Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ebook ARC of this book in exchange for this honest review.

This book has quite a few similarities to A Good Girls Guide to Murder (mainly the chapters being split by date and time, and the transcripts splitting up chapters).

The book has a very slow start which from the get go made me consider whether I would even continue reading or put it down because it wasn't making me want to continue. However, it was actually the transcripts of the podcast that drew me in and got my attention. The writing style seemed different during these sections - more mature and gave the right amount of information to lure you in without giving away too much.
The use of "ex-best-friend" and "ex-girlfriend" was severely over used, and got to a point where every time I read it I was mentally rolling my eyes which threw me off reading for a few sentences. It would have been much smoother if the people's names were just used after mentioning that they were ex-best-friends and ex-girlfriend the first 2 times.

I did begin to enjoy the book at about 35/40%, but it truly got my attention at approximately 75/80% when it was all coming together and tying up all the loose ends and questions. It left me unable to put the book down as I just needed to finish and find out exactly what happened. Even though I did not love this read, I did enjoy it, and I will most definitely be keeping an eye out and reading any more books by Victoria Wlosok.

This was a nice twist to the tropes that Good Girls Guide to Murder YA books started, with a more diverse cast and as equally fast paced mystery. If you liked Holly Jackson's novel, this is your next read!

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy.

I was really excited to read this, but sadly it just didn't quite live up to my expectations. I felt the writing to be quite juvenile and the behaviour of the main character was incredibly irritating at times. There were many instances of things she did that were quite unbelievable and wouldn't ever happen in 'real life'. I totally understand that this is fiction but it really took me out of the story.

There were also occasions of the same phrase being used over and over again (eg. my ex-best-friend) to describe someone instead of using their name, which I found to be quite distracting.

The plot itself was quite engaging but the characters and writing didn't really work for me. I don't read a huge amount of YA any more so perhaps that had an impact on my enjoyment.

I would definitely try another book by this author in the future as I believe this was a debut.

I found this book quite similar to a good girl’s guide to murder (although the main character wasn’t as cool as pip). There is plenty of betrayal, drama and secrets that keep you reading. Also the inclusion of queer and gender non conforming characters was nice to see.

The podcast scenes were very reminiscent of AGGGTM, but I enjoyed how they broke up the narrative and the visual display of text. I loved the revelations in the last 100 or so pages. Most of it I didn’t predict. And the villain was not who I was expecting!

This book was fun! I've been following the author on tiktok for a while so I was super excited to get this as an ARC. I've recently discovered that teenage murder novels are very enjoyable for me in general so I was eager to read another. HTFAMG did not disappoint. I love that Victoria started writing it as a teen too because it adds a layer of authenticity that many YA authors fail to achieve.

I liked that all the characters were well fleshed out as people outside of the main character even if we didn't see much of them. I did find Iris kind of annoying, but that's totally in line with YA protagonists anyway so that made sense. Plus she wasn't SUPER annoying. There were a couple points where I thought "no, you idiot! you need to do this thing!" But then turns out it was fine and I was worrying over nothing.

The most unusual thing about the book was the diversity, I wasn't expecting it. It was good, although some of it initially threw me off. All of it made sense (after all, queer kids attract queer kids) but I think maybe the thing with Lea having six fingers is what got me. It felt kinda arbitrary and like there was a diversity tick box the author was checking and that was the solution for one of them, but I'm not sure which one? Because it wasn't a disability yet also there wasn't a disabled character (that I noticed). It's not a big deal and I'm not going to complain about representation but it did pull me out of the story for a second.

Plot wise: I'm usually pretty good with mystery plots but there were enough twists that I didn't know who the killer was until the reveal. The story follows a normal murder mystery formula type but it still felt original which was great.

Also the cover is cute and the characters are cute. I like this book and would recommend it.

This book was very gripping and I enjoyed the plot, it just lacked a little something, but was still good

I really struggled with what to rate this book. I ummed and ahhhed and flipped back and forth between 3.5 and 4 stars, but ultimately I ended up going for 4.

The premise for this book is fantastic: sapphic detective agency, being gay and solving crime. And things get even gayer and even more crime-y when a local girl disappears and obviously our main character and her crime solving pals have to investigate what’s gone on.

As always, I’ll get the negative out of the way first. For me, I was expecting just a bit more from this book than was given. I've read a few books this year that have a similar sort of plot to this one where a girl goes missing and then someone non-law enforcement chooses to investigate and in every single book the exact "same" character is the bad guy and this book is no different, it's the same old character who is ruining a young girl's life. So that left me slightly disappointed.

Spoilers are included in this next paragraph so please skip ahead if you wish to avoid those.

The other thing that let me down is the fact that in every single one of these books the girls end up dead. Now that's not to say there's anything wrong with killing off your characters, but it would be nice to see the girls in these types of novels survive for once. There was so much potential for Stella to be alive in this novel, and even for Heather to come out of this one alive, but alas the author chose to go in a different direction. Maybe I'm just fed up of girls being murdered in these books, but this one is more personal preference over an actual issue with the novel.

SPOILER FREE FROM HERE ONWARDS

Now onto the positives. I think this book had some really great characters, and the core characters are a joy to read about. Similarly, the author does a great job at connecting us with the characters who are only spoken about, and I really liked both Heather and Stella even though they don’t really play “active” roles on the page (obviously Heather plays an important role in the plot but she’s never really on page herself). I think it would have been cool to get some of the backstory of El and Iris as even though they were a cute couple it sort of comes out of nowhere as we miss a lot of their friendship as it happens in the past.

Overall, I enjoyed this book but I think there were a few things which could’ve been developed a bit just to add an extra layer of depth to the story and the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC, and I look forward to seeing what the author does next.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% my own.

I’ve heard so many good things about this book and went in expecting to love it so I’m so disappointed that I didn’t.

This book is very similar to other young adult mysteries, such as a good girls guide to murder and two can keep a secret. Fans of these books will enjoy this one I’m sure.

I enjoyed the last 3rd of this book as the pacing was spot on and the story became really gripping. The twists were unpredictable and the sequence of events leading up to this was really interesting. I struggled to get fully into the book before this as the main characters dialogue dragged out too much. The podcast transcripts though broke up the chapters nicely and stopped the first half of the book being boring.

The characters are very diverse, which is really refreshing to see. However, there are too many names popping up throughout this book who seem like pointless characters with very little to add to the plot.

Fun fiction. This an older YR, YA and up murder mystery detective thriller, with sapphic/LBTGQ+ themes. A sort of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys feeling, updated for the TikTok generation. Lots of Senior High School teenage banter and angst between the characters. Thank you to Hachette Children’s Books and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine.

This book gave the same feeling as A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder, intriguing, exciting and keeping you on your toes. Through lots of guess work, I could never have guessed who the killer was and I only wish Iris had more time with her big sister. The author made Iris incredibly relatable through her character flaws and I definitely recommend.

There were definitely things I liked about this book:

- it is diverse
- the Podcast
- the mystery itself is interesting and keeps you reading
- there are plenty of twists and turns
- I didn’t see the reveal coming

For me the characters just fell a little flat and I didn’t really find myself caring a huge amount for them which meant I felt less invested in the actual plot.

I am sure plenty of people will really enjoy this YA thriller but in my opinion there are better ones out there.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my early copy in exchange of a fair and honest review.

Only Murders in the Building meets John Green. I enjoyed this book immensely. American YA fiction can be so great and this one lived up to my expectations. A great place throughout and the characters were believable and engaging, though still infuriating teenagers. I was glad there was a resolution for Iris but this is the one part of the story that felt like a bit of a letdown as it felt rushed. Ill6be looking forward to more from Victoria Wlosok. Thanks to Netgalley.

This book is everything you want in a YA murder mystery. Once I started this book I couldn’t put it down.
I found myself constantly guessing and really felt that I was a part of the story, trying to piece together all the evidence. I had so many theories about who the perpetrator could be, but did not guess the ending!

Overall, I think this book was really well written and I enjoyed the podcast element. It really gave me a GGGTM vibes and I LOVED IT!

Thank you to Netgalley and Victoria Wlosok for the e-arc of this book. How to Find A Missing Girl is releasing 14th September!

4⭐️
Such a good mystery; as you’re following along with the story you’re trying to piece together what could’ve happened so it’s like you’re playing the detective too; I really enjoyed the interactivity of the book! There was lots of twists and turns and I loved the podcast element mixed with Iris’s POV, who was a great main character. Overall a really gripping YA thriller, that you’ll love if you liked A Good Girls Guide to Murder.
“A year ago, beloved cheerleader Stella Blackthorn vanished without a trace. Devastated, her younger sister, Iris, launched her own investigation, but all she managed to do was scare off the police’s only lead and earn a stern warning: Once she turns eighteen, more meddling means prison-level consequences.
Then, a year later, the unthinkable happens. Iris’s ex-girlfriend, Heather, goes missing, too—just after dropping the polarizing last episode of her true crime podcast all about Iris’s sister. This time, nothing will stop Iris and her amateur sleuthing agency from solving these disappearances.
But with a suspicious detective watching her every move, an enemy-turned-friend-turned-maybe-more to contend with, and only thirty days until she turns eighteen, it’s a race against the clock for Iris to solve the most dangerous case of her life”

Thank you to @netgalley @hachettechildrens @xvictoriawrites for the e-arc of this book, all opinions are honest and my own. How to Find A Missing Girl is releasing 14th September!

This book was everything I’ve ever wanted in a mystery/teen detective book. The story was incredible, I never saw the ending coming not even once, I wasn’t even close! So many twists and turns, the two different events merging was a great idea and it made the characters feel so real who are also fantastically written. I read this book so quickly it was just amazing from page one!

A fantastic entry into the modern YA crime genre, I really enjoyed this LGBTQ+ tale. I found the characters likeable, however I did guess the perpetrator quite early!! This didn't ruin the enjoyment of the book though. I don't really need love stories within my crime books, but this was a sweet story among the rest of the plot. Recommended!

A bit of a slow start but picks up once the story starts to develop.
Eady to follow yet unpredictable too.
Definitely the perfect YA thriller and a great first book from the author

It had a good start but some of the storyline was a bit extreme and unbelievable which let down a good underlying idea

How to Find a Missing Girl was such a fun read. A brilliant YA thriller following teenage protagonists who proclaim themselves the sapphic detective agency, investigating the disappearances of two local girls. Once it gets going, it's an addictive mystery that spurs you on to read more. Clues are sprinkled throughout but I was kept guessing about a lot of the details right until the very end.

The cast of characters feel very contemporary in a way that made me feel my age at first, but I hope will feel relatable to young adult readers! Our main protagonist, Iris, is impulsive and stubborn, but ultimately motivated by love for her friends. It is lovely to read about teenagers who are out and proud of their identities in a high school setting, without the story revolving purely around coming out, or battling homophobia. It is truly a satisyfing mystery with bonus great representation.

I found this one a bit difficult to get into. The voice was trying too hard and the pacing was far too slow for me to be invested.