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Throwaway Girls
Caroline Lawson is three months away from freedom, otherwise known as graduation day. That's when she'll finally escape her rigid prep school and the parents who thought they could convert her to being straight.
Until then, Caroline is keeping her head down, pretending to be the perfect student even though she is crushed by her family and heartbroken over the girlfriend who left for California.
But when her best friend Madison disappears, Caroline feels compelled to get involved in the investigation. She has her own reasons not to trust the police, and she owes Madison — big time.
Suddenly Caroline realizes how little she knew of what her friend was up to. Caroline has some uncomfortable secrets about the hours before Madison disappeared, but they're nothing compared to the secrets Madison has been hiding. And why does Mr. McCormack, their teacher, seem to know so much about them?
It's only when Caroline discovers other missing girls that she begins to close in on the truth. Unlike Madison, the other girls are from the wrong side of the tracks. Unlike Madison's, their disappearances haven't received much attention. Caroline is determined to find out what happened to them and why no one seems to notice. But as every new discovery leads Caroline closer to the connection between these girls and Madison, she faces an unsettling truth.
There's only one common denominator between the disappearances: Caroline herself.
Until then, Caroline is keeping her head down, pretending to be the perfect student even though she is crushed by her family and heartbroken over the girlfriend who left for California.
But when her best friend Madison disappears, Caroline feels compelled to get involved in the investigation. She has her own reasons not to trust the police, and she owes Madison — big time.
Suddenly Caroline realizes how little she knew of what her friend was up to. Caroline has some uncomfortable secrets about the hours before Madison disappeared, but they're nothing compared to the secrets Madison has been hiding. And why does Mr. McCormack, their teacher, seem to know so much about them?
It's only when Caroline discovers other missing girls that she begins to close in on the truth. Unlike Madison, the other girls are from the wrong side of the tracks. Unlike Madison's, their disappearances haven't received much attention. Caroline is determined to find out what happened to them and why no one seems to notice. But as every new discovery leads Caroline closer to the connection between these girls and Madison, she faces an unsettling truth.
There's only one common denominator between the disappearances: Caroline herself.
392 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2020
58 people are currently reading
8237 people want to read
About the author
Andrea Contos
4 books159 followersAndrea Contos is an award-winning writer of young adult mysteries and thrillers. She is the author of OUT OF THE FIRE (Scholastic, 10/19/21) and TELL ME NO LIES (Scholastic 2022.)
Her debut, THROWAWAY GIRLS, was named Best Young Adult Novel by International Thriller Writers (ITW) for 2021, and was also a Kirkus Best Book of 2020.
Andrea is a Pitch Wars 2018-2020 Mentor, a 2017 Mentee, and a member of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Andrea is represented by Chelsea Eberly of The Greenhouse Literary Agency.
Her debut, THROWAWAY GIRLS, was named Best Young Adult Novel by International Thriller Writers (ITW) for 2021, and was also a Kirkus Best Book of 2020.
Andrea is a Pitch Wars 2018-2020 Mentor, a 2017 Mentee, and a member of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Andrea is represented by Chelsea Eberly of The Greenhouse Literary Agency.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 312 reviews
August 12, 2020
This is surprisingly intriguing, promising YA Debut thriller.
In the beginning it started a little slow and I had second thoughts if I should skip it or keep on reading. I’m happy to decide resuming my reading because the mystery part of the story hooked me.
I kept guessing and changing my mind about whodunit.
We also have likable heroine Caroline trying to find herself in high school jungle, counting the days till the graduation ( only three months left to keep her head high and getting out of trouble) But graduating and earning her freedom got more complicated because her friends Madison is missing and she already owed her too much. She gotta find her which forces her to wear Nancy Drew’s shoes and conducting her own investigation. And her suspect list is growing bigger at each day including their teacher Mr. McCormack.
Things I liked: Caroline’s loyalty, determination to find her friend, even though she is not ideal heroine everybody adores; she has her own flaws, secrets and she keeps lying to protect herself. The mystery and the hinted romance parts were also quiet lovable qualities of the story.
But at some parts, writing was a little bumpy, sometimes I question whose narration I was reading but conclusion of the story is well-developed so I didn’t have a problem if a book ends without making me irritated and having more questions than I started my read. I got my answers and satisfied.
I’m rounding up 3.5 stars. It was great beginning for the debut author and I loved to read more of her works.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Kids Can Press /KCP Loft for sharing this ARC copy with me in exchange my honest review.
In the beginning it started a little slow and I had second thoughts if I should skip it or keep on reading. I’m happy to decide resuming my reading because the mystery part of the story hooked me.
I kept guessing and changing my mind about whodunit.
We also have likable heroine Caroline trying to find herself in high school jungle, counting the days till the graduation ( only three months left to keep her head high and getting out of trouble) But graduating and earning her freedom got more complicated because her friends Madison is missing and she already owed her too much. She gotta find her which forces her to wear Nancy Drew’s shoes and conducting her own investigation. And her suspect list is growing bigger at each day including their teacher Mr. McCormack.
Things I liked: Caroline’s loyalty, determination to find her friend, even though she is not ideal heroine everybody adores; she has her own flaws, secrets and she keeps lying to protect herself. The mystery and the hinted romance parts were also quiet lovable qualities of the story.
But at some parts, writing was a little bumpy, sometimes I question whose narration I was reading but conclusion of the story is well-developed so I didn’t have a problem if a book ends without making me irritated and having more questions than I started my read. I got my answers and satisfied.
I’m rounding up 3.5 stars. It was great beginning for the debut author and I loved to read more of her works.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Kids Can Press /KCP Loft for sharing this ARC copy with me in exchange my honest review.
May 18, 2020
Throwaway Girls, a mystery/thriller was a 3.5 star read.
The book centers around main character Caroline-a high school senior at a wealthy prep school, whose best friend Madison goes missing without a trace. While the police and the community try to find Madison, Caroline makes it her mission to find her best friend, even at the extent of jeopardizing her graduation that’s only a few months away. While searching desperately for Madison, Caroline discovers the “Throwaway Girls”- other missing girls who don’t get to grace the news or missing posters signs due to low social and economic statuses. These are the girls that are ignored and will most likely never be found.
Throwaway Girls is a well-written book that has a lot going on. The beginning is a little slow but it greatly picks up at the end and I loved the ending-it definitely surprised me. Recommended to fans of mystery/thriller books. Thank you NetGalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
The book centers around main character Caroline-a high school senior at a wealthy prep school, whose best friend Madison goes missing without a trace. While the police and the community try to find Madison, Caroline makes it her mission to find her best friend, even at the extent of jeopardizing her graduation that’s only a few months away. While searching desperately for Madison, Caroline discovers the “Throwaway Girls”- other missing girls who don’t get to grace the news or missing posters signs due to low social and economic statuses. These are the girls that are ignored and will most likely never be found.
Throwaway Girls is a well-written book that has a lot going on. The beginning is a little slow but it greatly picks up at the end and I loved the ending-it definitely surprised me. Recommended to fans of mystery/thriller books. Thank you NetGalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
July 10, 2020
ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley. I would like to thank them and say I'm sorry I didn't like the book as much as I thought I would.
"We creep through the passage of time so we can take in the details, constructing the size of our stage, our main characters, our antagonist. By the time we assume our role, the lights are down, the curtain set to be drawn. Once we’re in the play, it’s too late to change the stage."
Throwaway Girls is a novel written by a talented writer. Every sentance was smooth, every emotion palpable, every scenery vivid.
But even though I appreciated the writing style in the beginning, I soon got tiered of it.
It just didn't work for me. I wouldn't necessarily call it pretentious, but it was definitely too much.
Let's not forget this is a mystery novel. Something that's supposed to keep me at the edge of my seat, flying through pages, while my brain is having a meltdown trying to put pieces together.
What I got insted was a story filled with lines like these:
"Thankfully his long strides get him to my table quickly, and the wind draws a burst of mountain-fresh fabric softener and starch from his shirt as he hoists the other chair and sticks it next to mine."
And that's only one example. Believe me, I could find a quote like this one on every page.
Sometimes less is more. Sometimes we don't need to know what characters smell like, we simply want to find out what happens to them. And in majority of this book, nothing happens.
Because while author was making sure to write beautiful prose, she forgot to actually tell the story in an interesting way.
Now, I would've been ready to ignore everything I just wrote and rate it higher, if only the ending blew me away.
Unfortunately, just like the rest of the book, it was underwhelming (I figured it out) and it didn't make me feel anything.
"We creep through the passage of time so we can take in the details, constructing the size of our stage, our main characters, our antagonist. By the time we assume our role, the lights are down, the curtain set to be drawn. Once we’re in the play, it’s too late to change the stage."
Throwaway Girls is a novel written by a talented writer. Every sentance was smooth, every emotion palpable, every scenery vivid.
But even though I appreciated the writing style in the beginning, I soon got tiered of it.
It just didn't work for me. I wouldn't necessarily call it pretentious, but it was definitely too much.
Let's not forget this is a mystery novel. Something that's supposed to keep me at the edge of my seat, flying through pages, while my brain is having a meltdown trying to put pieces together.
What I got insted was a story filled with lines like these:
"Thankfully his long strides get him to my table quickly, and the wind draws a burst of mountain-fresh fabric softener and starch from his shirt as he hoists the other chair and sticks it next to mine."
And that's only one example. Believe me, I could find a quote like this one on every page.
Sometimes less is more. Sometimes we don't need to know what characters smell like, we simply want to find out what happens to them. And in majority of this book, nothing happens.
Because while author was making sure to write beautiful prose, she forgot to actually tell the story in an interesting way.
Now, I would've been ready to ignore everything I just wrote and rate it higher, if only the ending blew me away.
Unfortunately, just like the rest of the book, it was underwhelming (I figured it out) and it didn't make me feel anything.
August 29, 2020
I enjoyed this one a lot. It was well written. The characters were interesting. The mystery kept me hooked and guessing right until the end. There were a couple things that I felt could have been executed better as I found parts to be confusing, but overall it was a really enjoyable read.
August 13, 2020
*Many thanks to Edelweiss, Kids Can Press, and Andrea Contos for a DRC in exchange for an honest review!*
Throwaway Girls initially caught my eye with its bright, striking cover and the promise of a fast-paced YA mystery. Caroline's best friend Madison is missing, but she feels the cops are not doing enough. Amidst this troubling situation, she is also dealing with a strained relationship with her parents after being forced into conversion therapy and is also recovering from the heartbreak of her girlfriend leaving for LA. When Caroline learns Madison is not the first girl to have mysteriously disappeared, she leans on her best friends Jake and Aubrey to help her uncover the truth. As the mystery begins to spin and unravel around her, Caroline finds herself as its focal point: has her connection to these missing girls condemned her to a similar fate?
I have such mixed feelings about this book, because while I enjoyed the premise, I felt the structure was a bit off and slowed down the narrative for me. There were so many characters, some of whom barely mattered to the plot, but would get mentioned just often enough that I would be flipping back and forth trying to remember how they fit into the story. Two of the characters also have aliases in the book, which is even more confusing. There is a lot of jumping around in terms of timeline, and also a 'mystery' narrator just to muddle things a bit more. I think a clear division between past and present, maybe even through diary entries from Caroline or a similar device, would have been really helpful in terms of dramatic impact and showing the now vs. then in her story.
I really enjoyed Caroline as a character and felt so sorry for the way she had been treated by her family and community, but I think there was also a lot of heavy emphasis on her interactions with many potential suitors (both male and female) which felt a little bit unrealistic to me, given the circumstances. The entire group of Caroline's friends also seemed much older than the ages they were supposed to be, and I kept visualizing them as being in their 20s rather than teenagers. I appreciated that Contos integrated discussions about class and sexuality into her narrative, but I think it would have been more interesting to delve deeper into these issues from Caroline's perspective rather than treating this as a missing persons mystery. The culprit was pretty evident early on, so to me, I would have enjoyed less focus on that aspect of the story and more on the girls themselves.
Though this book wasn't what I expected, it was an interesting debut from Contos and I look forward to seeing what themes she chooses to explore in future books. Would recommend to those interested in a mystery that explores what it means to be a forgotten young woman and how an indomitable spirit can always win the day.
Throwaway Girls initially caught my eye with its bright, striking cover and the promise of a fast-paced YA mystery. Caroline's best friend Madison is missing, but she feels the cops are not doing enough. Amidst this troubling situation, she is also dealing with a strained relationship with her parents after being forced into conversion therapy and is also recovering from the heartbreak of her girlfriend leaving for LA. When Caroline learns Madison is not the first girl to have mysteriously disappeared, she leans on her best friends Jake and Aubrey to help her uncover the truth. As the mystery begins to spin and unravel around her, Caroline finds herself as its focal point: has her connection to these missing girls condemned her to a similar fate?
I have such mixed feelings about this book, because while I enjoyed the premise, I felt the structure was a bit off and slowed down the narrative for me. There were so many characters, some of whom barely mattered to the plot, but would get mentioned just often enough that I would be flipping back and forth trying to remember how they fit into the story. Two of the characters also have aliases in the book, which is even more confusing. There is a lot of jumping around in terms of timeline, and also a 'mystery' narrator just to muddle things a bit more. I think a clear division between past and present, maybe even through diary entries from Caroline or a similar device, would have been really helpful in terms of dramatic impact and showing the now vs. then in her story.
I really enjoyed Caroline as a character and felt so sorry for the way she had been treated by her family and community, but I think there was also a lot of heavy emphasis on her interactions with many potential suitors (both male and female) which felt a little bit unrealistic to me, given the circumstances. The entire group of Caroline's friends also seemed much older than the ages they were supposed to be, and I kept visualizing them as being in their 20s rather than teenagers. I appreciated that Contos integrated discussions about class and sexuality into her narrative, but I think it would have been more interesting to delve deeper into these issues from Caroline's perspective rather than treating this as a missing persons mystery. The culprit was pretty evident early on, so to me, I would have enjoyed less focus on that aspect of the story and more on the girls themselves.
Though this book wasn't what I expected, it was an interesting debut from Contos and I look forward to seeing what themes she chooses to explore in future books. Would recommend to those interested in a mystery that explores what it means to be a forgotten young woman and how an indomitable spirit can always win the day.
September 2, 2020
***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of THROWAWAY GIRLS by Andrea Contos in exchange for my honest review.***
5 EXPLODING STARS
Warning: this review contains a high degree of gushing
THROWAWAY GIRLS was near the top of my 2020 release list so I felt like I won the ARC lottery with the opportunity to review. As far as debuts go, Andrea Contos set the bar extremely high for subsequent works. Her gorgeous writing caused me to frequently pause to take in the beauty of her word building; her phrasing, through Caroline’s voice, often so profound that I exhaled breaths I didn’t realize I was holding.
Caroline personified badass. Additionally she often acted both bad and like an ass, but her genuine passion had me rooting for her success. Often myopic in pursuit of her goal, to find her missing BFF, Caroline stepped on toes, treated friends insensitively and manipulated the truth for the greater good. She’s also reeling from a recent breakup with Willa, who’s moved to California without her.
Beneath the story of Madison’s disappearance, Caroline learns others teens have gone missing, not wealthy, privileged, white girls like her best friend, but THROWAWAY GIRLS, girls whose faces never graced missing posters, girls without loving families to fight for their returns, girls assumed to be runaways, girls who Caroline believes may be victims of a serial killer.
The subplot of Caroline’s ex girlfriend distracts her from seeing that both the boy and the girl helping her amateur investigation may have crushes on her. Caroline needs to find Madison, the worry about Willa and her move across country.
THROWAWAY GIRLS is a must read for anyone who appreciates writing as spine-tingling in beauty and context, mystery/thriller lovers, LGBT heroes, strong narrators and great writing.
5 EXPLODING STARS
Warning: this review contains a high degree of gushing
THROWAWAY GIRLS was near the top of my 2020 release list so I felt like I won the ARC lottery with the opportunity to review. As far as debuts go, Andrea Contos set the bar extremely high for subsequent works. Her gorgeous writing caused me to frequently pause to take in the beauty of her word building; her phrasing, through Caroline’s voice, often so profound that I exhaled breaths I didn’t realize I was holding.
Caroline personified badass. Additionally she often acted both bad and like an ass, but her genuine passion had me rooting for her success. Often myopic in pursuit of her goal, to find her missing BFF, Caroline stepped on toes, treated friends insensitively and manipulated the truth for the greater good. She’s also reeling from a recent breakup with Willa, who’s moved to California without her.
Beneath the story of Madison’s disappearance, Caroline learns others teens have gone missing, not wealthy, privileged, white girls like her best friend, but THROWAWAY GIRLS, girls whose faces never graced missing posters, girls without loving families to fight for their returns, girls assumed to be runaways, girls who Caroline believes may be victims of a serial killer.
The subplot of Caroline’s ex girlfriend distracts her from seeing that both the boy and the girl helping her amateur investigation may have crushes on her. Caroline needs to find Madison, the worry about Willa and her move across country.
THROWAWAY GIRLS is a must read for anyone who appreciates writing as spine-tingling in beauty and context, mystery/thriller lovers, LGBT heroes, strong narrators and great writing.
August 24, 2018
I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH! Seriously, such an important, unflinching story about the way society places value on girls they consider ‘worth looking for’. I love Caroline for her fierceness and her heart. This one hit so close to home for me, and will for any girl who has ever been made to feel ‘expendable’. This book will make you cry, but it will also give hope and a voice to girls like me, girls who were considered a lost cause. The class structures in this were handled beautifully, and it’s one of the rare ones where I said ‘this author gets it’. What it feels like to grow up poor and what it feels like to be seen and loved for who you are, not where you come from. This one will make you think and it will sit with you long after the last page. Highly, highly recommend.
August 14, 2020
On my blog.
Rep: bi mc with anxiety, wlw mc, side character with depression, Indian American side character
CWs: mentions of conversion therapy (brief descriptions, not graphic), discussions of statutory rape, implied suicidal thoughts
Galley provided by publisher
Throwaway Girls is a book that, the more I’ve thought about it since finishing, the more I am absolutely certain I hated the main character. Okay, so maybe hate is a strong word. More like, was full of frustration over her.
The story follows Caroline who, following the disappearance of her best friend, starts to investigate and finds out she didn’t really know Madison at all. Meanwhile, she is dealing with a homophobic family and a girlfriend who dumped her.
I did like this book, despite what this review will probably end up sounding like. It was an atmospheric and enjoyable mystery. Yes I figured out who did it fairly easily, but I had fun reading it along the way.
Except for Caroline.
Now, yes, she is traumatised and pretty beaten down by her parents, who sent her to conversion therapy, and her breakup. But. There’s only so much you can assign to that, behaviour-wise I feel. And it’s definitely not an excuse. Because Caroline throughout is pretty damn self-centered and almost selfish at points.
I get that some of this is a protection mechanism, after being so betrayed by her parents. I do. But it doesn’t necessarily endear her character to me overly. I read on, though, hoping that it might change.
Not so. If she wasn’t banging on at Jake about not recognising his privilege or looking down on people (while she did exactly the same thing), then she was moping about the breakup (which ). I just felt there was a general sense of self-absorbed self-righteousness about her, which meant I really struggled to like her at all.
In addition to that – and I don’t know if the formatting of the ARC file played a role in this – I sometimes found it hard to follow where the story was going. Like, events happened but they didn’t seem to follow a logical progression? Part of that might have been because it was a sort of non-linear narrative. A second character’s POV (which I took shamefully long to work out was a different narrator to Caroline) was set further back in the past than Caroline’s, and they were, sometimes, barely distinguishable.
And then we come to the culprit. I mentioned before I clocked who it was well before that was actually revealed, but on top of that. There is no motive. Unless it was supposed to be “he was a psychopath and got pleasure out of killing”. But that’s a pretty weak motive, if we’re supposed to believe Caroline is the one linking everything together. So really, what started off as a mystery with a lot of potential, ends up being fairly weak sauce.
At least it wasn’t another of those books where I couldn’t get past the fact that this was happening to characters who were only sixteen.
Rep: bi mc with anxiety, wlw mc, side character with depression, Indian American side character
CWs: mentions of conversion therapy (brief descriptions, not graphic), discussions of statutory rape, implied suicidal thoughts
Galley provided by publisher
Throwaway Girls is a book that, the more I’ve thought about it since finishing, the more I am absolutely certain I hated the main character. Okay, so maybe hate is a strong word. More like, was full of frustration over her.
The story follows Caroline who, following the disappearance of her best friend, starts to investigate and finds out she didn’t really know Madison at all. Meanwhile, she is dealing with a homophobic family and a girlfriend who dumped her.
I did like this book, despite what this review will probably end up sounding like. It was an atmospheric and enjoyable mystery. Yes I figured out who did it fairly easily, but I had fun reading it along the way.
Except for Caroline.
Now, yes, she is traumatised and pretty beaten down by her parents, who sent her to conversion therapy, and her breakup. But. There’s only so much you can assign to that, behaviour-wise I feel. And it’s definitely not an excuse. Because Caroline throughout is pretty damn self-centered and almost selfish at points.
I get that some of this is a protection mechanism, after being so betrayed by her parents. I do. But it doesn’t necessarily endear her character to me overly. I read on, though, hoping that it might change.
Not so. If she wasn’t banging on at Jake about not recognising his privilege or looking down on people (while she did exactly the same thing), then she was moping about the breakup (which ). I just felt there was a general sense of self-absorbed self-righteousness about her, which meant I really struggled to like her at all.
In addition to that – and I don’t know if the formatting of the ARC file played a role in this – I sometimes found it hard to follow where the story was going. Like, events happened but they didn’t seem to follow a logical progression? Part of that might have been because it was a sort of non-linear narrative. A second character’s POV (which I took shamefully long to work out was a different narrator to Caroline) was set further back in the past than Caroline’s, and they were, sometimes, barely distinguishable.
And then we come to the culprit. I mentioned before I clocked who it was well before that was actually revealed, but on top of that. There is no motive. Unless it was supposed to be “he was a psychopath and got pleasure out of killing”. But that’s a pretty weak motive, if we’re supposed to believe Caroline is the one linking everything together. So really, what started off as a mystery with a lot of potential, ends up being fairly weak sauce.
At least it wasn’t another of those books where I couldn’t get past the fact that this was happening to characters who were only sixteen.
May 5, 2020
I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Throwaway Girls was good book, don't get me wrong. It just sucks that the first half of the book bore me to pieces. It just took way too long for things to get me interested which just disappoints me to no end. When I got the email that I was approved for this ARC I was so freaking excited.
First off, I love mysteries and it has been a while since I dove into a good one. Second, after meeting Caroline, I fell in love with her character. She was just a very realistic teenager in this book with every day real world problems. Well, other than the fact that's she kind of like Nancy Drew and solving the disappearance of her friend.
I loved getting to see the little glimpses of romance throughout this book. Especially when it came to Caroline's POV. However, I will admit that I was sometimes confuse as to who's pov I was reading. Caroline or Willa's. It took me a page, or two, to figure it out but it would've been a lot easier to let me know at the beginning of the chapter - ya know?
Other than that, the mystery kept me on my toes. I honestly had no idea who was behind it all and when it was all revealed.. my mind was blown. Long story short, Caroline might've been self-absorbed but she definitely deserves better friends. Stick with Aubrey kid.
Throwaway Girls was good book, don't get me wrong. It just sucks that the first half of the book bore me to pieces. It just took way too long for things to get me interested which just disappoints me to no end. When I got the email that I was approved for this ARC I was so freaking excited.
First off, I love mysteries and it has been a while since I dove into a good one. Second, after meeting Caroline, I fell in love with her character. She was just a very realistic teenager in this book with every day real world problems. Well, other than the fact that's she kind of like Nancy Drew and solving the disappearance of her friend.
I loved getting to see the little glimpses of romance throughout this book. Especially when it came to Caroline's POV. However, I will admit that I was sometimes confuse as to who's pov I was reading. Caroline or Willa's. It took me a page, or two, to figure it out but it would've been a lot easier to let me know at the beginning of the chapter - ya know?
Other than that, the mystery kept me on my toes. I honestly had no idea who was behind it all and when it was all revealed.. my mind was blown. Long story short, Caroline might've been self-absorbed but she definitely deserves better friends. Stick with Aubrey kid.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2018
Twisty, heartbreaking and beautiful. The queer girl, prep school mystery I had been waiting for. I loved it so so much!
September 1, 2020
You ever get all the way into something, loving the message and having an overall good time, but then yo9u get to the end and it leaves you feeling like that one gif of Tyra Banks screaming "We were all rooting for you"?
That is this. (also how did Tyra Banks get away with that show honestly)
This book follows Caroline in the days after her best friend Madison goes missing. For reasons that are spoilery, she is convinced that she is the only one that can save Madison. Basically this is the classic YA mystery "the cops are looking in the totally wrong place and it's up to us to solve the mystery!!", except not that well done. I am not convinced that Caroline really thinks that, but we'll get to that. She is accompanied in her quest by her friends Jake and Aubrey, who are entirely the best part of this book. Along the way, our heroes discover that Madison is not the only missing girl in the area; she's just the only one with affluent, powerful parents. Caroline decides then that she should also find these other girls, because she thinks it will lead to Madison. Caroline is also grieving the end of her first relationship, the departure of her first true love. Her ex-girlfriend Willa moved to California and Caroline is not handling it well.
We get Caroline's POV, but we also intermittently get an unnamed POV. This POV is also who starts our book, and it was really hard to differentiate the two for a long time. I spent so much time trying to figure out who that second narrator was that I didn't really pay that much attention to the actual mystery for the first third of the book. It's an interesting idea and an interesting reveal at the end, but I personally don't think it's worth the confusion your reader has to get past to actually read the rest.
Now as for our characters:
Caroline sucks. Like so much. She is bisexual and it's a really big part of the way she interacts with people because (), so she's a little bit closed off and indifferent to most people who aren't Madison. It turns out she is also indifferent to Madison but that's a tangent for later. This is not why Caroline sucks. Caroline sucks because she is so selfish the entire book and cruel at the end. She doesn't really have that much regard for others feelings, and while she obviously really cares about Madison in the beginning, as the book progresses her motivation becomes really skewed. She's still presented as a crusader of justice and a great friend, but in reality it's clear that she's only doing all this to alleviate her own guilt. This book is incredibly repetitive about the fact that this whole thing is Caroline's responsibility, but all this accomplishes is undermining the relationship these two girls are supposed to have because it paints the whole story out to be about making Caroline feel better about being a shitty person. I can accept a selfish character if they grow and become a better person. Caroline becomes worse.
Jake and Aubrey were both loveable sweethearts and this book would've been better if it was just the two of them. They both deserved way better than Caroline. They agree to help Caroline with so much shit that they shouldn't have to do, while protecting her and making sure she knows they care. Caroline reciprocates none of this.
I will now stop ranting about how much Caroline annoys me and explain why the ending bothers me so much. First though, I'd like to say that if not for the ending, I would've really, really enjoyed this book. It was going great up until the end. This book has a great core message: No girl is worth more than another, regardless of economic status or skin colour. This is obviously a really real and big problem in the justice system right now. Contos perfectly captures the cop's disinterest in girls that are from the "wrong side of the tracks". It's really plausible that all these girls would be labelled as runaways, and it's exactly what would happen in the real world. Caroline talks a lot about the "St.Francis tight rope", this bubble of privilege and ignorance that most people middle class and higher live in, and especially the characters in this book who are far more well-off than middle class. They can't see how bad the world is below them, what people have to do for survival. This is a really well-done aspect of this book.
But in all it's moral high ground, it falls into two major pitfalls. The first, the thing that makes Caroline a genuinely cruel person in my opinion, is how Madison is treated at the end of the book. (). You can't spend over 300 pages talking about how every single girl is just as important as the next to have your story and your character basically almost outright say that the rich girl's life is worth less because she's not as "imperfectly perfect" and hasn't suffered as much as the other girls. . If your moral high ground doesn't include ALL victims, you're on a false pedestal.
Also this is the scene where Caroline turns from unlikeable into straight-up gross:
So anyway, Fuck Caroline.
It's hard to love the message of this book, so true and well-put, when it's ruined in the end. Yes, there is a serious problem of "throwaway girls", girls the police don't look for because they come from bad circumstances and are therefore deemed less worthy in the grand scheme of things. This is a serious and genuine problem, and it's really disgusting and should be discussed more. But that doesn't make the rich white girls who are abused and assaulted less of victims. . The way the story treats Madison once some major reveals are made is really just an undercurrent of victim blaming, and it's gross. You can't somehow assign blame to anyone but the psychotic serial killer. It's not anyone else's fault but theirs.
Now for the less ranty portion of our program.
This book was really intriguing and well-paced. It had lots of interesting plot points and really kept me reading. I've seen some people comment on the "flowery" writing, but I honestly enjoyed the juxtaposition of the thriller genre with the more intricate writing. There are a lot of funny moments and good dialogue. It really portrays high-schoolers well, and I enjoyed the banter. Seriously, for such a heavy book, a lot of it was a lot of fun. I was truly enjoying myself a lot until the end. Caroline at the beginning had a lot of righteous anger for ALL throwaway girls, and it's something that I really enjoyed.
Which brings us to the second major pitfall. This book starts really stable, but it slowly devolves into only being centred on the romance aspect. The thriller, the mystery, the core message, it all goes down to the romance. Nothing else has any meaning anymore because we're so focused on shoving the romance into every aspect of the book. At the beginning when it was less about Willa and more about a righteous search for throwaway girls who deserved someone to look for them? I loved that shit. That was it. And you can add a romance to it without it taking over the whole plot. People do it all the time. But this felt less like we cared about those throwaway girls at all, or even Madison even though her disappearance started the whole thing, and more like I was reading a romance novel with a really concerning background plot. I did not like it.
Overall this book started off really strong, and I'm very disappointed that the ending came in as such a bummer. I wanted to love this, and for the first like 20 chapters I was sure I was going to, but now I'm just disappointed and a little ragey.
I was provided an Arc by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts are my own. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the Arc
That is this. (also how did Tyra Banks get away with that show honestly)
This book follows Caroline in the days after her best friend Madison goes missing. For reasons that are spoilery, she is convinced that she is the only one that can save Madison. Basically this is the classic YA mystery "the cops are looking in the totally wrong place and it's up to us to solve the mystery!!", except not that well done. I am not convinced that Caroline really thinks that, but we'll get to that. She is accompanied in her quest by her friends Jake and Aubrey, who are entirely the best part of this book. Along the way, our heroes discover that Madison is not the only missing girl in the area; she's just the only one with affluent, powerful parents. Caroline decides then that she should also find these other girls, because she thinks it will lead to Madison. Caroline is also grieving the end of her first relationship, the departure of her first true love. Her ex-girlfriend Willa moved to California and Caroline is not handling it well.
We get Caroline's POV, but we also intermittently get an unnamed POV. This POV is also who starts our book, and it was really hard to differentiate the two for a long time. I spent so much time trying to figure out who that second narrator was that I didn't really pay that much attention to the actual mystery for the first third of the book. It's an interesting idea and an interesting reveal at the end, but I personally don't think it's worth the confusion your reader has to get past to actually read the rest.
Now as for our characters:
Caroline sucks. Like so much. She is bisexual and it's a really big part of the way she interacts with people because (), so she's a little bit closed off and indifferent to most people who aren't Madison. It turns out she is also indifferent to Madison but that's a tangent for later. This is not why Caroline sucks. Caroline sucks because she is so selfish the entire book and cruel at the end. She doesn't really have that much regard for others feelings, and while she obviously really cares about Madison in the beginning, as the book progresses her motivation becomes really skewed. She's still presented as a crusader of justice and a great friend, but in reality it's clear that she's only doing all this to alleviate her own guilt. This book is incredibly repetitive about the fact that this whole thing is Caroline's responsibility, but all this accomplishes is undermining the relationship these two girls are supposed to have because it paints the whole story out to be about making Caroline feel better about being a shitty person. I can accept a selfish character if they grow and become a better person. Caroline becomes worse.
Jake and Aubrey were both loveable sweethearts and this book would've been better if it was just the two of them. They both deserved way better than Caroline. They agree to help Caroline with so much shit that they shouldn't have to do, while protecting her and making sure she knows they care. Caroline reciprocates none of this.
I will now stop ranting about how much Caroline annoys me and explain why the ending bothers me so much. First though, I'd like to say that if not for the ending, I would've really, really enjoyed this book. It was going great up until the end. This book has a great core message: No girl is worth more than another, regardless of economic status or skin colour. This is obviously a really real and big problem in the justice system right now. Contos perfectly captures the cop's disinterest in girls that are from the "wrong side of the tracks". It's really plausible that all these girls would be labelled as runaways, and it's exactly what would happen in the real world. Caroline talks a lot about the "St.Francis tight rope", this bubble of privilege and ignorance that most people middle class and higher live in, and especially the characters in this book who are far more well-off than middle class. They can't see how bad the world is below them, what people have to do for survival. This is a really well-done aspect of this book.
But in all it's moral high ground, it falls into two major pitfalls. The first, the thing that makes Caroline a genuinely cruel person in my opinion, is how Madison is treated at the end of the book. (). You can't spend over 300 pages talking about how every single girl is just as important as the next to have your story and your character basically almost outright say that the rich girl's life is worth less because she's not as "imperfectly perfect" and hasn't suffered as much as the other girls. . If your moral high ground doesn't include ALL victims, you're on a false pedestal.
Also this is the scene where Caroline turns from unlikeable into straight-up gross:
So anyway, Fuck Caroline.
It's hard to love the message of this book, so true and well-put, when it's ruined in the end. Yes, there is a serious problem of "throwaway girls", girls the police don't look for because they come from bad circumstances and are therefore deemed less worthy in the grand scheme of things. This is a serious and genuine problem, and it's really disgusting and should be discussed more. But that doesn't make the rich white girls who are abused and assaulted less of victims. . The way the story treats Madison once some major reveals are made is really just an undercurrent of victim blaming, and it's gross. You can't somehow assign blame to anyone but the psychotic serial killer. It's not anyone else's fault but theirs.
Now for the less ranty portion of our program.
This book was really intriguing and well-paced. It had lots of interesting plot points and really kept me reading. I've seen some people comment on the "flowery" writing, but I honestly enjoyed the juxtaposition of the thriller genre with the more intricate writing. There are a lot of funny moments and good dialogue. It really portrays high-schoolers well, and I enjoyed the banter. Seriously, for such a heavy book, a lot of it was a lot of fun. I was truly enjoying myself a lot until the end. Caroline at the beginning had a lot of righteous anger for ALL throwaway girls, and it's something that I really enjoyed.
Which brings us to the second major pitfall. This book starts really stable, but it slowly devolves into only being centred on the romance aspect. The thriller, the mystery, the core message, it all goes down to the romance. Nothing else has any meaning anymore because we're so focused on shoving the romance into every aspect of the book. At the beginning when it was less about Willa and more about a righteous search for throwaway girls who deserved someone to look for them? I loved that shit. That was it. And you can add a romance to it without it taking over the whole plot. People do it all the time. But this felt less like we cared about those throwaway girls at all, or even Madison even though her disappearance started the whole thing, and more like I was reading a romance novel with a really concerning background plot. I did not like it.
Overall this book started off really strong, and I'm very disappointed that the ending came in as such a bummer. I wanted to love this, and for the first like 20 chapters I was sure I was going to, but now I'm just disappointed and a little ragey.
I was provided an Arc by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts are my own. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the Arc
September 8, 2020
This book was a real rollercoaster of a read: I was intrigued by the beginning, felt the middle dragged, and then I was completely on board again by the end. This is, unsurprisingly, a dark book. It begins with the lines “Everything started with the body at the edge of the lake. I know that now.” On top of Caroline’s abusive family, there’s another unnamed narrator who has gone through her own horrors: she’s living in poverty, and has seen two of her mother’s boyfriends overdose. (Unlike Caroline, who goes to a prestigious private school.)
I recommended this book on All the Books, where I have recently become a cohost. I read a few reviews in preparation, and I found out that a lot of readers didn’t like the main character. They felt she was mean, and “unlikable.” Personally, when I hear someone say a book has an “unlikable” female main character, I head straight for it. Usually, it just means they’re flawed. In Caroline’s case, I think it’s because she’s angry, and rightfully so. Do I agree with all her decisions? No, but I understand them, and I can even respect them. She is a survivor. She hasn’t had a safe environment to grow up in. So she’s always got an exit plan, and she’s not afraid of using it, even if it’s “mean.”
For me, the ending made me glad I stuck with it, though I can also understand why it lost some people. If you’re interested in reading about an angry, flawed character who finds herself discovering a system that considers poor and racialized victims “throwaway girls,” check this one out.
Full review at the Lesbrary.
I recommended this book on All the Books, where I have recently become a cohost. I read a few reviews in preparation, and I found out that a lot of readers didn’t like the main character. They felt she was mean, and “unlikable.” Personally, when I hear someone say a book has an “unlikable” female main character, I head straight for it. Usually, it just means they’re flawed. In Caroline’s case, I think it’s because she’s angry, and rightfully so. Do I agree with all her decisions? No, but I understand them, and I can even respect them. She is a survivor. She hasn’t had a safe environment to grow up in. So she’s always got an exit plan, and she’s not afraid of using it, even if it’s “mean.”
For me, the ending made me glad I stuck with it, though I can also understand why it lost some people. If you’re interested in reading about an angry, flawed character who finds herself discovering a system that considers poor and racialized victims “throwaway girls,” check this one out.
Full review at the Lesbrary.
August 21, 2020
I really didn't love this as much as I thought I would. I loved the plot itself and I think this book could have been phenomenal and heart wrenching, but I just didn't like the main character at all or the writing style.
Caroline, our main character, is a couple months away from graduation and getting out of her hometown and moving far away. Her best friend goes missing one night and she is doing everything she can to find her. While trying to discover where Madison went, she realizes a lot of girls have gone missing. Those other girls don't come from a nice family or wealthy family so they don't get looked at, everyone just thinks they are junkies or ran away with their boyfriends. Caroline is now on the hunt to figure out how all these girls connect with Madison's disappearance.
While I did love the theme of this book, I just couldn't stand the main character. Caroline has this poor me act, which I get that she has had a crap life growing up, but she acts like she has the worst family and just doesn't care about anything. She is quite selfish to her friends and just very whiny. Also, I didn't love the writing style. It was very fast paced, but almost too fast paced where I felt like we were missing information.
I was surprised by the ending, and thought it was good. I just wish more of my questions were answered and that this book has wrapped up better. All in all, I think most people will love this book, it just wasn't my favorite.
Caroline, our main character, is a couple months away from graduation and getting out of her hometown and moving far away. Her best friend goes missing one night and she is doing everything she can to find her. While trying to discover where Madison went, she realizes a lot of girls have gone missing. Those other girls don't come from a nice family or wealthy family so they don't get looked at, everyone just thinks they are junkies or ran away with their boyfriends. Caroline is now on the hunt to figure out how all these girls connect with Madison's disappearance.
While I did love the theme of this book, I just couldn't stand the main character. Caroline has this poor me act, which I get that she has had a crap life growing up, but she acts like she has the worst family and just doesn't care about anything. She is quite selfish to her friends and just very whiny. Also, I didn't love the writing style. It was very fast paced, but almost too fast paced where I felt like we were missing information.
I was surprised by the ending, and thought it was good. I just wish more of my questions were answered and that this book has wrapped up better. All in all, I think most people will love this book, it just wasn't my favorite.
October 1, 2020
Caroline is determined to keep her head down and finish out the last few months at her prestigious prep school. After graduation, she can finally escape the parents who sent her to conversion therapy, but everything explodes when her best friend, Madison, goes missing. Caroline has been living half her life in secret, and she’s still heartbroken over the recent breakup with her girlfriend Willa, but it’s nothing compared to the secrets Madison has been hiding. When Caroline looks closer, she realizes that her best friend is only the most recent in a long string of disappearances, the rest “at risk” teenage girls that no one is looking for. If she wants to find her friend, Caroline needs to start with the body of the girl she found the day she met Willa. I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Kids Can Press. Trigger warnings: death, rape (off-page), torture (off-page), abduction, fires, guns, poisoning, homophobia, conversion therapy, bury your gays (some, not all).
This is a YA thriller in the style of Malinda Lo’s A Line in the Dark, and I would recommend it for fans of the genre who are looking for a fresh take and a new voice. It’s a little long and a little cluttered for what it is, but those are basically my only complaints about it. Otherwise, it’s a dark and effective murder mystery that takes a particular interest in the way no one looks for teenage girls in “at risk” populations and doesn’t flinch away from the grim consequences of that issue. For those looking for quick and easy endings, this isn’t the book for you. Contos makes it clear that the girls left standing at the end will be dealing with the events of this novel long after we’ve turned the final page.
Caroline is a solid main character with a complicated backstory (maybe a little too complicated at times), who is trying to carve out an acceptable life for herself under the thumb of her homophobic mother and oblivious father. She’s much like a lot of teenage characters trying to chase down a mystery on her own: ill-equipped and full of wrong turns, so that at times it feels like we’re not making much progress on the mystery. Her relationships with her ex-girlfriend Willa and her missing best friend Madison are fraught and complex, no less for the fact that we rarely see them on the page together. In terms of books that examine complicated female relationships, it’s very well done. Much like for Caroline, her friend Jake, who occasionally helps out with the investigation, is a mere blip on the radar, a paper cutout of the rich, handsome prep school boy (with maybe a fraction more empathy).
I have mixed feelings about the chapters from our mystery narrator, which greatly slow down the pacing of the novel and don’t add a lot to the plot. On the one hand, I like having a mystery narrator, and it does eventually fill in some blanks on various characters’ histories. On the other hand, the writing is a lot more flowery and reflective, and I rarely felt like I was getting much out of those sections. It’s cool in theory, but will likely take more practice to really work in practice. At times, it feels like there are a few too many components of the mystery for them to all come together neatly, especially when I called the killer the first time I saw them (partly, I think, because I read a lot of novels like this, and partly because I’m a woman and I know where the usual threats are). But then, this isn’t the kind of book where things are neat and tidy. Like a lot of first novels, it’s a good effort with room for improvement.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.
This is a YA thriller in the style of Malinda Lo’s A Line in the Dark, and I would recommend it for fans of the genre who are looking for a fresh take and a new voice. It’s a little long and a little cluttered for what it is, but those are basically my only complaints about it. Otherwise, it’s a dark and effective murder mystery that takes a particular interest in the way no one looks for teenage girls in “at risk” populations and doesn’t flinch away from the grim consequences of that issue. For those looking for quick and easy endings, this isn’t the book for you. Contos makes it clear that the girls left standing at the end will be dealing with the events of this novel long after we’ve turned the final page.
Caroline is a solid main character with a complicated backstory (maybe a little too complicated at times), who is trying to carve out an acceptable life for herself under the thumb of her homophobic mother and oblivious father. She’s much like a lot of teenage characters trying to chase down a mystery on her own: ill-equipped and full of wrong turns, so that at times it feels like we’re not making much progress on the mystery. Her relationships with her ex-girlfriend Willa and her missing best friend Madison are fraught and complex, no less for the fact that we rarely see them on the page together. In terms of books that examine complicated female relationships, it’s very well done. Much like for Caroline, her friend Jake, who occasionally helps out with the investigation, is a mere blip on the radar, a paper cutout of the rich, handsome prep school boy (with maybe a fraction more empathy).
I have mixed feelings about the chapters from our mystery narrator, which greatly slow down the pacing of the novel and don’t add a lot to the plot. On the one hand, I like having a mystery narrator, and it does eventually fill in some blanks on various characters’ histories. On the other hand, the writing is a lot more flowery and reflective, and I rarely felt like I was getting much out of those sections. It’s cool in theory, but will likely take more practice to really work in practice. At times, it feels like there are a few too many components of the mystery for them to all come together neatly, especially when I called the killer the first time I saw them (partly, I think, because I read a lot of novels like this, and partly because I’m a woman and I know where the usual threats are). But then, this isn’t the kind of book where things are neat and tidy. Like a lot of first novels, it’s a good effort with room for improvement.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.
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April 3, 2023I’m not sure what to rate it…I wanted to like it…
August 22, 2020
The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz
*Thank you so much Kids Can Press and Netgalley for letting me read and review THROWAWAY GIRLS*
*Content Warnings: Talk of suicide, conversion camps, disappearance of a loved one, implied sexual assault, anxiety attacks*
It's been a few days since I've finished Throwaway Girls and I still can't form a coherent sentence on much I loved this book and its characters. I read 75% of this book in one sitting because I just had to know: What happened to Madison? It takes a lot for a book to hit me on a personal level and Throwaway Girls did just that.
Caroline is so close to freedom that she can taste it. She can't wait to get away from her parents who can't accept who she is, the fancy prep school that is smothering her and trying to forget the girl who ran off to California and broke her heart. Everything changes when Caroline's best friend Madison goes missing. Not trusting the police herself Caroline takes matters into her own hands and learns that she didn't know as much about Madison as she thought she did. In her search, Caroline comes across multiple missing girls who aren't from good parts of town and are assumed to be "runaways." But Caroline learns pretty quickly that there is a common denominator between all these missing girls: herself.
I think my favorite aspect of this book is that we get occasional POV chapters from an unknown character who isn't revealed until the end, when all the huge secrets are beginning to unfold. I spent most of the book thinking that this POV was one character, when it really wasn't a character I was expecting at all. I think in Cantos doing this is added a lot more depth to this character that we might not have gotten to see otherwise.
There is so much to talk about but so many ways this book can be spoiled at the same time. But I will give it this: It makes you think. It makes you think about all the missing girls you see in the news and how they are assumed to be runaways because they aren't from the ideal situations. The stigma that is surrounding girls who don't come from middle class or upper class families and them gaining justice.
Cantos debut novel is a strong one and I am excited to see what she is going to have in store for her readers next. Throwaway Girls left me on the edge of my seat for the whole story, desperate to know how it was going to end. Throwaway Girls is perfect for fans of Sadie and other books that fall under that genre.
*Thank you so much Kids Can Press and Netgalley for letting me read and review THROWAWAY GIRLS*
*Content Warnings: Talk of suicide, conversion camps, disappearance of a loved one, implied sexual assault, anxiety attacks*
It's been a few days since I've finished Throwaway Girls and I still can't form a coherent sentence on much I loved this book and its characters. I read 75% of this book in one sitting because I just had to know: What happened to Madison? It takes a lot for a book to hit me on a personal level and Throwaway Girls did just that.
Caroline is so close to freedom that she can taste it. She can't wait to get away from her parents who can't accept who she is, the fancy prep school that is smothering her and trying to forget the girl who ran off to California and broke her heart. Everything changes when Caroline's best friend Madison goes missing. Not trusting the police herself Caroline takes matters into her own hands and learns that she didn't know as much about Madison as she thought she did. In her search, Caroline comes across multiple missing girls who aren't from good parts of town and are assumed to be "runaways." But Caroline learns pretty quickly that there is a common denominator between all these missing girls: herself.
I think my favorite aspect of this book is that we get occasional POV chapters from an unknown character who isn't revealed until the end, when all the huge secrets are beginning to unfold. I spent most of the book thinking that this POV was one character, when it really wasn't a character I was expecting at all. I think in Cantos doing this is added a lot more depth to this character that we might not have gotten to see otherwise.
There is so much to talk about but so many ways this book can be spoiled at the same time. But I will give it this: It makes you think. It makes you think about all the missing girls you see in the news and how they are assumed to be runaways because they aren't from the ideal situations. The stigma that is surrounding girls who don't come from middle class or upper class families and them gaining justice.
Cantos debut novel is a strong one and I am excited to see what she is going to have in store for her readers next. Throwaway Girls left me on the edge of my seat for the whole story, desperate to know how it was going to end. Throwaway Girls is perfect for fans of Sadie and other books that fall under that genre.
May 5, 2020
I rate Throwaway Girls a 4.5 as I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting because I had to know what happens to Madison. The book had the right amount of suspense, and the author did a great job of giving out clues the entire time, but also making you suspicious of everyone. At one point I had guessed who it could be but then more information was given and I changed my mind, so I wasn't entirely sure until 90% through the book. I love books where you're learning information along with the character, so I didn't know who was involved until Caroline did. Caroline was an amazing protagonist as I felt her struggles and emotions were real ranging from her anxiety to her fixation on her failed relationship. Her being a flawed, imperfect character made her more likable and also more interesting because you never knew what she was going to do next. Her fierceness in fighting for the people she loves or feels indebted to propels this story to its climax. I really enjoyed the romantic tidbits we would get throughout the book between Caroline and several people helping her, but was also happy that the author did not make them the focus of Caroline's story.
The only thing that confused me was the sections at the end of some chapters where the POV changed, and I didn't realize until halfway through that it was a different POV. I think it would have been easier to follow if they had been their own chapters, but it also could have just been me missing the mention of alternating POV in the synopsis. Some of the writing from the alternate POV was beautiful and captivating, and I think they really completed the story.
Overall, I recommend this book as it was an intriguing thriller that keeps you on your toes and calls into question the issues that we ignore as we go about our daily lives. It felt like a fitting tribute to all the girls that are missing. This isn't a book where you're left completely happy. It's one that sits with you because it's real and thought-provoking. It's slightly hopeful but also not meant to coddle you as the aftermath is a reality for the people who have been through these situations. The social message throughout was the strongest feature of this book and made all the work Caroline did seem necessary and important.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing with me with the free ARC.
The only thing that confused me was the sections at the end of some chapters where the POV changed, and I didn't realize until halfway through that it was a different POV. I think it would have been easier to follow if they had been their own chapters, but it also could have just been me missing the mention of alternating POV in the synopsis. Some of the writing from the alternate POV was beautiful and captivating, and I think they really completed the story.
Overall, I recommend this book as it was an intriguing thriller that keeps you on your toes and calls into question the issues that we ignore as we go about our daily lives. It felt like a fitting tribute to all the girls that are missing. This isn't a book where you're left completely happy. It's one that sits with you because it's real and thought-provoking. It's slightly hopeful but also not meant to coddle you as the aftermath is a reality for the people who have been through these situations. The social message throughout was the strongest feature of this book and made all the work Caroline did seem necessary and important.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing with me with the free ARC.
May 9, 2020
Thank you to NetGalley, #BookJunkies, @Andrea_Contos, Kids Can Press and KCP Loft for the advance reader copy of Throwaway Girls by debut author, Andrea Contos, in exchange for an honest review. I could not put this YA mystery down! Caroline is a forthright yet conflicted narrator who steadfastly investigates when her best friend, Madison, suddenly disappears. Andrea Contos’ plot and characterizations will have teens guessing as this mystery deepens to involve more than one girl. Caroline is believable as she delves full force into finding out what happened to Madison. But she also gains problems that cause her to push away friends, Jake and Aubrey, who only want to help her. I understood yet I did not understand many of Caroline’s decisions. I was also confused many times with the appearance of characters, Livie and Willa. And the parents were also off the charts unsupportive, tough, and mean spirited. As Caroline struggles with her reality, she constantly keeps her goal in mind, three months to graduate, and get out. But as the plot thickens, the thrill quickens. What will happen to Caroline, Madison, Willa and the others? This is a riveting book dealing with family problems, friendship, LGBT issues, and social classes. A must-read!
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July 19, 2020Whoosh, that was a wild , very-hard-to-put-down ride, even after you figure out who the killer is; there are just so many questions about the story structure and how things are playing out. Particularly recommend this one to fans of All the Things We Do in the Dark.
August 24, 2018
This book is phenomenal. I read an early copy and it stuck to my bones. The writing is stunning, the message an important gut-punch. THROWAWAY GIRLS is a page-turner that made me cry and kept me guessing. I'll love this book forever.
April 2, 2021
I wish I hadn’t read this. I hated it from page 2 and I kept looking online for spoilers so that I didn’t have to finish it. If you’re like me and wishing for it to be over but need to know whodunnit: it’s Jake’s dad, Mr Monaghan.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 10, 2020
3.5 stars
I was given this eARC in exchange for an honest review, this hasn't affected my opinions in any way
Okay here's the thing. This was a good book. Maybe even really good. It was also . . . not my thing. That makes it really hard to review, because like . . . I really don't have much to criticize, but I also don't have glowing praise. I guess I'm just going to do a short little list of Things, both good and bad.
- The themes were really good!! I do wish they had been pulled to the forefront a little more, but I really liked the discussions of abuse of power, privilege, and the people who society does and doesn't deem worthy of saving. I truly think these themes were the book's biggest strengths, because they were so well done.
- I was sometimes . . . very confused? Which isn't necessarily the book's fault lmaooo, I think I might have just been too braindead to follow what was happening. But the fact remains that I still don't entirely understand everything that happened ahfghghfg
- Okay but the twists though. This book absolutely nailed the twists you absolutely should have seen coming and yet somehow didn't. I leap to every possible conclusion when reading mysteries, so I did sort of predict one of the twists, but in a "hm maybe THIS" way that was then promptly forgotten, so I was still very surprised + I didn't even come close to guessing the other big twist. Everything came together so well in the end, and I'm still shook.
- The main character was . . . this weird mix of like . . . really complex and sort of boring. I think the book tried to make her too complex, and instead she fell a bit flat. We were told how many layers she had, how much she drew people to her, but . . . I never really saw it?
- The side characters, however, almost made up for it. This book had one of the most well-fleshed out, fascinating casts of side characters I've seen for quite some time.
- The writing was amazing. Like . . . wow. It left me awestruck, at times.
Overall? The good parts of this book couldn't quite make up for it's flaws to me, however I truly do think it's a masterfully done book and I fully recommend it. I wasn't in the right headspace for it, but I do think this is one I might revisit down the line and fall in love with.
Here's the thing: if you aren't a thriller person (like me) this likely isn't going to be your book. But if you are in the headspace for a thriller, I cannot recommend this enough.
TWs
I was given this eARC in exchange for an honest review, this hasn't affected my opinions in any way
Okay here's the thing. This was a good book. Maybe even really good. It was also . . . not my thing. That makes it really hard to review, because like . . . I really don't have much to criticize, but I also don't have glowing praise. I guess I'm just going to do a short little list of Things, both good and bad.
- The themes were really good!! I do wish they had been pulled to the forefront a little more, but I really liked the discussions of abuse of power, privilege, and the people who society does and doesn't deem worthy of saving. I truly think these themes were the book's biggest strengths, because they were so well done.
- I was sometimes . . . very confused? Which isn't necessarily the book's fault lmaooo, I think I might have just been too braindead to follow what was happening. But the fact remains that I still don't entirely understand everything that happened ahfghghfg
- Okay but the twists though. This book absolutely nailed the twists you absolutely should have seen coming and yet somehow didn't. I leap to every possible conclusion when reading mysteries, so I did sort of predict one of the twists, but in a "hm maybe THIS" way that was then promptly forgotten, so I was still very surprised + I didn't even come close to guessing the other big twist. Everything came together so well in the end, and I'm still shook.
- The main character was . . . this weird mix of like . . . really complex and sort of boring. I think the book tried to make her too complex, and instead she fell a bit flat. We were told how many layers she had, how much she drew people to her, but . . . I never really saw it?
- The side characters, however, almost made up for it. This book had one of the most well-fleshed out, fascinating casts of side characters I've seen for quite some time.
- The writing was amazing. Like . . . wow. It left me awestruck, at times.
Overall? The good parts of this book couldn't quite make up for it's flaws to me, however I truly do think it's a masterfully done book and I fully recommend it. I wasn't in the right headspace for it, but I do think this is one I might revisit down the line and fall in love with.
Here's the thing: if you aren't a thriller person (like me) this likely isn't going to be your book. But if you are in the headspace for a thriller, I cannot recommend this enough.
TWs
November 16, 2020
Caroline is nearly free from the restraints of her parents and the small town that she lives in, she can go off and live her life free and be with Willa. That is until Willa disappears and then her best friend Madison vanishes. Caroline should have kept her head down but she knows something isn't right in their smalltown and also Madison wouldn't just run away from her life here without telling Caroline. Armed with a few clues, Caroline will try and hunt down what happened to Madison starting with a bar that she has frequented quite a lot called The Wayside Bar. As the book goes along, Caroline joins forces with Jake who was in a Friends with Benefits relationship with Madison - the latest in Madison's conquests. As the pair goes searching, they will discover that Madison is just another in a very long line of girls that have gone missing and never found again. The clues will send Caroline and Jake on what could become a death sentence as along the way people she has talked to are either killed or threatened. Can Caroline find out what happened to Madison? Will she like what she finds especially when she learns the killer is closer to her than she ever thought and was somebody she trusted. Throwaway Girls also does involve scenes of abuse caused by conversion camps and LGBT scenes. Overall, if you are looking for a fun YA thriller that will leave you guessing till the very last few chapters, then check out Throwaway Girls by Andrea Contos today. Fans of Karen McManus and Sara Shepard will enjoy it.
January 2, 2022
"But hunger and fullness, love and loss, like all things, like everything, they come to an end."
Man, that was intense.
Caroline can't wait to graduate high school and leave town to live freely and how she always wanted. She feels suffocated by her parents and heartbroken by her girlfriend Willa who dumped her. Things take a turn when her best friend Madison disappears. She decides to find her friend because she doesn't trust the police to do her job. Soon she finds that there are other girls that went missing and nobody is looking for them, girls that are considered "at risk".
Caroline can be very unlikeable at times, doesn't trust anybody and gets hurt when people hide things from her yet she hides things from others. She can be self centered in her pain and not notice the world around her. Sometimes she carries too much on her shoulders and blames herself for things that don't have anything to do with her.
The premise of this book was very interesting but the writing was the worst part of this story. Reading this book was like talking to those people that starting telling one thing and they don't finish the sentence before they start talking about something else. It was all over the place and made me want to dnf this book a couple of times.
The mystery elements and the revelations were OK, but the writing style is what keeps this book from being great. Overall an enjoyable read.
Man, that was intense.
Caroline can't wait to graduate high school and leave town to live freely and how she always wanted. She feels suffocated by her parents and heartbroken by her girlfriend Willa who dumped her. Things take a turn when her best friend Madison disappears. She decides to find her friend because she doesn't trust the police to do her job. Soon she finds that there are other girls that went missing and nobody is looking for them, girls that are considered "at risk".
Caroline can be very unlikeable at times, doesn't trust anybody and gets hurt when people hide things from her yet she hides things from others. She can be self centered in her pain and not notice the world around her. Sometimes she carries too much on her shoulders and blames herself for things that don't have anything to do with her.
The premise of this book was very interesting but the writing was the worst part of this story. Reading this book was like talking to those people that starting telling one thing and they don't finish the sentence before they start talking about something else. It was all over the place and made me want to dnf this book a couple of times.
The mystery elements and the revelations were OK, but the writing style is what keeps this book from being great. Overall an enjoyable read.
July 19, 2024
She told me the good guys win in the end and people are decent.I really enjoyed Throwaway Girls, and I felt very immersed in its story, especially toward the end. As this was a mystery/thriller book, my heart was definitely pumping, which I loved.
She told me lies.
I loved this book’s plot even though the beginning was a little bit slow. However, that wasn't a problem for me because my previous book was much slower. Because of that, this book’s pace never bothered me, honestly.
This was a lovely mystery/thriller book to read after straying away from the genre for what feels like a while. I wasn't sure who the perpetrator was, and when it was revealed, I was shocked.
For the most part, I really liked the characters. Their combination of flaws made them human to me and their personalities felt like a somewhat accurate depiction of high schoolers. Their actions, on the other hand, were more of a stretch.
Rating: 3.5 stars
August 31, 2020
TW: conversion therapy mention, assault, murder, rape mention, drugging
As this is a thriller, I’m going to try and keep this review as vague as possible! Instead of trying to describe scenes, I’m going to first talk about things that I liked, and then about things that didn’t quite make it a five star read for me!
First of all, I loved the atmosphere in this book! Caroline attends a private school and it was so easy for me to picture the sprawling grounds and expensive campus in my mind whilst reading it, even though it’s an American private school and, admittedly, I’ve only seen a couple of Scottish private schools in the flesh! We also spend some time at a dingy bar and I think the atmosphere of a rundown, dodgy, roadside bar was captured perfectly! Without spoiling anything in the book, this was a common theme throughout and I think, especially for a debut novel, Andrea Contos did an amazing job with the realistic and gritty world building!
The second thing I loved, although I can’t really say much about it, was the plot! I read this book in two days and the first night I stayed up so late trying to read one more chapter before my eyelids got too heavy to continue, I was that invested in the story. I absolutely flew through the second half of the book the next day and, even though I always like to guess the big twist or reveal at the end, I never once got close to it in this one, and boy was I shocked!
I also really loved the characters, particularly the side characters. I loved Aubrey, who is so passionate and talented and an amazing actress. She was timid and always wanted the best for people, but when push came to shove, she was often Caroline’s best asset, so to speak. I also really enjoyed Jake’s complex character, with a difficult family background and yet a very privileged upbringing, he was, surprisingly, a character I cared a lot about.
However, saying that, I did have a couple of problems with the characters, which is one of two reasons this book is not a five star read for me. First of all, Caroline is a very privileged private school student. Yes, she does acknowledge privilege throughout, and yes she has been through some very, very tough times but she just didn’t feel believable. She felt like every other YA thriller main female character. There’s a scene in the book where Caroline and Jake are at a party thrown by some teenagers that go to another, not private, school. Somehow they manage to blend in, even though, if you’ve been to a house party with a private school student there, you know exactly how much they stick out like a sore thumb. Caroline also had this kind of grittiness about her which I feel didn’t really go all that well with her upbringing.
The other reason it wasn’t a five star was because some of the plot didn’t feel that well developed for me. Whilst reading it, particularly in the first half of the book, I felt that there were some loose threads with some of the evidence that Caroline found, and some of the places she visited. Particularly, when she met up with the headteacher’s wife – nothing really seemed to come of it. Also, with regards to the reveal at the end, there wasn’t really a motive as to why the person who did it, did it. It just felt like, oh here’s who did these bad things, let’s wrap it up nicely!
Regardless, this was one of the most gripping and interesting YA thrillers that I’ve read and I would definitely recommend that you pick it up if it at all sounds interesting to you! It’s a great debut and I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for Andrea Contos’ other books in the future!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an e-Arc of this in return for a review!
As this is a thriller, I’m going to try and keep this review as vague as possible! Instead of trying to describe scenes, I’m going to first talk about things that I liked, and then about things that didn’t quite make it a five star read for me!
First of all, I loved the atmosphere in this book! Caroline attends a private school and it was so easy for me to picture the sprawling grounds and expensive campus in my mind whilst reading it, even though it’s an American private school and, admittedly, I’ve only seen a couple of Scottish private schools in the flesh! We also spend some time at a dingy bar and I think the atmosphere of a rundown, dodgy, roadside bar was captured perfectly! Without spoiling anything in the book, this was a common theme throughout and I think, especially for a debut novel, Andrea Contos did an amazing job with the realistic and gritty world building!
The second thing I loved, although I can’t really say much about it, was the plot! I read this book in two days and the first night I stayed up so late trying to read one more chapter before my eyelids got too heavy to continue, I was that invested in the story. I absolutely flew through the second half of the book the next day and, even though I always like to guess the big twist or reveal at the end, I never once got close to it in this one, and boy was I shocked!
I also really loved the characters, particularly the side characters. I loved Aubrey, who is so passionate and talented and an amazing actress. She was timid and always wanted the best for people, but when push came to shove, she was often Caroline’s best asset, so to speak. I also really enjoyed Jake’s complex character, with a difficult family background and yet a very privileged upbringing, he was, surprisingly, a character I cared a lot about.
However, saying that, I did have a couple of problems with the characters, which is one of two reasons this book is not a five star read for me. First of all, Caroline is a very privileged private school student. Yes, she does acknowledge privilege throughout, and yes she has been through some very, very tough times but she just didn’t feel believable. She felt like every other YA thriller main female character. There’s a scene in the book where Caroline and Jake are at a party thrown by some teenagers that go to another, not private, school. Somehow they manage to blend in, even though, if you’ve been to a house party with a private school student there, you know exactly how much they stick out like a sore thumb. Caroline also had this kind of grittiness about her which I feel didn’t really go all that well with her upbringing.
The other reason it wasn’t a five star was because some of the plot didn’t feel that well developed for me. Whilst reading it, particularly in the first half of the book, I felt that there were some loose threads with some of the evidence that Caroline found, and some of the places she visited. Particularly, when she met up with the headteacher’s wife – nothing really seemed to come of it. Also, with regards to the reveal at the end, there wasn’t really a motive as to why the person who did it, did it. It just felt like, oh here’s who did these bad things, let’s wrap it up nicely!
Regardless, this was one of the most gripping and interesting YA thrillers that I’ve read and I would definitely recommend that you pick it up if it at all sounds interesting to you! It’s a great debut and I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for Andrea Contos’ other books in the future!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an e-Arc of this in return for a review!
March 22, 2024
Rep: bi mc with diagnosed anxiety & probable undiagnosed ptsd, sapphic scs, indian sc, chinese sc
CW: kidnapping, murder, suicidal thoughts & plans, conversion therapy, discussion of statutory rape, depiction of ptsd, police incompetancy
Caroline’s best friend is missing. She’s not the only missing girl, but she’s the only one that the police are even pretending to look for, and Caroline has zero faith that they’ll manage to find her in time. In order to save her friend before time runs out, Caroline puts everything she’d been working towards at risk and instead throws herself into trying to find her.
I didn’t particularly like or dislike this book, and that’s most likely my own fault. I think that straightforward murder mysteries aren’t a genre that I enjoy reading, no matter how queer they are. This could’ve been the best murder mystery ever and my reaction would still probably be eh. I wasn’t sure whether my failures with this genre before picking this up was because of the specific books I’d tried or if it was the genre. I now know that it was the genre. That’s on me.
I liked Contos’ writing style! It was engaging, easy to understand, and I enjoyed reading it. This book has two narrators, and in the arc I read the fact that there were two different narrators wasn’t clearly marked. The writing style for the two perspectives did differ somewhat in the latter half of the book, making it obvious who was who, but the first few times it switched between them I was a bit confused.
One thing I will point out is that a trope was used that got on my nerves. In many books, every single boy that meets the straight girl main character will at the very least express some level of attraction to that main character. Caroline is bi. Therefore, almost every age appropriate side character did this, regardless of gender. This isn’t any less annoying when it’s queer. Thankfully, it’s a very minor part of the book.
If you like murder mysteries, I think that you probably would like this, and in that case I would recommend it! It just wasn’t for me.
I recieved an e-arc through Edelweiss in return for an honest review
CW: kidnapping, murder, suicidal thoughts & plans, conversion therapy, discussion of statutory rape, depiction of ptsd, police incompetancy
Caroline’s best friend is missing. She’s not the only missing girl, but she’s the only one that the police are even pretending to look for, and Caroline has zero faith that they’ll manage to find her in time. In order to save her friend before time runs out, Caroline puts everything she’d been working towards at risk and instead throws herself into trying to find her.
I didn’t particularly like or dislike this book, and that’s most likely my own fault. I think that straightforward murder mysteries aren’t a genre that I enjoy reading, no matter how queer they are. This could’ve been the best murder mystery ever and my reaction would still probably be eh. I wasn’t sure whether my failures with this genre before picking this up was because of the specific books I’d tried or if it was the genre. I now know that it was the genre. That’s on me.
I liked Contos’ writing style! It was engaging, easy to understand, and I enjoyed reading it. This book has two narrators, and in the arc I read the fact that there were two different narrators wasn’t clearly marked. The writing style for the two perspectives did differ somewhat in the latter half of the book, making it obvious who was who, but the first few times it switched between them I was a bit confused.
One thing I will point out is that a trope was used that got on my nerves. In many books, every single boy that meets the straight girl main character will at the very least express some level of attraction to that main character. Caroline is bi. Therefore, almost every age appropriate side character did this, regardless of gender. This isn’t any less annoying when it’s queer. Thankfully, it’s a very minor part of the book.
If you like murder mysteries, I think that you probably would like this, and in that case I would recommend it! It just wasn’t for me.
I recieved an e-arc through Edelweiss in return for an honest review
April 13, 2021
I wanted to love this. it really is something that generally would be exactly what i wanted. it just didn't quite land for me.
My biggest issue was the plot point/device of
The sideplot regarding Caroline's time in conversion therapy was horrifying, but not fleshed out enough. it felt like another, different, book.
oh, and i also found
This book is the author's debut, so i would be interested to see what comes next as she fine-tunes her writing skills.
My biggest issue was the plot point/device of
The sideplot regarding Caroline's time in conversion therapy was horrifying, but not fleshed out enough. it felt like another, different, book.
oh, and i also found
This book is the author's debut, so i would be interested to see what comes next as she fine-tunes her writing skills.
September 13, 2020
I received this Advanced Reader Copy from a Goodreads Giveaway. The story grabbed me from the start, but I became quickly confused by the characters who were introduced. There were names, but I felt like I didn’t have a grasp on who they were and how they related to Caroline’s story. I struggled with Caroline’s ability as a seventeen year old to just disappear for days at a time from school and/or home without anyone seeming to really be looking for her. As I reached the end of the book, I felt that there were many unanswered questions relating to Caroline’s past, as well as holes in the plot as the book concluded.
July 1, 2020
What a wild ride! I really enjoyed this YA thriller, especially the way it alternates between Caroline’s perspective and that of a mystery narrator. I found Caroline to be a believably complex main character who tugged at my heart strings. I also found the social commentary woven throughout extremely poignant. The tone and pacing were incredible, and I couldn’t wait to find out the truth behind the disappearance of Caroline’s friend, Madison. I highly recommend this book!
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