, until suddenly Mimi drops Tanvi completely for her new friend Beth. Then Mimi goes missing, and Tanvi has no memory of the events leading up to her disappearance. As the memories slowly (achingly slowly) come back to Tanvi, she wonders if she is taking after her mother and hurt her beloved cousin. This was an interesting mystery with compelling characters. But I found it extremely distressing, and not in a good way. It kept me drawn in and reading, but only because I was so stressed out about Tanvi's memory loss. It also explores post partum psychosis, which Tanvi's mom suffered from due to a miscarriage causing her to kill herself and Tanvi's dad. I appreciate seeing this topic, but I am not sure if a Young Adult novel is the best place to explore it. Or perhaps I am just sensitive as a person suffering from post partum depression.

I had gotten this book as a ALC AND an ARC. I just couldn’t get through this book. I just did not understand the premise of the book.
I did like the narrator Rita Amparita.

I found this one hard to get through, The protagonist made so many silly decisions, and I'm not one for mental-health-blackouts stuff. That being said, I think students might appreciate how action-packed this book is, and the great representation. The writing's not great, but the plot is exciting.

Interesting premise--I liked the idea of the story, and the twists and turns kept me engaged, but I wasn't a huge fan of the main character, which led it to feel more like a hate-read. However, it kept me reading, so, maybe I'm off-base.

A real YA thriller that keeps you engrossed. Tanvi is an orphan growing up with her aunt and cousin Mimi. Mimi goes missing and Tanvi is blamed for it by her schoolmates at the same time Tanvi is not able to piece together what happened on the night Mimi went missing. She has some remembrances of random, disconnected incidents that she tries to piece together. The book is overflowing with the emotions of a teenage girl, her anxieties, and her hopes but at the same time keeps you engrossed in wanting to know what happened to Mimi. Overall it is a brilliantly written book and an enjoyable read.
Thank you ‎for providing this book for review via NetGalley All opinions are my own.

this book was very fast-paced—in fact, i finished it in one sitting because i was that gripped with the story. i don't think there was ever a dull moment because once you got to the main event, things just kept happening. you didn't have any room to wonder and you have no choice but to ride the roller coaster.

i also liked tanvi, even though i know she would be a character people love to hate, considering her propensity to put herself in danger. however, i think in perceiving tanvi, it is important to keep in mind that she's just a teenager, and she acts like one would. so even though i was frustrated at times, knowing her age made it easier to accept. i also felt like her grief for her mother and mimi was very real, so combining that grief and confusion, with her age, how she acted made sense.

aside from that, i do think that this book is overall very predictable, and i do find the "bad guys" kind of cartoonish, but i do wonder if it's more about me being a 28-year-old reading a YA book. maybe it would be different for the young ones.

if there's one thing i would nitpick, i think the book could use a breather between chapters. as i've mentioned, it is very fast-paced. therefore, there was no room for certain things to marinate and be processed. i didn't feel any connection with any of the characters other than tanvi.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fast paced, twisty, YA thriller. I liked the aspect of a sort of unreliable narrator who over the course of the book remembers more and more about what happened to her and her cousin. The author did a good job making you suspect multiple people throughout the story.

Thank you NetGalley and Soho Press/Teen for this ARC!

I had a really hard time suspending my disbelief in this one. The amnesia just felt super contrived and almost like an excuse to reveal clues without having to think up a way to uncover them; it didn’t build tension or give the plot a logical progression. I would have loved to see Tanvi interacting more with other people and doing more sleuthing rather than hitting dead ends and suddenly magically remembering things.

Also girl sustained two head injuries with memory loss - they wouldn’t have allowed a cop anywhere near her and she certainly wouldn’t have been discharged from the hospital that quickly. And the “red herring” characters not really panning out to anything or even getting confronted? It just didn’t unfold in a logical way.

What I really liked though was how Tanvi’s childhood and her mother’s downward spiral was described, the trip to India, the connection to spiritualism and just that whole series of letters. I would have loved to see more of Tanvi’s family both before and after her father’s death

I don’t know what it was about When Mimi Went Missing, but reading the synopsis just reminded me so much of The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis and Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson: two of my favourite mystery thrillers of all time. The reason I like them as much as I do is because they are so focused on the experience and wroughtness of being a young woman amidst a still largely white patriarchal world. While exploring similar themes, When Mimi Went Missing focuses its insights more inward, targeting the self-doubt and instrasexual competitiveness indoctrinated into all women—especially teen girls—as well as the stigma around mental health and mental illness. While the novel did have some issues, the overall voice of it felt so immensely authentic, earnest, and explorative. Formulating a twisted narrative of betrayal, grief, and ignorance that could only be spawned by the malevolent machinations of adolescent femininity.
I am often disappointed by depictions of teenage mean girls, because more often than not they pale in comparison to how heinous girls can actually be to each other, especially now that social media can be involved. What I appreciated most about this book, is that although it is meant for a YA audience, it did not shy away from showing its underage characters preforming grievous acts of mental torture and physical violence. Where I do think it fell short was the end, where inference was replaced with directness. It felt too hand-holdy for a novel that up until that point had been mostly successful at relying on the reader’s deductive reasoning.
In terms of my opinion, this is still definitely a recommended read if you love a missing teen mystery with an unreliable narrator.

It’s a nice short and quick read. I normally don’t read mystery/thrillers cause I normally can guess what happened to lead us where we’re at or who done it. The writing is beautifully done and well written. It’s a nice enjoyable read for any young adult wanting to venture into the genre.

loved the indian culture and how mimi and her cousin's frienship soured so easily despite everything.....

Thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Book Tagline: The splintered relationship between two Indian American cousins is at the center of this dark, twisty YA mystery.

Tanvi catches her cousin doing something that she shouldn't at a party. The next day, Mimi has disappeared and the police chalk it up to a teen being angry with her mother and her cousin. The problem is that some kids at school believe it is 100% Tanvi's fault. After all, doesn't she resemble her mother who is also a murderer? As the clock ticks, Tanvi has to find her cousin and prove her innocence but what are these strange glimpses of memories Tanvi is having? Did she do something to her cousin?

Thanks to the time change, I read this in one sitting. What is a person supposed to do at 6 a.m. when the rest of the house is still sleeping? Tanvi is a little naive and a very amateur sleuth. She has a habit of slowly getting around to asking the important questions, a reader will certainly get impatient. But I found this a readable thriller with a great revelation.




Expected Publication Date 19/11/24
Goodreads Review 03/11/24
#WhenMimiWentMissing #NetGalley

I really enjoyed this debut YA thriller and appreciate the South Asian leads. I had no idea what would happen next and tried to guess who was responsible for Mimi's disappearance. The ending was very surprising yet made sense. There were plenty of twists and red herrings. The second half of the book read much quicker for me than the first half. Overall, I would recommend this to YA thriller fans.

This was a great, dark, twisty YA thriller with many twists! It is middle school age appropriate. It was such a fast read for me. I liked that the author took the time to develop the story so much so that it flowed perfectly. I had a few changes of heart as to who I thought the murderer was (if there even was a murder) but ultimately, one portion towards the end helped me go with my first guess, which was the correct one. It kept me on my toes and made me want to read more!

This was a very well written book with many in depth details that I very much appreciated. I was able to picture the scenery, which I enjoyed very much. It was full of mystery, suspense, grief, sadness, action, forgiveness and love.

This is a 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for me! My daughter would absolutely love this book!

Thank you to Soho Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What a fabulous debut from Suja Sukumar. I loved the premise of this one and that we were constantly led astray as a reader and never knew who to trust. I thought I had this one figured out a few times but the reveal got me. I look forward to what this author does next!

This dark YA thriller is full of twists! I ADORED Sukumar's ability to write tension and suspense with such vivid prose! It's a compelling mystery I couldn't put down.