Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books
Date of Publication: March 12th, 2024
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, LGBT, Queer, Contemporary, Fiction
Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCat
Goodreads Synopsis:
The sequel to Ripley Jones’s unforgettable YA thriller Missing Clarissa , The Other Lola is about what happens when the people you love the most are the people you can trust the least.
In the months after Cam and Blair broke their small hometown’s legendary missing-girl story and catapulted to accidental fame, they vowed never to do it again. No more mysteries, no more podcasts, and no more sticking their heads where they don’t belong.
Until Mattie Brosillard, a freshman at their high school, shows up on their doorstep, begging Cam and Blair for help. Mattie’s sister Lola disappeared mysteriously five years ago. No trace of her was ever found. Now, she’s back–but Mattie is convinced the girl who returned is an impostor. Nobody believes Mattie’s wild story–not Mattie’s brother, not Mattie’s mother, and not even Cam and Blair. But something is definitely wrong in the Brosillard family. And Blair has her own reasons for wanting to know what really happened to Lola while she was gone.
With Cam and Blair still struggling with the aftermath of their first mystery—and with new secrets swirling between them—the stakes are higher than ever in this can’t-miss sequel to Missing Clarissa.
First Line
Lola was gone before she ever went missing.
The Other Lola by Ripley Jones
Important details about The Other Lola
Pace: Medium
POV: 3rd person (Cam and Blair), 2nd person (letters written to Mattie and emails written to Blair’s publisher)
Trigger Warnings: The Other Lola contains themes that include panic attacks/disorders, adult/minor relationships, drug abuse, abandonment, religious bigotry, bullying, deadnaming, drug use, suicidal thoughts, transphobia, murder, and sexual harassment.
Language: The Other Lola contains moderate swearing and language that might offend some people.
Sexual Content: There is minor sexual content in The Other Lola.
Setting: The Other Lola is set in and around Oreville, Washington.
My Review
The Other Lola is the follow-up novel to Missing Clarissa. It occurs several months after Cam and Blair solve Clarissa’s cold case. Blair and Cam had been put through the wringer by the press, the people in town, and people worldwide. Dealing with the repercussions of solving her case, they swore they would never do another podcast or look into another mystery. So, when Cam agrees to listen to Mattie’s tale about a sister disappearing and reappearing after five years and how they suspect the person who claims to be their sister is an imposter, she is inclined to laugh it off. But something about Mattie strikes a chord in Cam, and she has Blair listen to their story. The deeper Cam and Blair dig into Mattie’s story, the more they realize that something isn’t right with the family.
The Other Lola was such a great book to read. Right from the beginning, the storyline caught my attention. As the story went on and Cam and Blair dug into Lola’s disappearance and the events surrounding it, I couldn’t put my Kindle down. This was a well-written story with so many layers.
The mystery angle of the book was terrific. The author does reveal something major about Lola in the first chapter. Even with that reveal, this storyline had so many twists and turns that I almost had difficulty keeping up.
The author also focused on Blair and Cam’s relationship and their separate ones. It was a little heartbreaking to read about Cam’s anxiety and her flashbacks. It was also sad to read about Blair and how she felt her friendship with Cam was suffering. I also liked how the author portrayed Cam’s relationship with her girlfriend. Now, Blair and her relationship with Lola’s twin was creepy, considering why she had started dating him. I never felt she was really into him, but that ending scene on the boat made me wonder.
The end of The Other Lola was sad. I was not expecting the book to go in the direction it did, but in hindsight, it did make sense.
Many thanks to Saint Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, NetGalley, and Ripley Jones for allowing me to read and review this ARC of The Other Lola. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
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