Reviews

The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson

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sophia_27's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-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

4.25

marijkav's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense

4.5

This has been my favorite book in the series so far. Quick and the mystery was fun. Maybe it’s because I went to camp with pond and small waterfalls but it definitely was easy to get into and stay engaged.

mollyj099's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

4.25

meg07's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

3.0

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

Wow, the way that Maureen Johnson set up another murder mystery for Stevie to unravel was so damn entertaining!

This takes place at a summer camp which Stevie is recruited by the owner to join so that she and her friends (Janelle, Nate, David) can attempt to solve the 1978 murders of four camp counselors in the woods. They’re known as the “Box in the Woods” murders and had remained unsolved. I was expecting another few books to fully crack the case but Johnson provided a completely standalone mystery, which was equally shocking and impressive!

I can’t wait to continue on and read the next book. These books are cozy, funny, and sometimes extremely tense and stressful mysteries, and I love the anxiety representation in them too.

I highly recommend them, and it’d be cool if they adapted it into a movie series!

Content Warnings

emily_brekker's review against another edition

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mysterious

3.75

3.75/5
I feel like this book had a totally different vibe than the previous three books, since the dark academia vibe was missing. Do not get me wrong, I like the idea of the summer camp combined with a cold case, but it just couldn't keep up with the other books. The case itself was intriguing but the investigation at the start a bit too slow and at the end a bit too fast-paced.