How to Find a Missing Girl: A sapphic YA thriller perfect for fans of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

An absolute page turner, read it in a matter of days (good for me lol) but would absolutely reccomend to anyone who's in a bit of a reading slump like I was 10/10!

I really enjoyed this book from start to finish. I loved the inclusion of podcast transcripts and the amateur sleuths that reminded me of the Scooby Gang (even before they decided on their Halloween outfits).Something bad is happening at Hillwood; one missing girl is considered a runaway, but two missing girls make Iris and her friends investigate their disappearances. Iris has a vested interest as her sister was the first to disappear and the second girl is her ex-girlfriend. I couldn’t read fast enough to discover whether Iris would find out who is behind the disappearances or whether she would become a target herself.The writing is fresh and vibrant as Victoria Wlosok draws such vivid scenes with her wonderful words and I was completely drawn into the story. I really cared about Iris and her friends and I loved their own unique characters.Gripping, fresh and compelling, How to Find a Missing Girl is an excellent debut novel from an exciting new talent in the YA genre. Victoria Wlosok is studying at the University of North Carolina so put her on your watch list as I’m sure there are more great things to come from her.

This is a YA mystery thriller which seems to have been heavily influenced by A Good Girls Guide To Murder (even hitting some of the same plot points) but unfortunately doesn't really match up.The main character Iris and her friends have formed an amateur detective agency and hope to solve the case of Iris' missing ex-girlfriend Heather, who also happened to be the creator of a true crime podcast discussing the case of Iris' older sister who went missing a year before.Inexplicably, despite being desperate to solve both cases and repeatedly being told by other people that there are clues in the podcasts, Iris doesn't even start listening to them until about halfway through the book and takes ages to listen to the last one. The fact that they are super short (about 5 minutes each, when the average podcast length is over 30) is a bit weird too. The most frustrating thing though is that we are supposed to believe Iris is a great detective, but it takes her a long time to make even basic connections between things, and she misses one super obvious thing that I found difficult to accept.Overall this is a reasonable mystery with decent characters but there are too many things about it that don't quite work, and it stopped me from caring about the results as much as I would have liked to. On the plus side there is good LGBTQ representation, and the book is pacy enough to keep you turning pages.

How to Find a Missing Girl is a sapphic snall town missing persons mystery. Iris’ older sister Stella went missing almost a year ago and was classed as a runaway. Now another girl, Heather, has gone missing and Iris is out to solve this this case, even though she was explicitly told to not.Full of queer characters, missing ex-girlfriends, and ex best friends who try to help the investigation, things going not according to plan and a group of friends trying to solve both Stella’s case and find Heather. Heather had a podcast, How to Find a Missing Girl, centered around Stella’s case, which makes her disappearance even more odd.I LOVED this book! I literally devoured it during my plane journey, I beeded to know who did it and where both girls are, what happened to them. The ending did not disappoint and it was so tense!! I am giving How to Find a Missing Girl by Wiktoria Wlosok 5 stars, and I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a teenage detective story, perfect for fans of A Good Girls Guide to Murder or A Long Stretch of Bad Days.

'How to Find a Missing Girl' is an engaging and enjoyable read.Iris and her friends form a detective agency to investigate the disappearances of two girls (Iris's ex and her own sister) It's pretty silly and unrealistic at times (Iris isn't really a very skilled detective!) but also touches on serious stuff/emotional content. I'm sure many YA readers will enjoy the story, the characters and the LQBTQ+ representation.

This book was so much fun to read! The author did a great job weaving clues into the story in such creative and clever ways. I found this mysterious adventure challenging to resolve which was SO satisfying! The characters have depth and unique personalities that melded beautifully with the others. I developed a lot of respect for the main character, Iris, as she struggled with an emotional and complex journey through feeling hopeless, useless, and powerless to an impossible situation. Her persistence and personal strength kept her seeking the truth despite feeling completely alone-a heroes’ journey to perseverance.I loved the podcast, the text messaging, and the realistic topics of teenager conversations/references. There was a perfect amount of humor used that that encouraged a bit of levity-Sammys’ miniature lighter earrings-the fake white Republican women FB account, or riding in the Homocide Honda…so fun! Loved it!

I adored this spunky, satisfying YA mystery! The characters, including heroic MC Iris, really popped out from the page and I found myself sneaking reading sessions throughout the work day to find out what would happen next. I thought I had the mystery solved, but there were definitely surprises and the author kept me guessing until the end. Definitely recommend this engrossing, endearing story for mystery/thriller lovers to dive into and enjoy to the very last page!

I really enjoyed this one, I was hooked from the beginning and couldn’t put it down! I love the double mysteries and how Iris goes about solving them! If you’re looking for a mystery that will keep you guessing and leave you satisfied then I highly recommend checking this one out!