The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! đ
imogen_reads_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
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? No
5.0
blake_persephone's review against another edition
2.0
Disappointing.
The flashbacks were so unnecessary in this one as pretty much everything that we needed to know was in the last book. We just needed to know what happened to Alice I didnât need a whole George redux retelling.
I also hate how everyone continually harps on David. Heâs a dick but everyone else isnât perfect either and there seems to be this âheâs just privileged!â And Iâm very much like youâre all in a private school where you get so many perks youâre all privileged. Not helped by the fact that most of the kids are white and rich soâŚpot kettle.
Janelle annoyed the shit out of me and hate a holier-than-thou character that doesnât get called out . Particularly when she didnât do anything really worthwhile while David actually saved countless of people by fucking over his dad.
I like Stevie but what she did to David and how she handled the situation was real shit and her friends should have called her out on it. David and her did some shitty things it doesnât make them evil
But feels weird when one gets constantly called out and the other doesnât.
The flashbacks were so unnecessary in this one as pretty much everything that we needed to know was in the last book. We just needed to know what happened to Alice I didnât need a whole George redux retelling.
I also hate how everyone continually harps on David. Heâs a dick but everyone else isnât perfect either and there seems to be this âheâs just privileged!â And Iâm very much like youâre all in a private school where you get so many perks youâre all privileged. Not helped by the fact that most of the kids are white and rich soâŚpot kettle.
Janelle annoyed the shit out of me and hate a holier-than-thou character that doesnât get called out . Particularly when she didnât do anything really worthwhile while David actually saved countless of people by fucking over his dad.
I like Stevie but what she did to David and how she handled the situation was real shit and her friends should have called her out on it. David and her did some shitty things it doesnât make them evil
But feels weird when one gets constantly called out and the other doesnât.
amyteurhour's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this third book, even though I feel like it had a lot of the same issues as Book 2, mainly with David and Stevie's interactions/relationship? with him. I like how the mystery was resolved, and enjoyed the big reveal.
I just wish that Stevie hadn't ended up with David. I think he's treated her very poorly for their entire acquaintance, and totally agree with Janelle that Stevie deserves to be with a better person. However, I guess that this can be something that makes the characters seem more real, as I can totally point to when I was Stevie, liking someone who treated me like crap but who I thought was mysterious and intriguing, as well as now, where I definitely identify more with Janelle and how she feels that David is trash haha.
David's treatment of Stevie, especially in this book, was incredibly manipulative and his dramatic change in the last act was really just wild. It's not necessarily that I don't buy the change, but I do think that this is not going to be a stable nor healthy relationship for Stevie to be engaged in. Since this is classified as YA, I do worry about what this fictional relationship is normalizing for young readers, to whom it may not be obvious that David's treatment of Stevie for most of this series unacceptable and out-of-line.
I just wish that Stevie hadn't ended up with David. I think he's treated her very poorly for their entire acquaintance, and totally agree with Janelle that Stevie deserves to be with a better person. However, I guess that this can be something that makes the characters seem more real, as I can totally point to when I was Stevie, liking someone who treated me like crap but who I thought was mysterious and intriguing, as well as now, where I definitely identify more with Janelle and how she feels that David is trash haha.
David's treatment of Stevie, especially in this book, was incredibly manipulative and his dramatic change in the last act was really just wild. It's not necessarily that I don't buy the change, but I do think that this is not going to be a stable nor healthy relationship for Stevie to be engaged in. Since this is classified as YA, I do worry about what this fictional relationship is normalizing for young readers, to whom it may not be obvious that David's treatment of Stevie for most of this series unacceptable and out-of-line.
lemon_teeth's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
loved the ending, sort of wish the first three books were just one really long book tbh
rachelsb00kreviews's review against another edition
5.0
The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson(Truly Devious series, part three)
Read: October 12 - 14 (Book Review Page: https://www.facebook.com/rewbookreviews)
Here we go! The last book of this trilogy; though I will read the other two books in time but as I said before they donât go with the Ellingham Academy setting. They just follow Stevie to her first mystery after this first case and explores her need for finding a good murder.(Sheâs an odd duck but a clever one!) This book, much like the previous one, is very fast paced and full of âWait, what?â moments that keep you reading. Definitely my favorite of the series and worth 5âď¸! This as a trilogy is wonderful and I am excited to eventually read what Stevie Bell gets up to next.
âIf you look for murder, murder may find you.â
Ellingham Academy must be cursed. Three people are dead; two students from the school and now another in accident in the nearby town of Burlington. All at the exact moment of Stevieâs greatest triumphâŚShe knows who Truly Devious is. She has solved the case of the century. At least, she thinks she has. With so much tragedy, and David missingâdisappeared and up to something, as alwaysâitâs hard to focus on the past. But Stevie is sure that somehow all these things connect; the deaths in past and present, the missing Alice Ellingham(she was never confirmed dead) and the missing David Eastman. When a horrifying accident and impending snowstorm force an evacuation of the academy, Stevie realizes she must stay on the mountain to face the storm and possibly a murderer. In this tantalizing finale of the Truly Devious(The Ellinghaam case) trilogy, the dual narratives of from past and present tangle together in an explosive end for all whoâve walked through Ellingham Academy.
I wonât give away anything but I will say that the mysteries of both the 1930âs and present Ellingham Academy is full of twists and turns. I did not expect to be so stunned by the revelations revealed by the sections written in the past and the ones Stevie discovers! She truly is a sleuth and her heroes of Agatha Christieâs Hercule Poirot and Sir Arthur Conan Doyleâs Sherlock Holmes, would be proud! Maureen Johnson, your writing is exceptionally clever, fun and so fully scenic that I felt that I was right alongside these characters in Ellingham Academy. I was solving a case with Stevie, hating everything to do with writing with Nate(he was my favorite since writing at times SUCKS!), creating inventions with Janelle and up to no good with DavidâŚI loved this series!
One of the top things I love about books is when the title has an explanation or reason within the book and this one was reveal quite early on. âThe Hand on the Wallâ title is a representation of past lives in a house; it is a way of saying that those who lived before leave things behind and over the years, we repaint or remodel covering up the past. It was such a creepy way of beginning this book but thatâs what made it beautiful too; the past deserved to be discovered and avenged for those who were no longer there. Highly recommend if you want a somewhat easy/cozy mystery that sucks you in with clever characters and want to discover the truth behind a fictional crime of the century.
Read: October 12 - 14 (Book Review Page: https://www.facebook.com/rewbookreviews)
Here we go! The last book of this trilogy; though I will read the other two books in time but as I said before they donât go with the Ellingham Academy setting. They just follow Stevie to her first mystery after this first case and explores her need for finding a good murder.(Sheâs an odd duck but a clever one!) This book, much like the previous one, is very fast paced and full of âWait, what?â moments that keep you reading. Definitely my favorite of the series and worth 5âď¸! This as a trilogy is wonderful and I am excited to eventually read what Stevie Bell gets up to next.
âIf you look for murder, murder may find you.â
Ellingham Academy must be cursed. Three people are dead; two students from the school and now another in accident in the nearby town of Burlington. All at the exact moment of Stevieâs greatest triumphâŚShe knows who Truly Devious is. She has solved the case of the century. At least, she thinks she has. With so much tragedy, and David missingâdisappeared and up to something, as alwaysâitâs hard to focus on the past. But Stevie is sure that somehow all these things connect; the deaths in past and present, the missing Alice Ellingham(she was never confirmed dead) and the missing David Eastman. When a horrifying accident and impending snowstorm force an evacuation of the academy, Stevie realizes she must stay on the mountain to face the storm and possibly a murderer. In this tantalizing finale of the Truly Devious(The Ellinghaam case) trilogy, the dual narratives of from past and present tangle together in an explosive end for all whoâve walked through Ellingham Academy.
I wonât give away anything but I will say that the mysteries of both the 1930âs and present Ellingham Academy is full of twists and turns. I did not expect to be so stunned by the revelations revealed by the sections written in the past and the ones Stevie discovers! She truly is a sleuth and her heroes of Agatha Christieâs Hercule Poirot and Sir Arthur Conan Doyleâs Sherlock Holmes, would be proud! Maureen Johnson, your writing is exceptionally clever, fun and so fully scenic that I felt that I was right alongside these characters in Ellingham Academy. I was solving a case with Stevie, hating everything to do with writing with Nate(he was my favorite since writing at times SUCKS!), creating inventions with Janelle and up to no good with DavidâŚI loved this series!
One of the top things I love about books is when the title has an explanation or reason within the book and this one was reveal quite early on. âThe Hand on the Wallâ title is a representation of past lives in a house; it is a way of saying that those who lived before leave things behind and over the years, we repaint or remodel covering up the past. It was such a creepy way of beginning this book but thatâs what made it beautiful too; the past deserved to be discovered and avenged for those who were no longer there. Highly recommend if you want a somewhat easy/cozy mystery that sucks you in with clever characters and want to discover the truth behind a fictional crime of the century.
chainofnovels's review against another edition
4.0
"My moose," she said in a low voice. "I finally got it. The universe paid me in moose."
omg what kind of ending was that loll I love that
mediocrechelsey's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed this! I loved the mystery and seeing it all come together in the end. Stevie is such a great character!
theresejanosky's review against another edition
2.0
1.5 stars? 2 stars?
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I don't want to say too much because I don't want to be overly critical. I feel like a bit of a bitch for giving this a bad rating because I should have just never read it. But I just haaaad to find out all the answers to the mystery. Were those answers satisfying? No, absolutely not.
I think Maureen Johnson is a good writer. I like her writing style. I like the setting. I like the atmosphere she creates. No complaints there...but just this story...these characters...this plot. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
I probably should have just not continued on with this series after the first book. But I did, and here we are.
My problems with this book are 1) Nothing happens. Maybe two things happen throughout this whole book? The rest is just showing us stuff from the past or Stevie thinking in circles trying to solve the case. 2) David continues to be the absolute WORST with no redeeming qualities. He is just straight up mean a lot of the time. Johnson really put in the work to just make him consistently worse each book. I know some other characters committed murder or whatever, but David is the true villain. 3) The whole mystery is surprise, surprise not that interesting! Also, I don't think it's complicated enough for someone not to have solved it before. And 4) The political side plot with Edward King is absolutely pointless.
I really wanted to like this series, and I am glad other people have. But now, what I would really, really like is to never think about it again.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I don't want to say too much because I don't want to be overly critical. I feel like a bit of a bitch for giving this a bad rating because I should have just never read it. But I just haaaad to find out all the answers to the mystery. Were those answers satisfying? No, absolutely not.
I think Maureen Johnson is a good writer. I like her writing style. I like the setting. I like the atmosphere she creates. No complaints there...but just this story...these characters...this plot. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
I probably should have just not continued on with this series after the first book. But I did, and here we are.
My problems with this book are 1) Nothing happens. Maybe two things happen throughout this whole book? The rest is just showing us stuff from the past or Stevie thinking in circles trying to solve the case. 2) David continues to be the absolute WORST with no redeeming qualities. He is just straight up mean a lot of the time. Johnson really put in the work to just make him consistently worse each book. I know some other characters committed murder or whatever, but David is the true villain. 3) The whole mystery is surprise, surprise not that interesting!
Spoiler
The two idiots George Marsh hires just leave Alice with some friendly family in a cabin, and then she gets sick and dies? Wow, how exciting.Spoiler
The fact that no one knew Alice was adopted? Sorry, don't buy it. People LOVE to gossip, especially about rich people. And Alice wasn't the child of either Albert or Iris? So she would have looked nothing like either of them! And what did her birth certificate say? I don't buy that there wouldn't have been speculation in the 30s, and I don't buy that the current day police would be like "Well, the DNA doesn't match Albert or Iris so guess this isn't Alice! Just a random body that looks exactly like her."I really wanted to like this series, and I am glad other people have. But now, what I would really, really like is to never think about it again.