this book gives the vibes of an early 2010s ABC family show; a bit outlandish and convoluted but still wildly entertaining
because the story had been so convoluted I wish the ending had been more interesting or unresolved, but I still enjoyed it

This book was clearly written by someone who hasn't been this age in quite a long time. The representation of 16-year-olds was frankly insulting as someone who was that age not too many years ago. And at the same time, it was also uncomfortable hearing a middle-aged person talk about horny 16-year-olds and cam girls. There was also a large amount of representation in race, gender identity, and sexuality, but it all felt very forced. There was not a single white person in this book who wasn't at least some kind of gender or sexual minority except for the "bastard" cops.

Outside of the characters and awkward amount of representation, the plot was also really basic and the climax was practically non-existent. If you're looking for a thriller mystery, this definitely isn't it. In fact, don't even look that hard for who the antagonist is because it will be thrown in your face pretty quickly.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free audiobook copy in exchange for an honest review!

Overall this was a solid read, and audiobook in general. The story was easy enough to follow and kept me coming back to find out what happened. The story itself was more on the serious side and dealt with many serious topics, e.g. drug abuse, police brutality, racism, etc. Michie was an interesting character to follow, and it was clear to see how much she cared for Trissa, and how important it was for her to find her friend. The story itself is one that I think needed to be told. It's easy to say that all missing people are looked for but sadly that's not the case. This book sheds light on the opposite, where the person isn't looked for. Overall, the search for Trissa was an interesting story to read, and I loved the cast of characters that joined Michie on the way. I would recommend reading this but check trigger warnings before doing so.

"How to be Found" presents an engaging young adult narrative, albeit with a notable portrayal of teen characters who sometimes exhibit overly mature behavior. While the writing quality ranges from average to above average, the plot holds intrigue, although some readers may have preferred a more mysterious and realistic resolution regarding the fate of the "found" character. As an audio book, the narrator adeptly brings the characters to life with smooth and effective portrayals. The pacing aligns well with the story's tempo, enhancing the overall experience, and the distinct voices of each character make for easy transitions and clear dialogue throughout the narration.

How To Be Found, written by Emily Pohl-Weary, is a fictional mystery with main character Michie. Michie has grown up living in an apartment with her mom, and her moms best friend and her own best friend Trissa. Michie has some health issues that have led to her feeling protected by her mother and friends, and has also caused her to being a little obsessed with her favorite book, A Girl's Guide To Murder. But when Michie is woken in the middle of the night and told that Trissa is missing, she has to come to terms with the fact that she might not know her best friend as well as she thought she did, and come up with some inner strength to help during this difficult time.
I enjoyed this book, and think that it would be a good young adult read for high school aged and up. I appreciated the different friendships in this book, and how Michie worked to be able to help her friends in different ways. I also liked how A Girl's Guide To Murder was used throughout the book, I love a book within a book!
Thank you to NetGalley, and to the publisher and author of this book for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

<b>“We might not be biologically related, but we are family.” </b>

First of all, Canadian points!

I was skeptical on this book because of the 3.36 star rating, but I really enjoyed this mystery. I was invested in Trissa’s disappearance, especially with the town’s lore and the issues with the police. The story’s commentary on police treatment towards the lower class communities was eye-opening.

I would’ve loved more on Michie and Trissa’s friendship/sisterhood and less on Michie and Anwar’s romance.

This is just me being nitpicky and doesn’t affect my personal rating of the book, but I wouldn’t consider this book as YA due to some of the content. For instance, why does this YA book have smut in it? I’m not oblivious to teens doing it, but why is it described as if this book was targeted for adults?

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC!

Michie and Trissa are practically sisters after growing up together in the same duplex. At sixteen, they’ve started to grow apart, and that becomes even more apparent when Trissa goes missing near the site a serial killer recently abducted a teenage girl.

Michie, along with both her mother and Trissa mother, as well as her and Trissa’s childhood friend Anwar start a desperate search. The closer she gets to figuring out what happened, the more shocking secrets about Trissa she finds. Will Michie be able to find Trissa, and will Trissa be alive when Michie gets there?

It took me a very long time to read this book because the first chapter was so confusing. I found it very difficult to keep track of the characters, especially with this being an audiobook because I couldn’t look back at previous pages.
Once I got past the first chapter, however, I listened to the rest of the book in the span of a few days.

I was a bit put off by the name of Michie’s book being A Girl’s Guide to Murder. Even though I don’t think this was the intent, it felt like it was a cheap grab for the popularity associated with A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson.

The storyline was interesting, and I was curious to find out more about what happened to Trissa and if she was okay.

I would recommend this book to people looking for Young Adult mystery-thriller books. Though it’s not the best book in the genre, I think it’s a solid book that’s worth the read

2.5 stars rounded up. I was not the target audience for this book, and it missed the mark for me. I did enjoy the mystery elements. Yet I felt this book was drawn out, and the ending was slightly disappointing also. There were also some extremely unrealistic components to this story.

The narrator did a good job bringing this story to life, and I enjoyed the audiobook.

The social/racial injustices in this book were rage-inducing but so true to life! The police can be such a bag of dicks to people. I love that Michie was not taking anything for granted and went and found Trissa, regardless of the costs. This was my 1st book by Emily Pohl-Weary, but will not be my last!

#HowtoBeFound
#NetGalley

I really enjoyed this audiobook. The narrator brought so much brightness to the story. The novel was nicely paced and I was able to get through it in one sitting. My main issue with this novel was it is a very simple & basic plot line with a variety of complications happening, which takes away from the true plot. This also made the end feel somewhat rushed and resolved easily. None of this is necessarily a bad thing, but there was a lot of fluff that didn’t need to be there. Special thanks to NetGalley & ECW Press Audio for providing me with an advanced listeners copy.

This isn't a bad audiobook at all. I like the narration. I am just a little too jaded and old for this one. I bet a young adult would feel it.
I can't wait to see what the author and narrator do next!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC of "How to be Found" by Emily Pohl-Weary. I was drawn to the premise about a missing girl, lack of serious police investigation and a friend who wants to find her. Set in an inner city, the author did a good job of creating the enviornment and setting the stage for the hearbreak story. The premise was good, it just wasn't great. I wanted more from the mystery and more from the relationships. I just wanted more. Perhaps a great listen for younger people.

This is a well-written book with excellent descriptions. The author paints a picture of what life is like for these two girls and their single mothers. The characters are vivid and the story is a coming of age accounting. There is good use of suspense - - where is Trissa, did the strangler murder her? After all the breathless conjecturing of what may have happened to Trissa, the ending was a bit anticlimactic.

The narrator is very good.

How to be Found by Emily Pohl-Weary

Thank you to @netgalley and @ecwpress for the opportunity to read this #advancedlistenercopy in exchange for my honest review!

This book completely captured what it is to be a teenager, especially one that has to do a lot of adulting to help one’s parents. It’s chaotic, it’s messy, and sometimes it’s desperately clawing out of a situation. This book had great found family vibes. It was slightly chaotic between the blossoming love storyline and the search for the friend but I think that’s truly what hormones do to one in those years. A great mystery read that I highly recommend.

TWs: ab*se, manip*lation, bl*ckmail, spicy scenes, drug and alcohol use, more

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4/5

3 out of 5 Star

It's a good book that touches on important topics and scratch that mystery itch for me.

How to Be Found by Emily Pohl-Weary was a quick and good YA story.
Like most reviewers have already said and which I agree I felt this story was dragged out a little too far.
But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it.
I enjoyed the overall picture of the story. How quick and easy it is for teens to be swept into some bad things. Which really got me thinking to be honest about my kids and it honestly stresses me out.
I did enjoy the very interesting mystery. I loved Michie’s character and how determined she was to find her sister aka her best friend.
Overall, it was a good listen.

Thank You NetGalley and ECW Press Audio for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Solid 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 stars. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. Spoilers are in this review, so be warned.

This book was too dragged out for the super disappointing ending of this book. Also, it was just super unrealistic - underage girls being strippers and cam girls? I just couldn't get past that and felt like the author included these just to shock the reader, but it did not add anything to the story and just really distracted from the plot.

Also, there was a strangler that kept being mentioned but had nothing to do with the plot - I would have just removed that plot.

The plot and connections to the characters fell short for me. There was a spark missing for me. When the character goes missing it seems like an afterthought and after that, I couldn’t find myself to care where the friend went. When the reason for leaving is revealed, there just seemed like a lot was going on and almost too much for this character.

I am not the target audience for this audio book, but I think teenagers will really enjoy it and engage with the story and themes: I was less convinced! The narrator was good, with clear enunciation, though a little too slowly spoken for my enjoyment - luckily you can speed up narration.

Trissa and Michie have grown up like sisters - both having single mothers. They appear to have drifted apart and their lives have taken very different paths in young adulthood. Michie has health issues which restrict her choices and she seemed quite protected (naturally) by her mother; she could also be classed as a young carer for her own mother (who has health issues) so it is unsurprising that they two teenager girls have been drifting apart. However, when Trissa disappears, Michie becomes super-sleuth detective. The police seem inept at detecting Trissa's last moves and I was disappointed that Michie could track her friend and uncover the clues to Trissa's whereabouts so effortlessly.

Michie and her new boyfriend (long time friend) end up following a convoluted path to track Trissa down. This involves meeting lots of shady characters who are clearly just devices to support the plot, but were hard to keep track of as I was listening to this story!

I did like the growth and development of Michie's character. Her relationship with Anwar (boyfriend) is cute to follow. Trissa has hidden a lot from her mother, the details of which the police seem to unable to discover to help their case - though they seem fairly uninterested about Trissa's fate, in spite of the fact that there is a serial killer on the loose and all clues point to Trissa having been his next victim! Michie's success as a detective felt implausible at times - she has an obsession with a book 'A Girl's Guide to Murder' which helps her crack the case, but I found this cliche difficult to swallow.

All in all, I know my teenager would enjoy reading this and wouldn't think too deeply about the implausibility of some of the plot points. I think it will be a great read for its intended audience, but possibly better read than listened to - 3 and a half stars from me.

The character in the book underwent every difficulty know to man and it felt like some themes were a bit under developed and others were just put in for no reason. There were lots of side characters and a few of them like Mr booger felt quite unnecessary. I liked it okay but I feel other books in this genre are better.