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juliwi 's review for:
Chloe Cates Is Missing
by Mandy McHugh
What happens is a social media starlet goes missing? A stressful 24hrs, I can tell you! Chloe Cates Is Missing promises everything from past crimes to present crimes, glitz and glam as well as blood, and a major serving of tension. I'm glad to say McHugh delivers on almost all of those promises in this tightly-paced thriller. Thanks to Penzler Publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Black Mirror has an episode called 'Nosedive' in which social media leads to a woman's breakdown. It is no secret that social media and the constant attention it requires is having a very negative impact on people in general, not just teens. The need to perform, to be perfect, to be someone you're not, has consequences and it is a perfect cesspit for psychological thrillers to dive into. The danger is that it feels a little too cliché, a little too on the nose. It requires some deftness to really handle it properly, and Chloe Cates Is Missing tries to do so. While I don't think the novel is quite as smooth as it could be, McHugh makes it very clear where she stands on the 'should you put your entire child's life online'-debate. (I'm with her on the 'Please no!' side btw!) It's another great example of how thrillers and suspense novels are a great way to think about social issues. The genre is capable of holding up a mirror to society in the way many others cannot and reveal its flaws.
Chloe Cates is missing. But Chloe Cates doesn't exist. She is the online persona of Abby Scarborough, a 13-year old girl who is the star of her mother's blog and has fans across America. But now that she has disappeared, cracks are appearing in the picture-perfect fairy tale her mother has tried to spin online. The tighter she tries to hold onto the reins, the more her control slips. It doesn't help that she shares a difficult history with the main detective in the case. Chloe Cates Is Missing is full of twists and turns, reveals, and flashbacks, to the point that I found it a little impossible to accept that the novel takes place in a single day. The madness (positive!) of the plot is grounded by the characterization of one character in particular, namely detective Emilina Stone. Far from perfect, she has a good heart and is constantly looking for ways to atone and be better. She is determined, but also empathetic. Around her swirl a set of characters that are a little too thinly drawn. Abby is very "young" and precocious, her mother Jennifer is very shrewd and cool, her father Jackson is bumbling yet also hot.
This is Mandy McHugh's first novel and I see a whole lot of potential here! There are some lovely twists and the characterisation of Emilina is great. You get a real sense of who she is, her fears, her strength but also her weaknesses. I'd love to see her return in future books by McHugh, because I'm kind of invested now. While Chloe Cates has its strengths, not everything works evenly well. Like I said above, it's a bit too much plot for a 24-hour timeline. We also get some chapters which are taken from Abby's journal and while it adds an extra layer, the teen-voice of those passages doesn't jell well with the darker tone of the rest of the novel. While it is intended to add, it kind of undercuts the tension with its Addison Rae references and repeated OMGs.
Chloe Cates is Missing is an entertaining rollercoaster of a thriller. While not all elements work equally well, I'll definitely keep an eye out for more of Mandy McHugh.
URL: https://universeinwords.blogspot.com/2022/03/review-chloe-cates-is-missing-by-mandy.html
Black Mirror has an episode called 'Nosedive' in which social media leads to a woman's breakdown. It is no secret that social media and the constant attention it requires is having a very negative impact on people in general, not just teens. The need to perform, to be perfect, to be someone you're not, has consequences and it is a perfect cesspit for psychological thrillers to dive into. The danger is that it feels a little too cliché, a little too on the nose. It requires some deftness to really handle it properly, and Chloe Cates Is Missing tries to do so. While I don't think the novel is quite as smooth as it could be, McHugh makes it very clear where she stands on the 'should you put your entire child's life online'-debate. (I'm with her on the 'Please no!' side btw!) It's another great example of how thrillers and suspense novels are a great way to think about social issues. The genre is capable of holding up a mirror to society in the way many others cannot and reveal its flaws.
Chloe Cates is missing. But Chloe Cates doesn't exist. She is the online persona of Abby Scarborough, a 13-year old girl who is the star of her mother's blog and has fans across America. But now that she has disappeared, cracks are appearing in the picture-perfect fairy tale her mother has tried to spin online. The tighter she tries to hold onto the reins, the more her control slips. It doesn't help that she shares a difficult history with the main detective in the case. Chloe Cates Is Missing is full of twists and turns, reveals, and flashbacks, to the point that I found it a little impossible to accept that the novel takes place in a single day. The madness (positive!) of the plot is grounded by the characterization of one character in particular, namely detective Emilina Stone. Far from perfect, she has a good heart and is constantly looking for ways to atone and be better. She is determined, but also empathetic. Around her swirl a set of characters that are a little too thinly drawn. Abby is very "young" and precocious, her mother Jennifer is very shrewd and cool, her father Jackson is bumbling yet also hot.
This is Mandy McHugh's first novel and I see a whole lot of potential here! There are some lovely twists and the characterisation of Emilina is great. You get a real sense of who she is, her fears, her strength but also her weaknesses. I'd love to see her return in future books by McHugh, because I'm kind of invested now. While Chloe Cates has its strengths, not everything works evenly well. Like I said above, it's a bit too much plot for a 24-hour timeline. We also get some chapters which are taken from Abby's journal and while it adds an extra layer, the teen-voice of those passages doesn't jell well with the darker tone of the rest of the novel. While it is intended to add, it kind of undercuts the tension with its Addison Rae references and repeated OMGs.
Chloe Cates is Missing is an entertaining rollercoaster of a thriller. While not all elements work equally well, I'll definitely keep an eye out for more of Mandy McHugh.
URL: https://universeinwords.blogspot.com/2022/03/review-chloe-cates-is-missing-by-mandy.html