A review by daniellereadslikealot_
The Other Lola by Ripley Jones

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I loved Missing Clarissa so I was really excited to get to read its sequel, The Other Lola. I wish I liked this one more because the synopsis was so intriguing, but overall, I was disappointed. It was like Cam and Blair completely forgot everything they learned about true crime and investigating it. They made a lot of really ridiculous decisions and choices that I’m not sure how they didn’t see or anticipate the consequences of. They did have a lot of sweet friendship moments that I enjoyed reading. Mattie drove me absolutely nuts. I tried to have some sympathy for her because she was young, but her inability to entertain any other theories about her sister or the fact that she could have misremembered something from five years ago was incredibly frustrating. The big reveal didn’t really do anything for me which was a letdown because my curiosity was what kept me going with this book. Also, a minor annoyance, but one that came up several times: I’m very liberal in my political views, but it felt like every other page, the author had to make sure we knew how liberal they were. It felt VERY out of place most of the time. I will say that the scene with Officer Militia was hilarious though. Again, I wish I had enjoyed it more, but it was very slow paced with very little payoff so I was disappointed overall. 

TW: rape threats, online bullying, drug abuse, panic attacks, adult/minor relationship, religious bigotry

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review. 
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