A small town with a big mystery. Twenty years ago a young, beautiful, recent high school graduate went missing from a party in the forest. She has never been seen again and no signs of a body or a struggle ever surfaced. Her boyfriend was the prime suspect and never got out from under the assumed guilt. The town moved on but everyone remembers her story.

Cam and Blair, in the local small high school, have taken journalism this year. Cam decides her their project must be the best project ever. They are going to do a podcast on this missing high school student from 20 years ago - and they are going to solve it.

I love stories based around true crime Podcasts. I love the moral ambiguity with covering them - is it fair to the accused? Is it fair to the family and community that lost someone? Cam was strong willed and bullheaded as she pushed and shoved those that she interviewed. I loved Blair's struggle with who she was, what she wanted and where she saw herself going next.

The mystery was also great. The clues were every so slowly revealed and it kept me completely engaged and on the edge of my seat. It helps that I'm also in Washington state and could picture the forest, the parties, the protected lands, the rain. This one had so many layers, so many great questions, I asbolutely loved it!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. ( )

In August of 1999, popular high school student, Clarissa Campbell goes missing in Oreville, WA. The response to find her turned up nothing but more questions about the people who may have seen her last. Even with national attention her disappearance becomes a cold case.

Twenty years later, two high school junior students create a podcast for their journalism class about the disappearance of Clarissa Campbell. The two friends, Blair and Cameron, set out to impress their teacher but find themselves too invested in trying to uncover the truth to stop. They proceed with reinvestigating old suspects and witnesses who were around the night that Clarissa was overheard arguing with her football player boyfriend, Brad Bennett. It seems that the two girls are starting to stir up memories about the past which could likely be putting themselves in danger. Their quest for justice not only puts themselves in danger but inadvertently cast suspicion in the wrong direction.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing a complimentary review copy. My voluntary review is my honest and unbiased opinion. ( )

I think def the audibook was the way to go for this read. I thought it was a fun premise and nice balance betweren interviews and story. I loved a good mystery. This book however was a bit predicabe in some aspects and not in others. So twists i saw coming and some i was shocked by! I woud def read this author again!! ( )

I think def the audibook was the way to go for this read. I thought it was a fun premise and nice balance betweren interviews and story. I loved a good mystery. This book however was a bit predicabe in some aspects and not in others. So twists i saw coming and some i was shocked by! I woud def read this author again!! ( )

A solid young adult thriller. Perfect for those true crime podcast loving fans. What I enjoyed most about the book is the characterization. Best friends Cam and Blair join together for a school project, in an attempt to break a cold case of the disappearance of Clarissa Campbell. Ripley Jones does a great job at bringing to life the two main characters. Cam is such a spicy character, she is awkward and sassy if not a bit impulsive, which drove me nuts if I am honest. But she made her way into my heart, and I am endeared to her. While there wasn't much uniqueness to the plot, a missing girl, handful of suspects, two amateur detectives uncovering the clues to solve the mystery. Jones did piece together a compelling story and was able to intertwine a perspective of race, privilege and the me too movement.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and honestly review an advanced digital copy. ( )

Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones

True crime is a disturbing genre, and with each day more books, films, tv specials, and podcasts exploring these twisted transgressions deliver a shocking window into the darkest parts of humanity. Missing Clarissa is a fictional novel intended for young adults, but the plot centers on a crime drawn straight from the headlines: on a dark night deep in the woods, a beautiful blond cheerleader goes missing, never to be seen alive again. After two decades of searching, the case has grown cold. When best friends Blair and Cam are assigned a high school journalism project, they decide to make a podcast about the disappearance that made their town famous.

Despite initial high hopes for the novel, I struggled to connect with the material. The narration felt too conveniently omniscient, and the main characters were difficult to like. There were some positive steps toward inclusive representation in the novel, but I wish that the characters had been more fully developed. From a content standpoint, the author seemed to have an agenda, and it promoted several controversial opinions within the characters’ dialogue. The resolution to the mystery seemed rushed, the culprit was rather obvious, and the love stories wrapped up with the same speed and lack of subtlety. I had expected more from this novel, and sadly, cannot recommend it. ( )

In 1999, Clarissa disappeared from a party and her disappearance has never been solved. Fast forward twenty years and best friends, Blair and Cameron, decide to do a true crime podcast for a class project with focus on Clarissa. But they don’t want to just discuss the case, they want to solve it and it becomes very clear very fast that someone will do anything to prevent that from happening.

Missing Clarissa is a YA mystery by author Ripley Jones. It is a fun fast read and, for the most part, kept my attention throughout. I did find the character, Cam, somewhat annoying and the story, at times, stretched my willing suspension of disbelief almost to the breaking point but I suspect that may be down to me being way past the age of the _target audience. Overall, despite these criticisms, a very entertaining read. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

3.5

Thanks to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

At times I found it hard to keep going with this one - the writing/characters seemed a little too juvenile for my liking. Cam was somewhat annoying. I also found it odd that after twenty years two teenage girls get strangers to spill their guts. I also got sick of reading about everyone's ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual preferences, etc. I liked the podcast aspect but it played a minor part in the book. I'll give it a weak four stars. It's nothing special for me but overall it was entertaining.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC. ( )

Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones was easy-to-read and engaging. The podcast storyline was deftly crafted into a fun mystery with some refreshing twists. The heroes of the book are teenage girls dealing with relationships, school assignments, and a decades old unsolved murder. Their activities to create an A+ journalism assignment are simultaneously fun, scary, and heartbreaking to follow as the villains in the story are revealed. An entertaining read!

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this intriguing ARC. ( )