(Actual rating: 3.75/5)

As a journalist myself (and someone who enjoys a good mystery/thriller), I felt this book was right up my alley. The plot felt very compelling, and the characters and their dynamics were fleshed out ,well and really drew me in. Though the pacing felt a bit slow at first, it quickly picked up, and I’m glad I finished this book all the way through.

I was really excited about the idea of a group of misfit teens solving a mystery, but ended up a little disappointed. It was refreshing to see such diversity in the characters, and a main character who seems neurodivergent. The build-up of the plot was interesting, but things soon began to become repetitive and extremely slow plot-wise. Posey's character isn't afraid of being different, but she sure is judgmental. I found her especially aggravating when it came to her interactions with Sal's character.

I often had a hard time getting back into the story after putting the book down because of how the teacher/student angle was brought up so many times (let it GO, Posey), there were some interesting leads in the case that never went anywhere. I also found it odd that no one in the town was worried about her missing, but then became overtly angry and defensive if asked anything about it. The ending was wrapped up nicely, but I feel that the reveal wasn't really worth all of the build-up.

In exchange for my honest review, I would kind of like my time back. I didn’t find anything about this that interesting. I kept waiting for it to get better, but unfortunately, it did not ever get there for me. I have not read this author before so I may give another book a try, but this will be a no for me.

This gave me “A Good Girls Guide to Murder” vibes, especially with it being YA.

We first meet Posey Spade, who wants to become a journalist like her father. She is in a new town & is a new student at a new school. (Side note: I can’t imagine being a teenage girl having to go to a new school and make all new friends. 🙃Thankfully I never had to move while I was growing up.)

So she decides that joining the AV Club will maybe lead her to doing some journalism at her new school. But basically finds out that most of the kids in the club stink and don’t actually do all that much to help with the AV Club anyway.
After their teacher goes missing, Posey and her fellow club members decide to investigate their teachers disappearance & learn the truth along the way.

While it was good, I feel like a lot of it was just copied from AGGGTM….which is a bummer. Also I feel like the author added some unnecessary commentary in there as well, but alas it is what it is.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher & author for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.
All opinions are my own.

Posey Spade is the out of place girl at school, trying to find her people. She's brought into the AV Club and tries to find her footing with the group. Suddenly their teacher Mrs. Moses disappears, and Posey finds this as the perfect opportunity for the group to band together and figure out what happened to Mrs Moses!

If You Can Hear This is a YA mystery. It's simple and cute and definitely something you go into knowing it's high school kids trying to solve a mystery and figure themselves out. Cute simple read if you need something to add to your reading count.

If You Can Hear This feels like a YA mystery that's trying to ride the success of books like A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and Truly Devious, but doesn't quite stick the landing, especially when it comes to the mystery aspects. This follows a high school AV club as they try to solve the disappearance of their beloved/teacher. The characters themselves are super likable and add quite a bit of interest to this. It was sweet to see them all bond, but that's kind where the fun ends. The mystery falls flat at almost every turn. There is a real lack of suspense. I feel like there should be at least one scene where the main characters are in danger, and we didn't get that. There were no real twists, and the ending was wildly anticlimatic. The stakes felt low. What I can say is that this would be good for our library, as our director gravitates towards low stakes, light stories.

I really liked the premise of this book, but I do feel like it ended a bit abruptly. I would have liked to have seen more relationship development between Sal and Posey, because their subplot added a lot. Other than that, I enjoyed the aspect of suspense, and of all of the AV students banding together.

*Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Faith Gardner for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.*

If You Can Hear This is pitched as I Killed Zoe Spanos meets A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, and I can already say...

No.

Posey Spade is an aspiring journalist, with her single dad as her primary inspiration. They've recently moved to a small town named Wild Pines, which has a meager AV Club that's more of a joke than a serious pursuit for her classmates.

When her teacher and club sponsor, Ms. Moses, goes missing, the mystery inspires the AV Club to investigate. In the process, Posey learns all the local town gossip and pieces together what happened that fateful night.

This book had some good and bad elements. I liked that the characters felt distinct, but I didn't necessarily like all of them. Which is fine! But Posey was a little irritating. Then again, I'm an adult reading a YA book, so teens might not feel the same way.

The part that is not so fine is that the mystery itself was underwhelming. I also have some doubts about the plausibility of the ending.

Overall, I didn't love this, which is disappointing. I'm willing to read another book by this author, though.

If You Can Hear This tells the story of Posey, who moves to a small town and friends the local AV Club. Together, they bring journalism to their small town in a way that's never been there before, uncovering small town mysteries that anyone can recognize.

Posey is very likable, and anyone who is into mysteries will instantly feel a connection with her.

This YA thriller is gripping, emotional, and relatable. Faith Gardner's writing is clever, easy to read, and never leaves the reader behing.

Here’s a positive 4-star review of If You Can Hear This by Faith Gardner:

Faith Gardner delivers a compelling mix of mystery, friendship, and self-discovery in If You Can Hear This, a novel that blends investigative journalism with small-town intrigue.

Posey Spade is an instantly relatable protagonist—driven, curious, and dealing with the heartbreak of unrequited love while navigating life in a new town. Her passion for journalism makes her an engaging narrator, and her determination to uncover the truth about Ms. Moses’ disappearance brings a thrilling edge to the story. The AV Club, a ragtag group of misfits, adds humor and heart, making their dynamic both entertaining and heartfelt.

The novel’s mystery element is well-paced, with twists that keep the reader engaged. From local corruption to cult rumors, Wild Pines proves to be far more interesting than Posey initially imagined. Along the way, the story balances its investigative thrills with themes of resilience, belonging, and the importance of teamwork.

If there’s a small drawback, it’s that some side characters could have been explored more deeply, and a few plot points wrap up a bit too neatly. However, the novel’s engaging writing style and well-crafted suspense make up for these minor issues.

With a sharp, witty voice and an emotionally resonant core, If You Can Hear This is an enjoyable and thought-provoking read. Perfect for fans of Veronica Mars-style sleuthing with a heartfelt coming-of-age twist.

Posey Spade is a misfit looking for a place where she will fit in. The audio-visual club at her new high school could be just the thing she’s been looking for. The club is an eclectic group with a lot of heart and a strong desire to be heard and taken seriously. When their teacher turns up missing, the club comes together to find their beloved leader. Although this is a YA mystery, I was engaged and interested as the plot unfolded. I could relate to Posey’s wish of being accepted and belonging. The characters were well-developed driving the emotional, unpredictable, and intriguing story. Faith Gardener always delivers a clever and original story with numerous unexpected twists along the way to the surprising conclusion. Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for my copy.

I truly wanted to embrace this book, as it contained all the elements I adore in a young adult thriller. Unfortunately, the underdog aspect of the plot fell flat, and both the main protagonist and supporting characters felt stripped of genuine, authentic emotions. The writing came across as stiff and robotic, lacking the urgency a thrilling narrative needs to compel readers to keep turning the pages. Ultimately, the ending failed to deliver the satisfying payoff that the journey deserved.

This could be the start of a really cute YA series. The Wild Pines AV Club sets out to get to the bottom
Of their teacher’s disappearance. This group gives breakfast club vibes and I love how the author took some time to flesh out the beginning of backstories for each one without taking from the main plot. I hope this series continues!

This book would be great in a middle school or for early high school. It would be a good starter book for someone who wants to give the genre a try. It wasn't really my cup of tea, but I can see where others might appreciate it. It was well written, there were no plot gaps, the characters were not one dimensional. Overall it was a good book.
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced preview.

What initially drew me to this book was the "I Killed Zoe Spanos meets A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder" in the blurb, since those are two of my favorite YA thriller/mystery books. So I was a bit disappointed that the book didn't quite meet my expectations. While I enjoyed some aspects of this book, including the characters and the writing style, ultimately the mystery and plotline itself fell flat for me. I still think it could be a good read for others, I just personally did not feel as captivated as I expected myself to be with the mystery. Hence the three star rating.

If You Can Hear This by Faith Gardner is a powerful and deeply emotional story that explores resilience, identity, and the unexpected turns life can take. The protagonist, Memphis, navigates the aftermath of a life-altering tragedy with raw honesty, grappling with grief, self-discovery, and her place in a world that feels unfamiliar. Gardner’s writing is beautifully evocative, capturing both the pain and hope of starting over. The characters are relatable and layered, making it easy to connect with their struggles and triumphs. This book is a thought-provoking, heart-wrenching journey that lingers with you long after the final page.

This is a YA mystery with mixed media, and I really enjoyed it. This is the second book I've read by this author, I loved the other book I read by her as well. This is a classic young adult mystery. I give this one four stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC!

I have mixed feelings about this book. The overall story was great. I really liked the plotline of Posey bringing these characters together to find purpose in the AV club when there was none at the beginning of the novel. However, this reads more like a contemporary novel rather than a mystery/thriller. Posey and her new friends were investigating the entire book, but the ending was a letdown. I was not satisfied at all and felt like the ending lowered my rating.

I loved the relationships built among the characters. Everyone was so unique and I felt like all of the characters. I didn’t like Posey at first but grew to like her as the book went on.

This book was so gripping, i found myself unable to put it down! The story follows Posey as she moves to a new town with a tiny school and inserts herself in their AV club, right as the teacher in charge of that club goes missing. With no help from local police and the school administrators, she and the gang start creating a buzz and searching for their beloved teacher. Overall, the characters and story arc were fantastic and I really enjoyed this book. Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins and Faith Gardner for my eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Written in third-person POV, "If You Can Hear This" by Faith Gardner is a story about a high school AV Club who reports on the mystery disappearance of their AC Club teacher, Miss Moses, and its town's complications. Walking into Wild Pines HS, Posey Spad was a well-established journalism student who transferred into the school. With a barely running/organized AV Club, Posey and the story of Miss Moses's disappearance becomes a great opportunity for the AV Club to set their feet off the ground.

Strengths:
Gardner's writing is quick-paced and falls exactly where many YA/adolescent readers will run in terms of their speed of reading. There weren't any tough moments of language, making the experience flow. The end of the chapters fell into solid areas where I was left to wonder and question what was going to happen in the following chapter.

Weakness:
The plot was all over the place and altogether not connected well. Furthermore, some terms/languages were quite cringy to read. There was also so much repetitiveness, especially when explaining Miss Moses and Sal's relationship (which, I find the constant explanation of their student-teacher relationship speculation extremely weird as a reader. Gardner could have already established the false misconception more solidly in the beginning rather than letting that drag on). Also, the characters are not very deeply explored. I wish there had been more time spent on enhancing the characters, but third-person POV could only do so much.

My Opinion:
It took months for me to finish this book, mainly because I dreaded reading it. It felt like a copy of AGGGTM but without the unexpected plot twist. I didn't find anything interesting about this book and felt weird reading about the Miss Moses and Sal thing. It was mentioned so many times and was the main reason I kept putting this book off. There wasn't anything exciting about the plot, and I almost DNF'd it, but I wanted to keep giving it a chance. There was a specific part about the bear--that was a bit weird and out of the blue. Posey's fear of bears wasn't explained; it was just dropped there without further explanation.

I'm 50/50 about recommending this.

Thank you, HarperCollins & NetGalley, for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!