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cchangoor's review against another edition
4.0
Ten years after her best friend gets kidnapped, Dee Skinner is haunted with memories of that day. She secretly created and hosts a podcast to bring attention to current missing persons cases, and to connect members of an online community who work to solve them. When another girl is taken from Dee’s town, there are too many similarities to ignore, so she begins her own investigation into her many unanswered questions.
This book was everything I was expecting – a high interest, well-paced mystery that hooked me throughout, and an ending that tied up all of the pieces into a neat little bow. There were enough clues to keep me guessing, but nothing so obvious that I was able to solve everything on my own.
The story would benefit if the characters were more dynamic and developed throughout the entire book. During the first half I started to get invested in them, and then bam! The best friend is dropped and replaced by a love interest. This shift completely lost me. I was frustrated with the way the main character behaved and handled the friendship, and I couldn’t get into the new character or buy into their romance. Overall it didn’t detract too much from the plot. I still found the book quite enjoyable and would certainly recommend it to middle school mystery fans.
Thank you to NetGalley for the complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book was everything I was expecting – a high interest, well-paced mystery that hooked me throughout, and an ending that tied up all of the pieces into a neat little bow. There were enough clues to keep me guessing, but nothing so obvious that I was able to solve everything on my own.
The story would benefit if the characters were more dynamic and developed throughout the entire book. During the first half I started to get invested in them, and then bam! The best friend is dropped and replaced by a love interest. This shift completely lost me. I was frustrated with the way the main character behaved and handled the friendship, and I couldn’t get into the new character or buy into their romance. Overall it didn’t detract too much from the plot. I still found the book quite enjoyable and would certainly recommend it to middle school mystery fans.
Thank you to NetGalley for the complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest review.
okafon's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The book was really good. I would definitely recommended it. Although the romance felt very rushed. They kissed and were inlove a few chapters later. Also the resolutions of the people kidnapped left me feeling a sense of “Oh, it’s solved. Ok I guess.” But the plot was unique and the writing was very good.
jayjoreads's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
alaskaisnotdead's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
abstractkitty0's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
bookwrm526's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
cterry96's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
ameserole's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, so I think it's time that I dive into the wonderful but mysterious world of true crime podcasts. I Hope You're Listening wasn't the first book I've read/listened to that dealt with a podcasts but I'm starting to see a trend. Or maybe a sign. Either way, I will definitely try one (or some) out in the new year.
In this, you will meet Delia (aka Dee). When she was about 7 years old, she witnessed her best friend being abducted. Ever since then, she was trying to figure out what happened and if her friend, Sibby, was still alive. Along the way, there's a new girl missing and slowly but surely secrets come out to play.
Honestly, the mystery was so freaking good. I also liked the little romance that was starting to blossom between Dee and Sarah. I feel like it needed to happen because I wanted Dee to be vulnerable and then grow from that.
In the end, secrets, twists, and clues needed to come out in order to solve the mysteries. I'm happy that everything turned out the way it did and people can start to move on from it all and heal. Definitely happy that I got the chance to finally dive into this and I can't wait to see what my buddy thinks of it as well.
In this, you will meet Delia (aka Dee). When she was about 7 years old, she witnessed her best friend being abducted. Ever since then, she was trying to figure out what happened and if her friend, Sibby, was still alive. Along the way, there's a new girl missing and slowly but surely secrets come out to play.
Honestly, the mystery was so freaking good. I also liked the little romance that was starting to blossom between Dee and Sarah. I feel like it needed to happen because I wanted Dee to be vulnerable and then grow from that.
In the end, secrets, twists, and clues needed to come out in order to solve the mysteries. I'm happy that everything turned out the way it did and people can start to move on from it all and heal. Definitely happy that I got the chance to finally dive into this and I can't wait to see what my buddy thinks of it as well.
321zeggy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
gggina13's review against another edition
2.0
Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an early copy!
2.5 stars in actuality, probably. It just didn't do it for me. There wasn't enough focus on the podcast and the actual mysteries both had completely outlandish endings.
One thing that really annoyed me is that someone finds out that Dee is the creator of the podcast, but she literally NEVER even bothers to ask them how they found out, and the person never gives up that information. This comes after her best friend repeatedly tells her in detail how secure her identity is and how there's nothing linking her to the podcast.
Also there is a weird case of instalove here. Instalove doesn't actually bother me in a lot of YA, just because I know as a teen I thought I loved people that I didn't even talk to!! But after kissing once, Dee calls her her girlfriend, and after us seeing them interact maybe 3 times Dee tells her she loves her. There just wasn't enough on-page bonding to make even justified instalove seem believable.
I did like how Dee liked girls and she never had a coming out moment or even explicitly told the reader. She just talked about it like it was completely normal which I can always appreciate. Straight characters never have to come out and make the announcement that they're straight.
I was just really left feeling like "well.... that solves the mystery, huh...." during the big reveals. They were really clunky and had to be fully explained, and I feel like good mysteries at least leave hints throughout. I like to at least have the option to figure out the ending ahead of time, not have it completely blindside me.
As I usually say with YA mysteries that I'm personally unimpressed with, I do think that teens just making their way into the mystery genre would like this. The queer representation is enough of a merit to include it with other beginner mysteries.
2.5 stars in actuality, probably. It just didn't do it for me. There wasn't enough focus on the podcast and the actual mysteries both had completely outlandish endings.
One thing that really annoyed me is that someone finds out that Dee is the creator of the podcast, but she literally NEVER even bothers to ask them how they found out, and the person never gives up that information. This comes after her best friend repeatedly tells her in detail how secure her identity is and how there's nothing linking her to the podcast.
Also there is a weird case of instalove here. Instalove doesn't actually bother me in a lot of YA, just because I know as a teen I thought I loved people that I didn't even talk to!! But after kissing once, Dee calls her her girlfriend, and after us seeing them interact maybe 3 times Dee tells her she loves her. There just wasn't enough on-page bonding to make even justified instalove seem believable.
I did like how Dee liked girls and she never had a coming out moment or even explicitly told the reader. She just talked about it like it was completely normal which I can always appreciate. Straight characters never have to come out and make the announcement that they're straight.
I was just really left feeling like "well.... that solves the mystery, huh...." during the big reveals. They were really clunky and had to be fully explained, and I feel like good mysteries at least leave hints throughout. I like to at least have the option to figure out the ending ahead of time, not have it completely blindside me.
As I usually say with YA mysteries that I'm personally unimpressed with, I do think that teens just making their way into the mystery genre would like this. The queer representation is enough of a merit to include it with other beginner mysteries.