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.

"When Mimi Went Missing" by Suja Sukumar is an absolute page-turner that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. This expertly crafted YA thriller delves deep into the complex relationship between two Indian American cousins, Tanvi and Mimi, against the backdrop of a chilling disappearance.

Sukumar's writing shines as she weaves a dark and twisty narrative that explores themes of grief, belonging, and the often cruel dynamics of high school social hierarchies. The author's ability to capture the unique pressures and vulnerabilities of teenage life is truly remarkable, making the characters feel authentic and relatable.

The plot is masterfully constructed, with unexpected twists and turns that will keep readers guessing until the very last page. The pacing is perfect, creating a sense of urgency that makes it nearly impossible to put the book down.

One of the standout elements of this novel is its diverse representation. Sukumar skillfully incorporates Indian American cultural references throughout the story, adding depth and authenticity to the characters' experiences.

"When Mimi Went Missing" is not just a thrilling mystery; it's also a poignant exploration of family, identity, and the lengths we go to fit in. The emotional depth of the story will resonate with readers long after they've turned the final page.

In conclusion, Suja Sukumar has crafted a compelling, emotionally charged mystery that deserves a place on every YA thriller fan's bookshelf. It's a must-read for anyone who enjoys authors like Tiffany D. Jackson, Karen McManus, and Angeline Boulley.

This one was a struggle for me. Here's the thing, the main character wakes up with memory loss and a massive bump on the back of her head, deep cuts and bruises up and down her arms and legs, and decides that it must have been the hedges at the house she was hiding in. She doesn't go get things checked out by a medical professional, she doesn't have her aunt, who is a nurse who she lives with, check them out. It's no big deal, definitely the hedges. It takes her until 48% of the way into the book for her to say, hey, maybe something DID happen and I had a concussion and because I decided hedges were responsible and didn't get it checked out I definitely suffered some memory loss. 48% into the book! Too much stupidity/naivete on the part of the heroine of the book for me to enjoy this one.

Unfortunately I found this difficult to get into, the writing didn’t captivate me and I got a bit bored.

This is an excellent YA thriller and I’m so happy to see some diversity in the genre. This story does excellent to complicated family relationships and weaves its mystery thoughtfully.

I rarely get to read YA thrillers with south asian leads. This was a welcome change! The book depicts the elements of culture, bullying and mystery. It also has several realistic characters and portrayals of college.

The book is a page turner and sets up the action from the get go. It is quite well written too. Thank you Soho Press and NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange of my unbiased review.

This book was a hit or miss for me. The ending if the book was amazing. Once I got to the 80% I couldn't put it away anymore. But to get there was hard. It took me days to get into the book and I always felt like I was missing something. Like there could have been more. And we got the more but that was just very late in the story itself.

The splintered relationship between two Indian American cousins is at the center of this dark, twisty YA mystery—perfect for fans of Tiffany D. Jackson, Karen McManus, and Angeline Boulley.

This was so good. I loved the characters, the tension, the plot twits, everything! Highly recommended!