I’m sharing another instalment of my Mini Review Mondays, the most recent of which was last week. In case you haven’t seen any of my previous posts, I do ‘mini’ reviews of books that I’ve previously read and am now ready to share my full thoughts about.
First up, I’d like to talk about Freeze by Kate Simantis. Thank you to Viper Books for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Frozen Out will be the TV sensation of the year. In the harshest Arctic conditions, eight contestants will push their bodies and minds to breaking point for a £100,000 prize. And camerawoman Dee will be there to capture every second, all but invisible – just how she likes it.
But as rumours spread of corner-cutting and safety risks, tempers among the cast and crew start to fray. And then one of the contestants is found dead, supposedly of a heart attack. But Dee is not convinced.
With a fierce storm approaching and communication with land cut off, the question now is not who will win the money. It’s who will make it off the ship alive.
Publication Date: 2nd March
TW: abuse, stalking, violence, death, murder
My Thoughts:
Freeze takes locked in thrillers to a whole new level. It is easily one of the most entertaining thrillers I have read so far this year.
I was sold on the concept of a reality TV show that turns into a murder mystery and stayed for the layered, intriguing and incredibly tense story that came after. This takes claustrophobia and paranoia to incredible new heights. They are literally stranded with only each other around and now the bodies are starting to drop. The use of multiple narratives adds to this constant sense of suspicion. No one is being entirely honest, with plenty of secrets and mini twists to uncover.
Simants has an excellent grasp of pacing. The book flowed really well, keeping me consistently engaged and enthralled. While time passed around me, I was completely sucked into Tori and Dee’s stories. The writing was so immersive that I could almost feel the chill of the Arctic on my skin. It is a well-plotted story, with some surprises in store. For me, it helped that the characterization was so strong. Though you recognise some of these reality TV archetypes, they are always evolving into something unexpected. I think it is fair to say reality TV dominates much of modern popular culture. Simants offers a peek behind the curtain at the facade and the way it is all set up. The contrast between on-screen and off-screen personalities is chilling and feeds into the growing paranoia of the overarching story.
Freeze is a book that will ice your veins. It is a sinister thriller with plenty of twists, turns and tricks up its sleeve.
Next up, I’d like to talk about Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones. Thank you to Wednesday Books for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
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?
Publication Date: 7th March
TW: death, murder, gun violence, missing person, sexual assault, grooming, violence
My Thoughts:
Missing Clarissa was the true crime, cold case sleuthing YA book I needed in my life.
From the initial premise, I was completely sold. We follow two high school journalism students who decide to try to solve a cold case from twenty years ago as their class project. This comes in the form of a true crime podcast, which captures the zeitgeist of how we view crime today. Jones really digs into how internet fandom and fame has completely shifted our perceptions of crime. I really liked how much Jones sat with the ethics of true crime and how easily the reality of these people and cases can be forgotten in the sensationalism. These have real consequences and emotions embroiled within them.
Cameron particularly struggles with this, wanting to pursue justice at all costs. She is loyal, smart and fiercely protective, but is also more naive about the fallout their actions could have. Blair, her best friend and partner on the project, balances out those qualities perfectly, making the two of them mesh together so well. I thoroughly enjoyed their characterisation and how much they felt like authentic teenagers, getting caught up in something much bigger than they envisioned. There is a fascinating throughline about justice, vengeance and the enduring grief of the case that really resonated with me.
On top of this, we have a brilliant thriller plotline. This was so tightly plotted and consistently engaging. I was left reeling by some of the twists, particularly as the pacing picks up towards the end. You get slowly drawn into the case and these dynamic characters, only to get caught up in the whirlwind of everything coming undone and finally being revealed. Jones for me captures that balance perfectly.
Missing Clarissa was a genuinely shocking and layered thriller that I absolutely sped through and would highly recommend.
Finally, I’d like to delve into Dear Medusa by Olivia A Cole. Thank you to Labyrinth Road and Random House Children’s for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Sixteen-year-old Alicia Rivers has a reputation that precedes her. But there’s more to her story than the whispers that follow her throughout the hallways at school–whispers that splinter into a million different insults that really mean: a girl who has had sex. But what her classmates don’t know is that Alicia was sexually abused by a popular teacher, and that trauma has rewritten every cell in her body into someone she doesn’t recognize. To the world around her, she’s been cast, like the mythical Medusa, as not the victim but the monster of her own story: the slut who asked for it.
Alicia was abandoned by her best friend, quit the track team, and now spends her days in detention feeling isolated and invisible. When mysterious letters left in her locker hint at another victim, Alicia struggles to keep up the walls she’s built around her trauma. At the same time, her growing attraction to a new girl in school makes her question what those walls are really keeping out.
Publication Date: 14th March
TW: slut shaming, sexual assault, racism, slurs, family issues, biphobia, lesbophobia, grooming, molestation, drug use, alcohol, teacher-student assault
My Thoughts:
Dear Medusa was a firestorm of a book.
It was incredibly impactful and powerful, but was difficult at points to read because of the heavy subject matter. Novels in verse always have a heightened emotional element for me and this really hit home. The free verse felt like Alicia finally being able to take back her narrative, with very much a stream of consciousness style to it that I enjoyed. Verse for me is something I have to sit with and fully digest, with the emotional strands unravelling around me. It captures an emotional intensity unique to the form personally. Cole seems to register this and packs one hell of an emotional punch here.
Alicia as a character was someone I lost my whole heart to. She is raw, vulnerable and struggling. The entire book I was hoping someone would notice and offer her the support she desperately needed. Her anger and hurt sears every page. Unfortunately, her narrative is all too common and we have all seen or experienced similar stories. A lot of this book felt like releasing a long withheld scream. However, this is very much a story centering growth and the healing process, recognising trauma and its ramifications on your life.
I liked how by the end of the story, Alicia is not completely healed, but is learning to accept help and becoming more of who she wants to be. There is a strong element of hope and happiness woven in. It was also refreshing to see such brilliant representation for bisexuality, asexuality and characters of colour. I appreciated how much time Cole spent talking about intersectionality and how these issues affect different communities, intersecting with multiple marginalised identities.
Dear Medusa is a beautifully fractured story about coming to terms with trauma and beginning the healing process, while also confronting your own rage and using it to fuel yourself rather than becoming consumed by it.
A Short Book Lover 
Missing clarissa definately will get shoved on my wanna read list- I LOVE the true crime podcast element!!
It’s not the first time I hear medusa being a symbol of SA, so thats quite interresting to see it included as such in a book!
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