Book Review: The Other Lola by Ripley Jones

The very last thing that Cam Munoz and Blair Johnson anticipated was for his or her investigative podcast into the disappearance of Clarissa Campbell to not solely put them in mortal hazard, but in addition to earn them the generally irrational ire of quite a few individuals, lots of them nameless on-line trolls. Now that the case is closed and their notoriety has principally died down, the highschool seniors are specializing in their futures. Good, eccentric Cam totally intends to check physics at MIT, becoming a member of her girlfriend on the East Coast. Blair’s targets, nonetheless, are hazier. She’s all the time been the nice, completely common woman her mother and father have lengthy anticipated her to be, however she chafes at their assumption that it was Cam who dragged her out of her consolation zone and into bother within the first place:

[S]omething stings about her household’s willingness to attribute every little thing the podcast achieved to another person.

 

As a result of, although the podcast was Cam’s thought, Cam may by no means have pulled it off with out Blair. Blair’s the one who obtained Clarissa’s household and buddies to speak. Blair’s the one who steered the madcap engine of Cam’s mind. Blair’s the one who discovered what was actually occurring with Clarissa and her trainer, and Blair’s the one who got here to the rescue when Cam obtained herself imprisoned in a basement and nearly murdered.

 

She doesn’t need her mother and father to hate her. She doesn’t need anybody to hate her. However she certain would really like some credit score.

When younger Mattie Brosillard approaches the duo with one other potential investigation, Cam has zero curiosity in accepting. Cam continues to be fairly traumatized from what occurred final time, however Blair is each intrigued by Mattie’s plea and bored with being seen because the sidekick. Apart from, all Mattie desires them to do, no less than initially, is attend a celebration.

5 years in the past, Mattie’s older sister, Lola, disappeared. Their mom, Ruth, insisted that troubled younger Lola had simply run away once more, however Mattie knew that Lola would by no means simply depart with out saying goodbye to them. Now, somebody claiming to be Lola has reappeared within the Brosillard’s lives. The brand new Lola says that she spent the final 5 years kidnapped and always moved from place to put, and that her reminiscences in any other case are hazy. Ruth is thrilled to welcome her prodigal daughter house, however Mattie is satisfied that this different Lola is a faux, and needs Cam and Blair to assist them show it.

With various levels of reluctance, Cam and Blair conform to attend Lola’s homecoming social gathering. Regardless of their misgivings – as Lola appears to genuinely be who she claims – the excessive schoolers can’t assist however be drawn to Mattie’s real want for emotional help. The extra they examine although, the extra unsettling truths they be taught in regards to the Brosillard household, and in regards to the new Lola, who’s definitely not as harmless as she appears:

It’s straightforward sufficient to return again. To stroll into this home and see the place the previous Lola failed. The place her edges didn’t match. To easy herself right into a form that slots into the void the previous Lola left, after which remake it. A gentler, extra pliable model of the woman who left for good all these years in the past. A light-weight, light Lola whose mom will need to preserve her, not cover her away in disgrace.

 

The brand new Lola has precious expertise. She will feign softness, hiding what’s arduous beneath. She will smile sweetly. She will ask for nothing in a method that makes different individuals need to give, and provides, and provides.

 

It’s simpler than you suppose to be a lady everybody desires to like.

 

All it’s important to do is lie.

Meditating on the themes of self-invention and the power of chosen household, The Different Lola is each considerate and surprisingly fast-paced, because the secrets and techniques our characters are retaining from each other emerge with devastating impact into the sunshine of day. It’s arduous to not sympathize with each Mattie and the brand new Lola, at the same time as they’re seemingly at odds. Equally, Cam and Blair every have their very own angle on this investigation that neither totally desires to share with anybody in any respect, a lot much less with one another. The methods by which these relationships dovetail current a hanging, nuanced imaginative and prescient of the numerous alternative ways by which fashionable younger American girls and non-binary individuals need to adapt with the intention to survive. 

All of that is wrapped up in a wholesome dose of social consciousness, with witty banter to assist leaven the often somber temper. Whereas slighter than its predecessor, the wonderful Lacking Clarissa, that is nonetheless a terrific younger grownup thriller novel that isn’t afraid to deal with the actual challenges dealing with younger individuals of fine conscience immediately.

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