Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson

26 reviews

raes's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use and Sexual content

tori2629's review against another edition

funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

The 5th book about true-crime obsessed, detective prodigy Stevie Bell. While the actual mystery of this one felt maybe a little rushed I guess? I still enjoyed it a ton! I didn't exactly guess the whodunnit, but I rarely do, so to me it was a decent reveal. I love how the mysteries that Stevie is solving take place in different time periods. 1930s, 1970s, 1990s, its a good variety.

MJ is great at writing quirky but realistic characters, and she definitely knows her way around true crime so, I feel like she's really found her niche here!! I have enjoyed her writing before, I liked Shades of London, and my Sister in Law Loved Suite Scarlett, but she MJ has a bad habit of leaving a series on a cliff hanger and not getting back around to writing/publishing the last book... so.... Fingers crossed for Stevie Bell!!

I feel like I'm in the minority for actually liking David, but I'm also a super weirdo who likes Logan the best out of Rory's BFs on Gilmore Girls, so IDK. Maybe I have a just thing for a subtype of "Bad Boys" and it's "Rich Rebels" (I just thought of that now, go me.) He genuinely cares about Stevie, he knows he's not who he was "raised" to be, and he wants to prove it. He screwed up big time at the end, but he's also having a bit of an identity crisis. All of the characters are freaking out about the future in their own way,  (except maybe Vi, who seems to be pretty chill about it.) Janelle is WAY overthinking it, and making spreadsheet after spreadsheet, Stevie is absolutely avoiding thinking about it as much as possible, and Nate is secretly stressing and not telling anyone that he might just be the most freaked out of all. David's way of dealing with it is to be an impulsive idiot. It all checks out. I'll be ok with it if things get resolved in the next book... *AHEM. MJ.* 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood and Murder

Minor: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

kelsea's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Blood and Murder

Minor: Drug use and Sexual content

huntress's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

1.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

booksmoviesandstories's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

libraryghost's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism

stephbakerbooks's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Buckle up for another fun Stevie Bell mystery! 

 

That being said, this one might be my least favorite out of the series. The plot felt more contrived than the others (the reason they all end up in England lol), there’s some friendship drama that was frustrating because you could see it a mile away (teenagers, gah!), and THAT ENDING WAS CRUEL. 

 

Anyways, still really enjoyed it, obviously. The mystery from the past was confusing at first because I couldn’t keep the nine characters straight, but once it got going, I really liked it. It had some nice twists and turns, and I did not figure anything out. 

 

The present story…maybe I’m an old fuddy duddy but I felt like the teenagers were being more teenagery in this one than the past books. Or I could be misremembering the past books lol. Either way, that’s a me-problem because these books are YA and meant for teenagers and I won’t begrudge them that!! 

 

I will, however, begrudge it that cruel cliffhanger ending. I’m not over it and I need the next book ASAP please and thank you. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Drug use

rissaandherbooks's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

I still loved this book, but it just wasn't the same as the others in the series.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content

skyfluff8's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

sar_i's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I would not call this book a standalone. It does deal with its own mystery that is solved by the end of the book but there are many things left unfinished and it ends on a cliffhanger. 

There are ten new characters that are well developed and all have unique personalities and intricate relationships. This book heavily focuses on David and Stevie's relationship which almost takes precedence over the mystery over the course of the story and I wish that there was more plot that involved Vi, Jennell, and Nate. 

The plot felt very well planned and the atmosphere was wonderful. It truly felt like you were inside Stevie's head. 

Would recommend if you have read the first three books of Truly Devious.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, and Blood

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail