Missing Clarissa – Ripley Jones

Summary

In August of 1999, dazzlingly popular cheerleader Clarissa Campbell disappears from a party in the woods outside the rural town of Oreville, Washington and is never seen again. The police question her friends, teachers, and the adults who knew her—who all have something to hide. And thanks to Clarissa’s beauty, the mystery captures the attention of the nation. But with no leads and no body, the case soon grows cold. Despite the efforts of internet sleuths and true-crime aficionados, Clarissa is never found—dead or alive.

Over twenty years later, Oreville high-school juniors and best friends Blair and Cameron start a true crime podcast, determined to unravel the story of what—or who—happened to this rural urban legend. In the process they uncover a nest of dirty small-town secrets, the sordid truth of Clarissa’s relationship with her charismatic boyfriend, and a high school art teacher turned small-town figurehead who had a very good reason for wanting Clarissa dead. Such a good reason, in fact, that they might have to make him the highlight of their next episode…

But does an ugly history with a missing girl make him guilty of murder? Or are two teenage girls about to destroy the life of an innocent man—and help the true killer walk free?

Review

I was doubting wether to put this as a rounded up 2.75 but, in the end, decided to just leave it as a 3 star read.

I figured out the real culprit the moment they were introduced, the red herring as very obviously red herrings, but it’s a good introduction to thrillers/mysteries for YA audiences.

The writing was mostly fine but there were many, many continuous “she says, she says, she smiles, she sighs”, I swear there was a dialogue in a single page where I straight up read:

…Blair says

…Cam says

…Blair says

…Cam says

I was vibing with the book but around the 70% mark Cam was starting to get on my nerves and I ended up just not liking her AT ALL, the sole reason why I was considering downing the book to 2 stars. She acts and speaks before even thinking a millisecond and in was way too immature and impulsive even for a 16-17 year old, I didn’t find her endearing at all.

Definitely recommend reading along with the audiobook! There are some pieces that are not written in the book that add that nice podcast touch + sound effects.