I've been searching recently for a good young adult book and this one was exactly what I was seeking! I love a strong female friendship, especially because the main characters were so opposite, I love a podcast storyline, and I LOVE a thriller - this book had all three! I found some aspects of this book to be a bit unbelievable and had to FORCE myself to suspend by disbelief, but it didn't detract from the storyline at all. I think I read this one in two settings - and I never would've guessed the ending, which is the hallmark of a good thriller, in my opinion. this is exactly the kind of book I would've picked up when shopping at Barnes & Noble with my mom in high school - and I loved it as an adult too!

Very much reminded me of the Good Girl's Guide to Murder meets Nancy Drew. I loved the aspect of two friends starting their own true crime podcast, the various issues they go through learning the hows and whats of podcasting, and their detective work to discover what truly happened to Clarissa.

It is very obviously a YA novel, but it was enjoyable and kept my interest the entire time. I quickly figured out the 'who' in the 'whodunnit' but it was enjoyable watching everything fall into place. If you're a fan of Good Girl's Guide to Murder, I think you'll enjoy this one too!

I was given a copy of this story to read; but thoughts and opinions are all my own. Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the chance to read this book!

Missing Clarissa is a devilish tale of betrayal, murder, and things no teenager should ever have to deal with. What started as a school project becomes so much more as Cam and Blair begin to really understand what it is that they're doing, it's not about the grade, it's about bringing closure to not just a family but a town.

Understanding what happened becomes an obsession for Cam, one that will get her into trouble more than once, that will test the bonds of friendship and make her question what she believes happened to Clarissa on more than one occasion, and then there's that pesky lawsuit she gets everyone into.

Through it all though, both Cam and Blair are learning, not only about journalism but about consequences, what can happen when you go charging into situations without proof, just how dangerous the world can be.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing a copy of this e-book, I have voluntarily read and reviewed it and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Unfortunately, not a fan of this one at all.

I feel like the writing was all over the place. It was hard to keep track of who was doing what because it switched every other sentence it felt like.

Also, I loved having inclusive stories but sometimes it feels more like boxes are being checked off…this one felt like there was a checklist.

Lastly, the teens acted like teens but didn’t talk teens, especially when it came to social justice topics. It felt like they were mid twenty somethings when bringing up things like prison abolition.

I wanted to like this story, truly. I just didn’t.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for this eARC to read and review.

In Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones, two best friends in high-school start a true-crime podcast only to realize that they may have helped the killer in the process! Yikes! This is a YA book but I am all for it! I loved the characterization, the storyline, just everything. Very engrossing and compelling!

I believe this is being marketed as a YA novel which I didn’t realize when I chose it. It didn’t matter. I enjoyed it. Mix a missing cheerleader in a cold case, two students in the present time, a podcast, a possibly evil politician and you bake a really good mystery.

In August of 1999, in the small town of Oreville, Washington, local It-Girl, Clarissa Campbell went missing from a party in the woods. She was never seen again.

Now that's a good hook if you love mysteries!

This is a compelling YA mystery that kept me on edge until the end. I liked Cam and Blair and really enjoyed their relationship. I thought their personalities blended together perfectly and loved how they played off each other.

Throughout the book you learn more about Clarissa and what happened to her with the main characters.

If you're a fan of A Good Girl's Guild to Murder then you'll love this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I loved this story. I really connected with the characters and I found myself emotionally invested in the mystery of what happened to Clarissa, the bright, popular cheerleader that disappeared in 1999. The podcast / interview aspect reminded me of GGGTM, and bringing the adults that were the teenagers in Clarissa life in and sharing their stories reminded me of Yellowjackets.

Blair and Cam are two sides of a coin, they're very different people but I never questioned them as friends, they just fit. Blair is quiet and steady, a career in writing clearly in her future, but Cam was complex, ADHD coded, extremely impulsive and made rash decisions that ended up devastating those around her.

That's why, while I found Cam extremely relatable, I also became just as frustrated with her as the adults in her life. There is no moment of considering what the consequences of her actions might be with Cam, and her later decision nearly ends up breaking up her and Blair's friendship for good. In the future, she could be a brilliant journalist, but she has a lot of growth to do to get there.

While I did guess the culprit in this story fairly early on, I didn't mind going along for the ride as they uncovered Clarissa's secrets, and met the people around her. I loved that their stories were shared, humanizing both them and Clarissa, slowly pulling around the media crafted image of the perfect cheerleader. The last page had me in tears.

Can two highschool girls actually solve the most famous unsolved case in their hometown's history? What starts out as a way to get an A in journalism may end in a life or death situation. In 1999, Clarissa, a beautiful cheerleader, went missing, and her story spread like wildfire throughout the country. However, no evidence is found, and the case falls into obscurity. Twenty years later, sixteen year old Cameron comes up with the idea to record a podcast detailing the events of Clarissa's disappearance. She convinces her best friend Blair to partner up with her, and off they go, researching and talking to the people who knew Clarissa. This quickly becomes more than an assignment; as they investigate, the reality of the situation hits them. There are a lot of secrets in Oreville, and someone may be willing to kill to keep theirs.

This is a fun who-dunnit, with compelling, if naive, amateur slueths. The friendship between Cam and Blair really helps sell the story. It's genuine; they build each other up and fill in each other's weaknesses. The mystery was pretty well done, maybe a little obvious, but interesting to follow. These girls were in so far over their heads, and did so many things that make you shake your head. The author brings up that it's always the beautiful white girls whose disappearances make the national headlines, not those from marginalized groups. Something we all should take note of. Would recommend to fans of YA thrillers.

Quick and easy read. Nothing really new or surprising here. I was interested enough to read the whole thing, but I definitely don’t think it compares to other titles in this genre as a standout.

I found the characters to be rather forgettable, although also irritating. I did not like the excessive description of race. It felt jarring, and wasn’t necessary to the story. The writing didn’t always flow well in other ways - perhaps the alternating perspectives wasn’t as seamless as it could have been.

Overall, 2,5-3 stars.

I absolutely loved this! There’s just something about a murder mystery podcast that just does it for me! I liked how it went back and forth between the girls looking for information and then clips from their actual podcast. I had my suspicions on who might have had something to do with Clarissa’s disappearance but I was definitely surprised a bit at who it actually was. I can’t wait to get a finished copy!

When juniors Blair and Cameron start a podcast to solve the 20-year-old mystery of a high school cheerleader gone missing, they have no idea the can of worms they are about to open. The school project quickly gains national attention both for the cold case and the girls covering it. But it's the attention of a potential murderer that puts Blair and Cameron in danger, and there is more than one suspect they have to watch out for.

MISSING CLARISSA by Ripley Jones is a fast-paced thriller with an intriguing premise. An enjoyable and quick read, though there wasn't quite that high-level of connection to the characters to make me feel as invested in their story as I wanted to be.

A thrilling whodunnit that I devoured in one sitting. Two friends figuring themselves out while delving into an unsolved case for the sake of a podcast. It starts out as a journalist project with a hook, but all too soon they realize that at the heart of this story is real people - and not all of them want the story told.

Just because a character is smart doesn't mean she isn't impulsive, misguided, and chaotic, and that comes through in Cameron, while Blair takes her time to figure things out. These besties were a little hard to seperate at the beginning because the writing jumps between their perspectives, but by the end I knew who they were and what they'd do to find justice.

Great book! I was pretty surprised by the ending! It was thrilling and fun.

I received this copy free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

I love a YA mystery/thriller. Always a quick read, I can never guess who the killer is (that’s literally me with all mystery/thrillers - I am continuously surprised), this had pretty high stakes near the end which I wasn’t expecting.

Two teenagers are making a podcast for a class project about a girl who disappeared in their town before they were even born. What started as them not entirely taking the case seriously, suddenly taking a turn when they start to interview people in Clarissa’s life who have kept silent for too long.

I thought the pacing of this novel was good, though the ending was a little rushed once we found out who the killer was. Also, I kept getting super annoyed by Cam. This girl was trying to be a journalist and just walking into interviews starting off asking if they’d killed Clarissa 😂😂 like girl you can’t just go around accusing people of murder 😂😂. But then I had to remind myself she was 16 and had no filter and people still continued to talk to her on the record, so I guess 😂😂.

I really loved Blair, she had sort of a parallel to Clarissa and I wondered at one point if her storyline would take the same route.

I would have liked more of Sophie woven in. I was think she was an underutilized side character.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read. I finished it pretty quickly because I wanted to know who did it 😂, and I was, as always, surprised when I learned who it was. I’d recommend this one if you love young adult mystery/thrillers.

Missing Clarissa is one of those books that I thought I would like, and then read it and didn't really like it.

My gripes with this book:
- Cam's character: She continually betrays Blair's trust then gets instantly forgiven just because she says sorry (toxic friendship much?) She also hates Blair's boyfriend for apparently no reason - I thought the book was going to turn into BlairCam endgame considering how weirdly possessive of Blair Cam was, but thankfully, it didn't. Cam was also very stupid and had no grasp on the consequences of her actions.
- The writing: Seemed very juvenile? Which is okay in some circumstances but this book did deal with heavy topics such as (view spoiler) where the writing felt inconsistent with the tone.
- The plot progression: The fact that literally every person Blair and Cam talked to was willing to tell them everything - even things they didn't tell the police was so bizarre.

My likes:
- The story: Pretty compelling with some mild twists
- The exposition(??): Lots of important context and discussion on how the media handles missing person cases.
- Sophie: Sophie.

Overall, not a bad book, but not something I see myself reading again.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press gifting me “Missing Clarissa” in exchange for an honest review.

Missing Clarissa is a young adult mystery about a pair of high school girls that use a school project to try to solve a missing person case from their small town in Washington state.

Best friends Blair and Cameron decide to use the cold case of missing teen Clarissa Campbell as the subject of their podcast for journalism class. In 1999 Clarissa walked away from a party in the woods and was never seen again. It is a case that’s haunted their small town and captured the attention of a nation. But now twenty-three years later two teenagers with no experience in podcasts or solving crimes are taking a second look at the case. Blair is the more thoughtful and cautious of the two with a jock boyfriend and traditional family whereas Cam is impetuous, likes girls and calls her widowed mother by her first name. But with their combined smarts and efforts they are able to create a podcast that’s an immediate hit with true crime fans and chase down a series of leads that can finally bring some closure to Clarissa’s disappearance. But the closer they come to the answers the more they put their own lives in jeopardy.

Like other popular young adult novels headed up by plucky teenage amateur detectives Missing Clarissa follows a lot of the same beats. But the unique characters in Cam and Blair (plus Cam’s unforgettable mama bear Irene) and the tight storyline that doesn’t include a lot of unlikely scenarios and red herrings make it a standout among the recent young adult mystery releases.

I highly recommend Missing Clarissa (especially the stellar audiobook) to young adult mystery fans and look forward to reading more by Ripley Jones.

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This short, fast-paced young adult thriller about best friends who start a true-crime podcast for their journalism project grabbed my attention from the start. Twenty years earlier, head cheerleader Clarissa Campbell disappears without a trace. Fast-forward to present day, and you have two quirky amateur sleuths – Cam and Blair – digging into the past and finding more than they bargained for. Their podcast starts getting traction as they find signs of a cover-up.

This is a perfect read for fans of Holly Jackson’s Good Girls Guide to Murder.

Thank you to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press and Ripley Jones for an early copy of the book.

Best friends Blair and Cameron are an odd couple, very different yet sharing a strong bond. The intrepid pair choose to do a true crime podcast for their senior journalism assignment, In August of 1999, popular cheerleader Clarissa Campbell vanished without a trace following a keg party in the woods of rural Washington state. Intense investigation at the time came up with no leads and no traces of the teen and it became an urban legend. The girls' new interviews uncover some ugly secrets and a few small town gods may have feet of clay. When their car is ran off the road one dark and rainy night it becomes clear someone wants their podcast to cease. Although a YA novel the tension is intense and the mystery well developed enough to appeal to anyone who enjoys a solid crime thriller. Another strength of the narrative are the likeable fully fleshed characters. Socially awkward, quirky Cam balanced by popular, cheerful logically Blair make an engaging team. The cold case of the missing teenager could be the topic of any current podcast or true crime news journal giving it wide appeal. I was unfamiliar with this author but will be on the lookout for more of their work in the future.

I really enjoyed this! It was face paced and reminded me a bit of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. Blair was a fun character, as were Sophia and Irene. Cam, at times, was a bit frustrating. I did see the twist coming from very early on, but still found myself going through the rest of the book rather quickly. Overall, an entertaining read!