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A review by charliemaryann
Chloe Cates Is Missing by Mandy McHugh
2.0
Genre: Adult Thriller, murder mystery
Themes: missing girl, murder, lies
★★
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an advanced readers copy of ‘Chloe Cates Is Missing’.
We are following three voices throughout this book - Jennifer (the fame hungry, child exploiting blog mum), Jackson (the seemingly better parent), and Emilina (the girl boss detective with past ties to Jennifer). as we unravel the mysterious disappearance of a teen social media star.
Despite my low rating, I didn’t hate this book by any means, I just merely know that I will forget about it because it wasn’t anything new or spectacular. The writing style just wasn’t for me, it lacked the engaging and descriptive style that I adore in my thrillers. It very much feels like reading a fanfic about Danielle Cohn going missing. On the subject of Danielle Cohn, Jennifer felt very inspired by Jen (Danielle’s mother) with a switched narrative, instead of exploring her daughter provocatively, fictional Jennifer exploits her daughter in a more “age appropriate” way. More on Jennifer later.
Despite the writing lacking substance, I found myself intrigued with the mystery and wanting to know what happened to Chloe and so I encouraged myself to read on. This story tries to have shocking twists and turns that just weren’t shocking. I saw them coming from a mile away. I believe this book should still be read for insight into the reality of the behind the scenes of social media. Social is media dominates our society, some may say that we are addicted to it and reliant on it for validation and many other things. Social media plays a powerful role in this story and is at the forefront of the mystery. Usually, I do love the use of social media in my thrillers (Podcasts etc) but this one just didn’t give me the same feeling as those other books. I think it’s really important to see the reality of these influencers, especially family vloggers and bloggers who (and this is up to the individuals interpretation) are exploiting their children for swag, status, clout, fame etc. This book paints rather a different narrative to what social media influencers want us to believe.
I absolutely hated Jennifer. Everything she does is calculated down to every little detail for social media. She is a pathological liar and exploited her children for fame and money. My heart broke for Abby and JJ for the childhood that they never had, for the isolation from society Abby had to endure to win her mothers “love.” These may be fictional characters, but somewhere real people exist who are like Jennifer and Chloe.
In conclusion, I encourage anyone who comes across this review to give this a chance. The conversations within these pages are worth pondering over.
Themes: missing girl, murder, lies
★★
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an advanced readers copy of ‘Chloe Cates Is Missing’.
We are following three voices throughout this book - Jennifer (the fame hungry, child exploiting blog mum), Jackson (the seemingly better parent), and Emilina (the girl boss detective with past ties to Jennifer). as we unravel the mysterious disappearance of a teen social media star.
Despite my low rating, I didn’t hate this book by any means, I just merely know that I will forget about it because it wasn’t anything new or spectacular. The writing style just wasn’t for me, it lacked the engaging and descriptive style that I adore in my thrillers. It very much feels like reading a fanfic about Danielle Cohn going missing. On the subject of Danielle Cohn, Jennifer felt very inspired by Jen (Danielle’s mother) with a switched narrative, instead of exploring her daughter provocatively, fictional Jennifer exploits her daughter in a more “age appropriate” way. More on Jennifer later.
Despite the writing lacking substance, I found myself intrigued with the mystery and wanting to know what happened to Chloe and so I encouraged myself to read on. This story tries to have shocking twists and turns that just weren’t shocking. I saw them coming from a mile away. I believe this book should still be read for insight into the reality of the behind the scenes of social media. Social is media dominates our society, some may say that we are addicted to it and reliant on it for validation and many other things. Social media plays a powerful role in this story and is at the forefront of the mystery. Usually, I do love the use of social media in my thrillers (Podcasts etc) but this one just didn’t give me the same feeling as those other books. I think it’s really important to see the reality of these influencers, especially family vloggers and bloggers who (and this is up to the individuals interpretation) are exploiting their children for swag, status, clout, fame etc. This book paints rather a different narrative to what social media influencers want us to believe.
I absolutely hated Jennifer. Everything she does is calculated down to every little detail for social media. She is a pathological liar and exploited her children for fame and money. My heart broke for Abby and JJ for the childhood that they never had, for the isolation from society Abby had to endure to win her mothers “love.” These may be fictional characters, but somewhere real people exist who are like Jennifer and Chloe.
In conclusion, I encourage anyone who comes across this review to give this a chance. The conversations within these pages are worth pondering over.