Cover Image: Have You Seen Me?

Have You Seen Me?

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Definitely a solid YA mystery thriller that will keep you guessing who is our killer on the loose.

Waverly High is infamous for a series of disappearances in previous years. Now, another student named Lindsey Gillett is missing, and the esteemed school finds itself under scrutiny once again. Aubrey LaRoux is a former student at Waverly who has been invited back to fill in as a history teacher.

However when Aubrey starts her new job she and her students will start investigating the missing girls and the deeper they dig, the more they are putting themselves in danger. One by one the students will start appearing dead. We are running against time to catch the killer.

A gripping whodunnit story with many interesting characters that will take you through the history of the school and the background of each character while revealing who is behind the missing girls and the killings.

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“Lindsey dove into the swirling currents. The cold shocked her just as an undertow pulled her down. She fought to get to the surface. Panic ate up her oxygen as she kicked hard, but she wasn’t gaining any ground.
Darkness closed around her, engulfing Lindsey in blinding terror.”

When former pupil Aubrey LaRoux returns to Waverly Prep private school as a history teacher 10 years after graduating, it’s her own history she wants to put behind her.

Aubrey’s hope is to become the teacher she wished she’d had while she’d been at school. An unhappy student, she had been bullied mercilessly by the popular Marjorie Reynolds. But when Marjorie goes missing in their senior year, Aubrey herself is briefly a suspect. The case isn’t solved, although some believe it was linked to the disappearance of three more girls from the school in the 1990s.

But far from putting her past behind her, when Aubrey arrives to take up her post she is immediately confronted with another mystery – Marjorie’s half-sister Lindsey has now also disappeared, 10 years after Marjorie vanished without a trace. Her friends claim she’d uncovered what had happened to her sister…

Aided by a team of her students and handsome Sheriff Mason Dubois, Aubrey sets out to get to the bottom of the mystery that has haunted her and is still playing out today. But as the bodies pile up, will she be able to make Waverly give up its secrets in time?

“Have You Seen Me?” is the first book in a new series by Alexandrea Weis and is both an intriguing mystery and a page-turning thriller. Waverly Prep, with its history as a sugar plantation and links with the American Civil War, is in some ways a classic, isolated murder mystery setting. But at the same time it is a refreshingly unfamiliar one, with its troubled history casting shadows over the events taking place in its present.

While there isn’t a huge cast of suspects in this novel, I found my suspicions shifting multiple times from character to character, right up until the final reveal; always a sign of a good mystery! This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and I shall eagerly await the next instalment of the series. I’d highly recommend “Have You Seen Me?” to mystery and thriller fans alike.

“Have You Seen Me?” was released in the UK on 17th August 2021. Many thanks to NetGalley, Vesuvian Books and of course the author for providing an ebook copy.

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3.5 Stars

This story is a mix of the movies Scream and I know what you did last summer. This is a YA, murder mystery/thriller, with multiple perspectives. This mainly follows Aubrey, who is back to her old school, as the new history teacher. Already things are not going as planned especially when a student goes missing and she gets thrown right in the middle of the investigation. It was really entertaining, fast paced, a bit predictable but still very enjoyable. It had a couple of plot holes or ideas that just did not make sense. There were also a few points that were not wrapped up at the end, which I would have liked to have a conclusion for. There was a bit of romance, it was fine but could have been left out. I liked Aubrey as a character, she was quiet, in the wrong place and wrong time situations, with a bit of a guilty conscience, the others were a bit fleeting and so I got them mixed up at the beginning. Overall, exciting time if you're just looking for a slasher, horrifying and heart race story, I would recommend picking this up.
Trigger Warnings: Kidnapping, dismembering, murder, suffocation.
I received this advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

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This book had me hooked from the very beginning and found myself not being able to put it down until I found out how it ended. I had absolutely no idea who the killer was but I did take a guess part way through the book based on only my opinion of the character and it turned out that I was right. I can’t wait to see what this author does next.

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Thank you @netgalley, @vesurvianbooks and @alexandreweis for this advance E-ARC for my reading pleasure for an unbiased review.

𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐲 𝐆𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠. And she’s not the first girl at Waverly High to vanish without a trace. To help cope with the tragedy, new history teacher Aubrey LaRoux organizes a student investigation team. But when those key members start turning up dead across campus, Aubrey suspects there’s more going on than anyone is willing to admit.
At Waverly High, someone wants to keep the past buried—and you don’t want to get in their way.

🄼🅈 🅃🄷🄾🅄🄶🄷🅃🅂

Another fabulous whodunit has arrived and to make this fun story even better the setting is a highly prestigious boarding school. Oh, how I love all the above. This story starts with our female protagonist history teacher Aubrey LaRoux. Aubrey herself went to Waverly High 10 years ago and is now just been hired as the new history teacher. On her first day Aubrey catches site of a flyer of a missing teen girl. This teen girl is actually a student at Waverly High but what is even stranger is this missing student is the sister of another missing student that happened in 90's. When Aubrey LaRoux was attending Waverly High. *INSERT SHOCK FACE*

Two sister's years apart going missing? What are the odds? Aubrey LaRoux is very curious and so are missing girl's friends. They decide to team up together to find out who has kidnapped or even killed these girls. But one by one all of Lindsey's Gillett friends start dropping off like flies.

While reading this story there were so many options to pick out in this whodunit story. I just kept going back and forth on them all. The deaths were very calculated and smart. I also felt like there were just enough characters for this book. Not too many to feel overwhelmed but just enough for there to be a real serial killer out there. Oh, and the epilogue is CRAZY! I'm so hoping for a sequel! Fingers crossed 🤞

Fantastic job to Alexandrea Weis with this novel. I plan to go to your backlist of books and see what else I can get into.

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I did it again! I requested and received another book that is more YA than adult. I'm 42 and while I did end up enjoying the book, it read VERY young and made me feel VERY old.

A rather predictable teen slasher at a prep high school. A new teacher arrives at her former high school--she was a student who was formerly bullied - but then her bully disappeared. Over time, more girls disappear and it does tend to get a little...Pretty Little Liars where too many people end up missing and parent don't seem to pay attention and the ONE adult seems to involve herself a LITTLE too much....

Regardless, this was still a fun little read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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This was very enjoyable, perfect for fans of YA thrillers. I liked the whole setting, it's very atmospheric and adds a lot to the vibes of the story. The best part perhaps was how descriptive and graphic some parts were (nothing over the top and nothing that YA books shouldn't have), I think it was great and also help expand the reading circle from just YA. The story was very enjoyable overall, I loved the dynamics between characters, a bit unrealistic and unplausible at that, but it kept me guessing and turning the pages till the very end, the only part I didn't like was the romance b/w the two main adult characters, reminded me so much of the 70s chick-flicks lol. The ending was great too, love it when the story isn't over even when it's over. I'd love to see a sequel coming!

Thanks so much to Netgalley, author, and publisher for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

**I'll update the links as soon as I post the review on Amazon and Insta blog :)**

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I can't resist a good mystery/suspense novel. I think this would make a fantastic thriller from page to screen! I loved the setting and that it kept me guessing. This book is captivating all around and I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced reading copy.

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HAVE YOU SEEN ME? by Alexandrea Weis is a contemporary, young adult, mystery/murder thriller focusing on the investigation and search for a number of missing girls who attended Waverly Prepatory school in Louisiana.

Told from several third person perspectives including former student turned history teacher Aubrey LaRoux, HAVE YOU SEEN ME? follows the search for the truth. Upon her arrival, two months into the new school year, history teacher Aubrey LaRoux discovers a young female student is missing, the step-sister of another young woman who went missing ten years earlier, when Aubrey was a student attending Waverly High. Aubrey is about to find herself the target of a number of students believing she is the guilty party, a target that is about to become involved in the search for the truth. As the missing and dead begin to pile up, Aubrey and several of her first period students, begin an investigation of their own, only to find themselves disappearing, one student at a time.

HAVE YOU SEEN ME? reads like a Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys murder mystery with overtones of teenage slasher movies including Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. As per the requisite plot points, the teens and their teacher begin to uncover the clues, and the long buried secrets of Waverly High, but the TSTL attitudes threatens everyone involved. One by one, each of the students involved in the investigation disappears and dies, leaving Aubrey and one final student to uncover the truth.

We are introduced to sheriff Mason Dubois, Headmistress Sara Probst, groundskeeper Mr. Samuel, as well as a number of students including Lindsey Gillett.

HAVE YOU SEEN ME? is a haunting story of power, control, betrayal and vengeance; a suspenseful tale of secrets, lies, and obsession dating back close to twenty-five years. The premise is edgy but predictable; the characters are inquisitive, energetic and impassioned. HAVE YOU SEEN ME? ends on a bit of a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

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Thank you to NetGalley, Alexandrea Weis and Vesuvius Books for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I love novels about private boarding schools and this one is no different! The beginning may be a bit slow, but it really sets up the entire novel for the faster pace. There are a lot of characters and I really enjoyed most of them and some of them are just perfect to hate. There were parts of this novel that were like a teen slasher movie and I LOVED it. I loved the gruesome but unique nature of some of the deaths and it really kept me on my toes. The ending of this book was awesome and I really figured who was doing the killing, but the other really makes you second guess yourself over and over. I would definitely recommend if you enjoyed novels like A Good Girls Guide to Murder.

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Thank you NetGalley and Black Spot Books for an e-ARC in exchange for a review.

I really enjoyed this book. It had dark academia, mystery, and was incredibly intense. I did predict who the killer was, but I enjoyed all the twists and details it took to get there. I thought each character and their personality was really well thought out and I liked the full circle moment for Aubrey from the beginning to the end of the story. There were also definitely some horror elements which I don't usually do, but I thought they worked well here with the private school setting. The end also left me wanting more! I was hoping for it to continue and I definitely think it could have. I also would have loved to read part of the book in the killer's perspective, but I enjoyed the Aubrey's as well as several of her students thoughts and feelings. There was always something happening here and I never felt bored while reading. I only wanted to know how and why the killer was going to be revealed and I thought that was done really well. Overall I definitely enjoyed this book!

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Well, here we are. I don’t know what to talk about first with this book. Surprise, I’m almost at a loss for words. Almost. To keep it short, Have You Seen Me? is a mystery, a thriller, and a big disappointment.

Aubrey LeRoux is a new teacher a Waverly Prep, which happens to be her alma mater of ten years. Aubrey’s time at the prestigious boarding school was marred by the unsolved disappearance of one of her classmates; her return marks the disappearance of another student, who happens to be the younger half-sister of the first girl to go missing. A group of students literally scheme Aubrey into organizing an investigation team, but soon they each start turning up dead, like it’s a slasher movie or something.

The plot: It sounds so interesting, which is why I requested the book in the first place. It checks off so many interest boxes for me. Fancy boarding school? Check. Takes place in Louisiana? Check. A cold case mystery intertwined with a current mystery? Check. But did the author manage to put that all together with well-rounded characters and fast pacing to make for a great novel? Nope. Sorry, but it’s time for me to be a little picky.

The police investigating the disappearances give Aubrey and the students their blessing to be amateur detectives. Like what? I can suspend my disbelief as a reader but that and solving the murder being an assignment for history class kind of blurs the line of is this ridiculous or should I just go along for the ride? I didn’t go along for the ride. Plus, the pacing was messy. The beginning was incredibly slow and the climax of the story was too short. And I had a really hard time liking any of the characters; Aubrey seemed to not be able to figure out what kind of character she wanted to be and the students never really fell out of their prep school stereotypes.

The writing: Honestly, the writing was super clunky, in a pretentious way. There could have not been more descriptors in a sentence if Victor Hugo was writing. Take this quote from chapter two, “The frigid air caressed the dew on Aubrey’s skin, sharpening her wits; she breathed with restraint as the heavy perfume of lavender coming from the blooms inside the front door accosted her nose.” I may be a tad on the dramatic side to bring up Hugo, but anyone in my writing workshops at university would have been roasted for brining in a sentence like that. And most of the novel is that way; I’ll admit it got better during some of the more intense action sequences.

It’s not even that reading the exposition was a test of patience, but the dialogue felt like it was written by a completely different person. It’s unrealistic, almost robotic at some points, and too many uses of the word perhaps. No one talks like that, especially teenagers. There’s also the fact that the narrative relied too heavily on telling the story rather than showing it. I felt like I was constantly info dumped by the author, like it was orientation day and I was a tired new kid at Waverly Prep. And then there was a five page dialogue scene about the logistics of taking a field trip. I really didn’t need that.

The end: Predictable. I’m right about the whodunit fifty percent of the time I read a mystery. And even then, I fall easily for red herrings and doubt myself (hey, it’s more fun than being right all the time). That was not the case in this case (ha). I wish I could have been more surprised by the culprit and the motive.

Have You Seen Me? is stuck between wanting to be YA and new adult. I don’t think it completely pulled off either one. It’s appropriate for YA readers who like a tiny bit of gore and older readers might appreciate the prep school setting with a teacher as the main character. But I’ll just say don’t waste your time.

Have You Seen Me? comes out August 17, 2021.

1/5 Stars.

I received a free e-ARC of Have You Seen Me? from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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I'm a sucker for boarding school mysteries and Have You Seen Me? by Alexandrea Weis did not disappoint! Aubrey is starting a new job as a teacher at Waverly Prep, the elite boarding school in Louisiana that she attended as a teen. When she arrives the campus is in chaos because a student has gone missing recently. The police and headmistress believe that the student just ran away. The students and Aubrey believe different. It seems several young girls have gone missing from Waverly Prep over the years, including when Aubrey was a student there. None of the cases have been solved because they were all considered "troubled" girls who ran away on their own. Aubrey decides to investigate with the help of her students. This leads to more trouble and death!
This book had a dark, disturbing feel and being set in Louisiana added to the mystery of it. I really liked the character of Aubrey and her determination to find the truth. The book was really easy to read and the story moves fast. Please don't miss this book! Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

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I didn't download because I was having issues but was able to read a friend's copy after in her kindle and Overall it was an okay read. It started quite slow but it did get a but better about halfway through. I'm glad I pulled through and finished it but I don't think I'd read a sequel seeing the way it ended it seemed like it could become a series .

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I was ready to love this book. I usually read a great deal of horror, so I was jazzed to jump into more of a thriller/mystery. On a positive note, characters were colourful and the pacing was terrific. I sped through the entire story and it was suspenseful enough to keep me reading to find out who the killer was, and their motivation. However, there were way too many plot holes and I just did not find some characters’ actions credible or realistic. Although it was great that the author kept you guessing until the end, the reveal was a disappointment, and the motivation was lacking. I also thought the epilogue was lame and did not convince me that I need to read more of this story. Again, I think that the author has something here to work with, but she needs to tighten the plot and make the characters’ actions more believable. If you are looking for a fun, fast-paced, shallow thriller with some devious kills and is reminiscent of “I Know What You Did Last Summer”, give this a go.

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The beginning was slow, but the end was good. The overall narrative of Have You Seen Me? by Alexandrea Weis is intriguing. As a kind of murder mystery, any of the characters could be at fault. This is why I thought it was such an awesome read. Having it at a prep school also adds to the appeal of this game. An enjoyable read!

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I very much liked the protagonist in this book, who is a very relatable heroine. The students were likewise sympathetic characters. The story started out on a high note, but lost momentum as it went on.

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A Book You Can’t Put Down

When recent college graduate Aubrey LaRoux returns to the private school she attended as a scholarship student, she immediately notices missing person posters dotting the campus.

Her first day as a new history teacher, Aubrey runs into the emotionless headmistress who helped make Aubrey’s life miserable in high school. Aubrey still remembered the bullying she endured there as well, being different than the privileged students on campus. She senses Waverly Prep hasn’t changed much since she was there.

Aubrey tries to follow the school rules and win the trust of her new students, but she becomes ensnared in a plan to find their missing friend, Lindsey, after encouraging her students to form an investigation team to help cope with their loss. But Lindsey isn’t the first to go missing from Waverly Prep. One student disappeared when Aubrey was there—and she was the prime suspect. The teens believe Aubrey knows more than she’s admitting, but does she? Can they trust her? Can she trust them? What’s the secret that Lindsey was killed over? Her friends claim she never told them. But soon, the student investigation team begins to be picked off one by one--each in a horrific way. The campus is in an uproar, and it’s all Aubrey can do to hold it together. Especially when the new sheriff confronts her and begins to show up everywhere she turns.

Who will be next, and how will they die?

Have You Seen Me? will appeal to both young adults and adults alike. It explores the psychological undertones of upper-status prep schools and a young, twenty-something teacher who returns to confront her past. The story also delves into cultural differences, race, politics, class issues, and bullying. Have You Seen Me? is a mixture of thrilling suspense and slasher horror with a touch of romance. Many reviews say it’s impossible to put down, and that is what I found as well. The fear is palpable, and the setting is eerie. You can practically feel the historical grounds of the campus as it becomes a character of its own. Weis is known for writing atmospheric settings as well as Southern Gothics that leap off the page, and Have You Seen Me? is true to form. While you have many possible suspects among the cast, even if you’re intuitive enough to guess the killer, there is a twist at the end guaranteed to surprise the most seasoned mystery readers.

Though this story has a conclusive end, there is a neat set up leading way to what I hope is a sequel.

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While the premise of the book was extremely intriguing, 25% into the book I was forced to DNF. I found it pretty absurd that a teacher would be coerced into abandoning her lesson plan by a bunch of teenagers and use her class time to play detective alongside said teenagers. Though I read a lot of positive reviews o the book, I wasn't convinced enough to continue further.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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Thank you to #netgalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was an okay read for me. It started off slow but it did get better about halfway through. I had a hard time getting through the first half but in the end I'm glad I finished it. I had my suspicions on who the killer was early on, but there was a twist at the end I didn't see coming. The epilogue left this open to a follow-up book or series, but I'm not sure I will read it.

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