Reviews

Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson

alexabookish's review against another edition

3.0

kinda disappointed with this installment. the pacing felt super off, there was so much set up. the investigation/mystery didn’t even really start until 40% into the book. i’m also just really not into stevie and david together. i just don’t really think they have any chemistry. like, they make zero sense, and i just don’t care about their relationship at all-the problems or the cute moments. and their relationship was a good amount of this book. it felt like the mystery was just a subplot in this one, which felt like a complete departure from the rest of the series. also, there were way too many characters involved in this mystery, so when stevie did her “drawing room” scene and uncovered everything, it didn’t feel like a satisfying conclusion. i had to remind myself which one that character even was, and how exactly they were related to everyone. i still love this series, but i don’t know if anything will ever touch the original trilogy

bellalunameow's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

ghostgirl98's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

larasmalta's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I could never not love a book from the Truly Devious franchise but it’s not the best 

theqwerty's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious relaxing 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? No

4.0

michelles_teaandreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

b00kw0rm113's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

4.0

the mystery part was okay okay, i think i need to binge read it to properly enjoy it, but the romance! and that cliffhanger, man. i can feel the angst already!

mckenzie_reads's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.0

effie_reads's review against another edition

4.0

"I’ve got a murder mansion, a house full of suspects, a pile of evidence, and nothing."

In this fifth one in this series, David is studing in London, and in Ellingham Academy, all of Stevie's friend are obsessed with college application. Then David invite Stevie and her friend to London and his new friend Izzy introduces her to a double-murder cold case. In 1995, nine friends from Cambridge University went to a country house and played a drunken game of hide-and-seek. Two were found in the woodshed the next day, murdered with an ax. The case was assumed to be a burglary gone wrong, but one of the remaining seven saw something she can’t explain. This was no break-in. Someone’s lying about what happened in the woodshed. So as always, Stevie investigate to discover the verity but at what cost ?

This new addition in the series is as good as the other ones. Once again the story alternates between flashbacks of the nine in college, and Stevie and the group and I really like dual timeline in books in general.
There are a lot of good parts but some parts bothered me like David's behaviour. I don't understand what the author want to do with this characters and the love interest (which in my opinion, could have not existed at all). Thus I did not like this ending (seems to be here just for the shock like "oh finally he is really a jerk" just for in book 6 find him good reason for his behavior and reappearing at the "good guys") apart from the fact that a cliffhanger = a next book in the series. However, I like Stevie Bell characters development/growing and love Nate characters (such a mood).

reading_under_covers's review against another edition

2.5

This one was rough for me… maybe it was the length of the story, my lack of care for all of the side characters, or that last sentence!!!! Like wtf?!

I’ll read more in this series, but this one was a drag.