Reviews with content warning for Grief - Missing Clarissa

I had tremendous fun with this book, and I want to read so much more from this author. What an incredible portrayal of young adult female friendship and exploring sexuality and girlies searching for justice. Also, the audiobook podcast technique was so much fun here.

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itzbrianna's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

“But to miss something g also means to fail to teach it. A failure to catch. A failure to understand.”

Blair and Cam are two friends who take on the task of creating a true crime podcast around the biggest mystery in their small town-the disappearance of Clarissa Campbell. This story is incredibly chaotic in a very entertaining way.

The mystery of what happened to Clarissa is something I figured out very early on in the story but I kept reading to learn if I was right. Naturally, as mysteries do there will be paths that try to deter you from the journey but I trusted my gut with this one.

The characters are strangely lovable to me and they are young. Teenagers. So, they are also annoying and naive and sometimes self involved. This story was framed well and I genuinely enjoyed reading it. The climax happened very quick though and the ending of how everything played out was…..fast? Unmemorable? It was something but it’s not the good kind of something.

Up til that point though? It was a good story to read.

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irenemarie's review

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

This book was pretty good, though the cover of the book kind of gives away the killer. But I did like the commentary on how missing people are treated differently depending on demographics and the US prison system. I felt like Cam was me as a teen! So I really loved her. Overall a good book even if the killer was obvious.

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sallenreads's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I've inhaled many a YA mystery in the last couple years, and MISSING CLARISSA is a fresh take on the genre. Like SADIE, it's framed as a podcast, with excerpts interspersed throughout the book. What I loved was how the process of researching Clarissa's disappearance and creating the podcast was also a means to critique the true crime genre, whether through Cam and Blair thinking through what their motivations for telling Clarissa's story were, or secondary characters explicitly sharing their issues with true crime on the page. This critique was woven in with a well-plotted mystery, as well as Cam and Blair's character development. Overall, MISSING CLARISSA is a strong addition to the YA mystery fold.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing a copy for review.

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