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Suddenly I Miss Everyone
Not yet published
Expected 9 Mar 27
She thinks love always leads to heartbreak. He can't stop loving her, even though he's tried.
A forced-proximity, estranged-best-friends-to-love, ghost-hunting road trip romance from the author of Midnights With You.
Tessa’s family moves around a lot, and for years, she pulled out all the stops to stay in touch with her long-distance best friends. But after her dad died, she cut everyone off suddenly. Now she just wants to be left alone—no attachments, no missing anyone, no more chances to get hurt.
Then the summer before senior year arrives, in order to make her long-suffering mom happy, Tessa agrees to go on a road trip through all the towns they used to live in with her meddling older sister, Jenna—who, unbeknownst to their mom, has planned this as a ghost-hunting adventure for her secret YouTube channel. The night before they leave, Jenna sends off a bunch of drafts she found sitting in Tessa's email—messages filled with Tessa’s rawest feelings that she never planned for anyone to read.
Now Tessa has to face all the ex-friends she’d ghosted. And to make matters worse, Justin—Tessa’s longtime crush and the recipient of one of the dreaded emails—will be joining them on the road trip. As the trip unfolds, old memories, unresolved feelings, and unexpected moments bring them closer, pushing Tessa to confront what’s really keeping her from living in the present.
A forced-proximity, estranged-best-friends-to-love, ghost-hunting road trip romance from the author of Midnights With You.
Tessa’s family moves around a lot, and for years, she pulled out all the stops to stay in touch with her long-distance best friends. But after her dad died, she cut everyone off suddenly. Now she just wants to be left alone—no attachments, no missing anyone, no more chances to get hurt.
Then the summer before senior year arrives, in order to make her long-suffering mom happy, Tessa agrees to go on a road trip through all the towns they used to live in with her meddling older sister, Jenna—who, unbeknownst to their mom, has planned this as a ghost-hunting adventure for her secret YouTube channel. The night before they leave, Jenna sends off a bunch of drafts she found sitting in Tessa's email—messages filled with Tessa’s rawest feelings that she never planned for anyone to read.
Now Tessa has to face all the ex-friends she’d ghosted. And to make matters worse, Justin—Tessa’s longtime crush and the recipient of one of the dreaded emails—will be joining them on the road trip. As the trip unfolds, old memories, unresolved feelings, and unexpected moments bring them closer, pushing Tessa to confront what’s really keeping her from living in the present.
- GenresYoung Adult
Hardcover
Expected publication March 9, 2027
About the author
Clare Osongco
3 books179 followersClare Osongco is a mixed Filipino American author living in Los Angeles who likes to write about falling in love, messy family relationships, and ghosts. She is the author of the adult rom com Unfinished Business (Dell) and the young adult romance Midnights With You (Hyperion). You can find her on Instagram at @clareosongco.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I just read a lot of Clare Osongco back to back, and for all the ways that her works play on familiar and soothing genre conventions, I very much admire how she leans into the wacky. This feels particularly true in Unfinished Business and Suddenly I Miss Everyone, both of which happen to be not-scary and very-different-from-each-other ghost stories (I like these wacky ghosts more than the more serious ghosts in Midnights with You). In fact, I sometimes wondered if Osongco could have created a fictional ghost-hunting vlog to accompany this novel since Jenna's adventures seemed so genuinely interesting.
The real focal point of this novel, though, is Tessa. She is what brings together the novel's somewhat unwieldy cast of characters, most of whom are friends. It is a difficult balance to make all these friendships seem meaningful while also zeroing in on Tessa's relationship with Justin (the love interest), but Osongco manages it. And this formal problem of balancing characters maps onto Tessa's own efforts to balance her many friendships through a series of relocations related to her father's job. And, of course, there are also the parental relationships. The easy one is Tessa's father, who has recently passed. He exudes warmth in all of the recollections that people have of him. Tessa's mother is more complicated—she seems strained, yet she's really trying to hold everything and everyone together. This is my favorite mother figure from Osongco's novels.
I do like the trope of the long-abiding romance, which is also a feature of Unfinished Business. However, I have a hard time taking seriously the enduring romantic feelings of middle schoolers. For that reason alone, I found myself occasionally distracted and put off by Tessa and Justin's interactions.
Some YA novels give me food for thought, but this one made me realize: I'm probably not the target audience for this novel. That's ok, I still read it and mostly enjoyed it.
The real focal point of this novel, though, is Tessa. She is what brings together the novel's somewhat unwieldy cast of characters, most of whom are friends. It is a difficult balance to make all these friendships seem meaningful while also zeroing in on Tessa's relationship with Justin (the love interest), but Osongco manages it. And this formal problem of balancing characters maps onto Tessa's own efforts to balance her many friendships through a series of relocations related to her father's job. And, of course, there are also the parental relationships. The easy one is Tessa's father, who has recently passed. He exudes warmth in all of the recollections that people have of him. Tessa's mother is more complicated—she seems strained, yet she's really trying to hold everything and everyone together. This is my favorite mother figure from Osongco's novels.
I do like the trope of the long-abiding romance, which is also a feature of Unfinished Business. However, I have a hard time taking seriously the enduring romantic feelings of middle schoolers. For that reason alone, I found myself occasionally distracted and put off by Tessa and Justin's interactions.
Some YA novels give me food for thought, but this one made me realize: I'm probably not the target audience for this novel. That's ok, I still read it and mostly enjoyed it.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Hey, so this book is just “I hope I never see what your face looks like going / a face, I swear, I could spend my whole life knowing.” It hurts.
It’s I Hope This Doesn’t Find You and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before—but quieter, more melancholic. It’s letters from an avoidant person who has to face personal ghosts while on a ghosthunting trip with her older sister, Jenna, and her longtime crush, Justin.
Tessa’s messy. She pushes then pulls back. She hides underneath all her grief. She keeps everyone at a distance, despite craving friendship and holding them close, hoping she won’t have to let anyone go. She’s ready to leave at any given moment because she knows that, at one point, someone has to leave—and that it’s going to hurt.
We explore grief and vulnerability in this book. It’s not pretty; it’s not aesthetic. It’s awkward and scary. That's just how it is. There’s romance and friendship. But we end on a hopeful note. Nothing’s wrapped up in a box with a pretty bow, but we see, through Tessa’s relationships and growth, glimmers of hope.
Clare Osongco’s books always find me at the right time. I read this while feeling like a floater friend, finding myself missing my own friends when they’re right there, at the tip of my finger, one message away. I grew up feeling like Tessa, that I could shrink and simply vanish among the crowd, and, like Tessa, it still startles me that I am actually perceived by the people around me. To feel so seen by a book is so heartwarming and special.
Five stars, because suddenly, I, too, am missing everyone.
[there was jollibee mention tho YIPPEEEE hahahahha]
It’s I Hope This Doesn’t Find You and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before—but quieter, more melancholic. It’s letters from an avoidant person who has to face personal ghosts while on a ghosthunting trip with her older sister, Jenna, and her longtime crush, Justin.
Tessa’s messy. She pushes then pulls back. She hides underneath all her grief. She keeps everyone at a distance, despite craving friendship and holding them close, hoping she won’t have to let anyone go. She’s ready to leave at any given moment because she knows that, at one point, someone has to leave—and that it’s going to hurt.
We explore grief and vulnerability in this book. It’s not pretty; it’s not aesthetic. It’s awkward and scary. That's just how it is. There’s romance and friendship. But we end on a hopeful note. Nothing’s wrapped up in a box with a pretty bow, but we see, through Tessa’s relationships and growth, glimmers of hope.
Clare Osongco’s books always find me at the right time. I read this while feeling like a floater friend, finding myself missing my own friends when they’re right there, at the tip of my finger, one message away. I grew up feeling like Tessa, that I could shrink and simply vanish among the crowd, and, like Tessa, it still startles me that I am actually perceived by the people around me. To feel so seen by a book is so heartwarming and special.
Five stars, because suddenly, I, too, am missing everyone.
[there was jollibee mention tho YIPPEEEE hahahahha]
August 25, 2026
2.5/5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of Suddenly I Miss Everyone by Clare Osongco in exchange for an honest review.
Overall, this one was just okay for me. I did appreciate the short chapters, which made it a quick and easy read, but I never felt particularly invested in the characters or their friendships.
One of my biggest issues was the central friendship dynamic. The main character essentially ghosts her friends for a year, and when she comes back, everyone seems to pick up where they left off with surprisingly little conflict. There’s suspense built around what happened and why she disappeared, but the actual interactions and fallout didn’t really live up to my expectations. With some of the friendships, I even found myself wondering why these people were friends in the first place because I didn’t feel much of a connection between them.
The storyline surrounding the main character’s dad and his death did have an emotional impact on me because of my own personal experiences, but outside of that, the book didn’t make me feel much of anything.
I do think part of my experience comes down to the intended audience. This is very clearly a YA book written for teenagers, and I’m reading it as an adult. I could see it working better for teen readers who want a story that touches on heavier topics like grief, friendship, and loss without exploring them too deeply or becoming overwhelmingly heavy.
The ending was fine—it was an okay ending to what, for me, was ultimately an okay book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of Suddenly I Miss Everyone by Clare Osongco in exchange for an honest review.
Overall, this one was just okay for me. I did appreciate the short chapters, which made it a quick and easy read, but I never felt particularly invested in the characters or their friendships.
One of my biggest issues was the central friendship dynamic. The main character essentially ghosts her friends for a year, and when she comes back, everyone seems to pick up where they left off with surprisingly little conflict. There’s suspense built around what happened and why she disappeared, but the actual interactions and fallout didn’t really live up to my expectations. With some of the friendships, I even found myself wondering why these people were friends in the first place because I didn’t feel much of a connection between them.
The storyline surrounding the main character’s dad and his death did have an emotional impact on me because of my own personal experiences, but outside of that, the book didn’t make me feel much of anything.
I do think part of my experience comes down to the intended audience. This is very clearly a YA book written for teenagers, and I’m reading it as an adult. I could see it working better for teen readers who want a story that touches on heavier topics like grief, friendship, and loss without exploring them too deeply or becoming overwhelmingly heavy.
The ending was fine—it was an okay ending to what, for me, was ultimately an okay book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Osongco has an unparalleled ability to bring clarity to complex, muddled truths of young adulthood, getting to the heart of emotions you think you're alone in feeling until she comes along and paints them so vividly across the page. Suddenly I Miss Everyone is a beautiful, hopeful reclamation of love after loss. It's the tinge of changing seasons on a breeze; it's looking back and seeing you're not walking alone.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Read it a million times and I still like it! This book is about learning to believe in life again after loss (while ghost hunting). You can expect:
🤍 black cat x golden retriever
🤍 estranged best friends to love
🤍 forced proximity
🤍 road trip adventures
🤍 a wound-tending scene
🤍 found family (and also just family)
Can't wait for you to meet Tessa and Justin <3
🤍 black cat x golden retriever
🤍 estranged best friends to love
🤍 forced proximity
🤍 road trip adventures
🤍 a wound-tending scene
🤍 found family (and also just family)
Can't wait for you to meet Tessa and Justin <3
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I really enjoyed the beginning and end of this story. I didn’t dislike the middle, it was just too much of the same thing. I’d see a glimmer of hope, then right back to the self suffering. It could just be me. I know a former student to whom I will recommend this book.
Review of advance copy received from Author
clare oscongo is a star, ever book she writes makes its way deep into my heart, and just like the other two, suddenly i miss everyone, is now something i will cherish forever. thank you for the e-arc, i love you forever.
review to come, closer to the release date.
review to come, closer to the release date.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This was such a great exploration of grief, and the challenges, heartbreak, and joy of opening yourself up to friendship. The ghost hunting side quests were exciting.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
5 FIVE STARS ALL AROUND. Clare Osongco is a genius.
(full review to come)
(full review to come)
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews