I read this one in one sitting at work because I just could NOT put it down. Our narrator, Marti, lost her sister years ago when she disappeared at age 18. Marti now hosts a podcast that covers the disappearances of young girls, including her own sister. One day she gets a message saying that her sister's case could be connected to the death of another young girl, and the rest of the story just flows from there. I sort of saw the twists coming, but it didn't stop them from being really good. I've been listening to a lot of podcasts about possible wrongful convictions, so the element of that in here kept me wanting to read on as well. All in all one of my favorites I've read this year!

This book was such an interesting read. I love true crime podcasts so I knew I needed to check this book out. While there are some parts that seem a bit unrealistic, I think that the author really nailed what it would be like to be in the position of losing a sibling and starting a podcast to solve it. It was an absolutely twisted and sad tale. I would have given it five stars, but I had solved a few of the twists before they happened, and I wish I had been caught completely off guard.

The Lost Girls is an absorbing thrill ride that deals with serious issues revolving around true crime podcasts and the podcaster’s personal problems. The lost Girls takes the reader into the minds of all the characters and leaves the reader wanting more. The pace is just right, and the readers are mesmerized by the machinations of the well-drawn players. Readers will want to follow the author who will soon be heard from.

DNF at 48%

The premise of this book sounded interested with a Podcaster trying to determine if the case of her missing sister and a woman's solved homicide are linked. I didn't like the main character making it harder for me to continue. I got to a point where I didn't care if the two cases were linked so it was best to DNF.

Wow! This author has an ability to bring together certain characters that may not work in other books. Marti Reese was much younger when she witnessed the abduction of her older sister several yrs ago. Now after all of those years she gets a call from the morgue with information that the body that was just brought in might be her sisters. All I can say is if you want to read a great book with many plot twists, this is it. Hold on to oyour seat.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author/ publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.,

A page turning psychological thriller-mystery. As with Gone Girl or The Silent Patient, there are twists I wasn't expecting. Marti Reese saw her 16 year old sister Maggie get into a car when she was only eight years old. It's been 20 years and it is now an unsolved cold case. Was she abducted? Did she run away? Marti suffers from survivors guilt and it affects every aspect of her life. She and best friend Andrea do an award winning podcast about the case in hopes of generating new leads. Ava Vreeland contacts them about her brother who is serving time for killing another girl years later. She suggests he is wrongly convicted and there might be a connection with the cases. Marti thinks this can be the next season for the podcast.

This is for anyone who enjoys mystery/thrillers. Jessica Chiarella's debut novel is well written and complex. I felt empathy for Marti and the impact of a missing sister on her life. She is never going to be a happy character but you know what drives her even when you don't like her choices. The book has language but isn't graphic for violence or sex. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group (Putnam) for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Marti thought she was keeping her life in control. Until she gets the call that there is an unidentified female in the morgue that could be her sister. You see, Marti's sister was last seen getting into a car at age 16 when Marti was 8. All grown up and still desperate to know what happened to Maggie all those years ago, Marti now produces a crime podcast regarding Maggie's and other lost girls disappearances.
I liked the multiple mysteries going on in the book at one time. I liked some characters and loved to hate others. I didn't entirely believe that Marti could be so productive while drunk or hungover most of the time. I did understand her need to find the truth and was hopeful throughout that she would get some.

Thank you to netgalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the arc

The Lost Girls was a great mystery/thriller that features the newly minted favorite in these books...the crime podcast.

The story itself moves quickly, it is easy to read and holds your attention. I appreciate this, as there is nothing worse than reading a thriller/mystery that is such a slow burn it does not hold your attention.

The writer does a good job at showing both the emotional and physical aspects of having a long-term missing person in the family.

Lots of twists and turns which are always welcome, and a plus when I read, it makes the thriller...dare I say...more thrilling? The Lost Girls keeps you on your toes and keeps you turning pages.

This book is another great thriller for me. A debut novel by Jessica Chiarella that is so good. I thought it was going to be another mystery to solve but it's so much more. It has all the excitement you want in a thriller. Yes it has some mystery to it but the thrills are not to be forgotten. There are many of them. Lots of action in this book. That made it a five star read for me.

The story of a sister who does not want to give up her search for her older sister who went missing many years before. Marti lost her older sister when she was only eight years old. Maggie was last seen getting into a car. She was sixteen. Just a child. But was she taken or did she just run away? Marti and her best friend Andrea have a podcast and have just won a nice award for it. It's their first season and it's all about Maggie and what could have happened to her. Marti wants answers. It seems she may get some when she receives a call from someone claiming to know something. But is she being honest? Is what she has to say really to help Marti?

This book will take you through many ups and downs. Many twists and turns. Your mind will go in several different directions. But you won't figure this one out. At least not all of it. And if you do you may just be wrong. There are two girls missing. One is found dead. Are they linked? Who could have done this? Follow Marti's story and you will find some answers. You will find out who is evil. I mean evil to the very core. Without a soul. A cold blooded murderer. Or is that another curve?

This book was a fast read. It held my attention from start to finish. From all the horrors and all the sadness. I liked the characters. Even the ones that ended up being bad. Of course after I found out who was that bad I didn't like them as much. That is a given. But for the most part they are all likable. I felt for Marti's soon to be ex. I also was a bit upset with Marti for all the drinking she did. It had to be hard to hold down her job being drunk or hungover so much. But what do I know. Except that this a great book. Well written. Well thought out. Well played.

Thank you to #netgalley, #jessicachiarella, #penguingroupputnam for this ARC. This is my own true feelings about this book.

5/5 stars. A high recommendation to anyone that loves a good thriller...

A huge thank you to NetGalley and JP Putnam's Sons for the advance copy of this book!
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I have been in a huge light summer romance read space, so this was a hard left turn back into the thriller genre, and I loved it! I have seen a lot of novels using the podcast troupe when writing about cold case crimes or serial killers, and while the main character is a podcaster, the story doesn't rely on media as a means of story telling. The reader is never reading excerpts from the podcast itself, and rarely is "present" for any recording. I found this a really fascinating way to tell the story without using the plot device you expect them to.
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There is a flip in discovering exactly what crime will be solved within the book, if any at all (no spoilers here lol), and how any of the characters are linked. I found the central characters to be compelling, but would have loved to get to know some them a bit better than we are allowed to as the reader. I also found the final quarter of the book to be jam packed with information, which coming from the slower-paced start, felt like Chiarella was trying to tie up loose ends quickly. I would have been okay with making the novel a few pages longer and keeping the initial pacing, or perhaps sliding a few more clues in earlier, so there was less explanation needed toward the end. All in all, a really engaging read.

I love true crime podcasts and books about them! This book was a little tough for me to get into but it was a good read. I'd suggest it for true crime podcast fans.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC. All opinions are completely my own.

I thought this would be a mystery, but it's actually more a psychological thriller. Really wanted the murders and abductions resolved for Marti. I stayed up far too late hoping and reading.

Marti's life was turned upside down the night her sister disappeared. As an adult still coping with the unknown of what happened she ends up making a hit podcast about her sister's disappearance. The phenomenon that her podcast turned into had calls coming in left and right of people with cases that might be linked to her sister's. When Marti takes one call and delves into a solved case where the wrong man is behind bars, how far will she go to get the truth and sew if it will finally lead her to her sister.

I have only gotten into the thriller genre within the past year, but I have read several and this one was great! I loved the twists and turns, as well as the connections between the characters. I always enjoy it when the author connects multiple story lines.

Marti Reese has been living with the loss of her sister for 20 years. It has run everything for her. So much so that she decides to make a podcast about it that wins her an award. There are a lot of books featuring podcasts right now but this one has the podcast feeling more like a supporting character than a main one. It is a riviting story that will keep you engaged.

A woman haunted by her missing sister investigates a crime that may lead back to her disappearance. While it may be her sister that's been missing most of her life, Marti is the one that is lost in her life. After ruining her marriage, she is living in a small apartment and working as a bartender to make ends meet between working on a podcast about her sister's disappearance with a friend. When it wins a podcasting award, a woman contacts her with a case that might have a link. Ava's brother was convicted of the murder of a young woman who looks a lot like Marti's missing sister, and Ava believes he didn't do it. As Marti digs into the case, will she spiral even further down the rabbit hole?

The case Marti investigates takes on all kinds of twists and turns, but its Marti herself that is in a downward spiral and doesn't seem to know how to get out of it. A dark tale of family, loss and grief, this is a haunting story.

Wow. I could not turn the pages fast enough. This book hooked me from page one and I couldn’t stop.
Marti is punishing herself for her sisters disappearance many years ago. Oh Marti , you loveable train wreck !
I enjoyed this book more than I expected and I highly recommend this book!

Marti Reese's life has imploded, again. She was doing okay, keeping the monsters and her thoughts locked away. Until she gets the call she longs for and fears. An unidentified body has been found, and it closely resembles her sister Maggie who vanished when Marti was eight years old.
Once the lid is off Marti's control of her demons, she walks away from her marriage and her safe life. Bartender by night, true-crime podcaster by day, Marti wants to do the right thing for all the lost girls and their families. A successful first season brings Ava Vreeland to her door.
Fighting to free her brother Colin from prison for a murder she swears he did not commit, Ava wants Marti and her podcast to find the truth. The victim, Sarah Ketchum, a girl who bears a resemblance to Maggie. If Colin didn't kill Sarah, the real killer may still be out there. If Marti finds him, she might have a lead to her sister.
Marti was seriously out of control. Every decision she makes has the potential to hurt her. She cannot get over the guilt of her role in her sister's disappearance, and I was wondering throughout The Lost Girls if finding Maggie dead or alive would actually help Marti. Marti's self-harming behavior was hard to read at times, and I just wanted her to find some closure. The truth about Colin will lead her to a very dangerous place as she learns the truth about Sarah's killer. I kept furiously flipping pages and without spoilers, I wouldn't mind seeing Marti again.

The Lost Girls ✨REVIEW✨
“When her true-crime podcast becomes an overnight sensation, a young woman is pulled into the web of a case that may offer a surprising connection to her own sister's disappearance years earlier.”

First off, thank you to NetGalley and GP Putnam and Sons for this ARC to read and review. This book will be released in July!

I will be honest, I didn’t love this one. I didn’t hate it either. I’m sort of in limbo. I think I was hoping for a different ending. Maybe some justice for Maggie? This story follows Marti, who has a very popular crime podcast with her friend that started when she began trying to piece together what happened to her sister who got into a mans car when Marti was young and was never seen again. Marti holds some sort of guilt, as she was with her sister when it happened, and her sister told her to basically run homes. When a body was found, Marti basically spun out of control and ruined her marriage.

Fast forward to today, Marti receives a call from a woman claiming to have information on a case that could be related to her sisters disappearance. Marti can’t pass up the opportunity to possibly get closer to solving her sisters case. Things start to go crazy from there. It’s hard to review without giving much away. Let’s just say, basically no one is telling the truth in this whole book. Even when it ends, I feel that Marti needs serious therapy before she can have a semi normal life.

#thelostgirls #netgalley #digitalarc #gpputnamandsons #readingthrough2021 #bookjourney #booksaremyfavorite #crimepodcasts #unsolvedmysteries #spiraling #cheating #martiandmaggie #booknerd #mayreading

Marti makes a popular podcast about her sister who disappeared when she was 8 years old. She is contacted by Ava who thinks her brother was unfairly imprisoned for a murder. She believes the real murderer also took Marti's sister. Can Marti trust Ava, her husband or her brother? There are lots of mysteries along the way. I wish there was an answer for Marti's sister but I know in real life there are often too many cold cases.