Reviews with content warning for Death - Nine Liars

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson

45 reviews

pen_to_paper's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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siobhanward's review against another edition

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mysterious 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? No

3.0

I'm a little miffed that this series is going to be at least six books long, yet the Shades of London series never got completed (this is not critique aimed at Johnson, mostly just at the publishing world in general). All I know is that I hope this series actually gets an ending, because I've yet to recover from Shades of London.

Anyway, that aside, this was an ok addition to the series. Not as strong as the first few books, honestly. The stories are getting a bit further and further "out there." I get that Johnson can't keep Stevie and her friends in the mountains of Vermont forever, but a group of underage students just being allowed to go abroad alone for no real reason seemed a bit much for me. I'm curious to see if Johnson will continue the series past the end of Stevie's time at Ellington. It's already hard enough to keep the gang together, much less explain how that's possible when they're at different universities. Anyway, that's an aside. I'm curious to see what the next book will hold.

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zimmerlemon's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

4.0

I flew through that! Very fun once you get into it. Super solid murder mystery/spooky fall vibe. I liked the flashes back and forth between current events, past events, witness reports etc., that really added to the vibe. The one thing that really got me

is the stupid David cliffhanger at the end. Idk why this couldn’t be wrapped up and then if there are sequels, deal with that then that. In the space of like 3 pages the book went from a great standalone read to an infuriating cliffhanger situation that really takes away from the conclusion of the mystery imo. So imma try to just erase that bit from my mind lol.

I didn’t know this was from a series so maybe that would change my opinions but I don’t honestly feel very motivated to read the previous books haha

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callidoralblack's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious

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

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mariposa517's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this. It was going to be 4.5 stars, and then the ending.

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theoriginalbookdragon's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.25

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kenzaett's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Oh wow. This book made me feel so much! Whilst book 4 in the series wasn't my favorite, felt too rushed and obvious - this one, with the setting in London, so many new characters, and a deep exploration into the real personalities of our favorites, was a much better "sleuths abroad" Version than A Box in the Woods (I might be biased though because I, too, studied abroad in England😅)
The mystery was hard to solve, I couldn't get behind it until 80% of the book, which might have just been because we didn't know the characters as well... But I love how they were all fleshed out, had different identifications... I loved how Stevie and Izzy grew together, and I understand why people have been hating David for the past 4 books (I didn't, I just found him very... ambiguous). This book was very emotional. More so than the mystery focused, thrilling, scary triology - there was a current threat and danger, this one just explored an older case and there wasn't much danger posed to the kids. There were many more mature themes, which I liked, as the characters grew up along the readers over the course of the books. And I got annoyed by Stevie. A lot. I understand Janelle. I understand Nate. She still needs a lot of maturity, a lot of growth. She's still processing who she is and who she wants to be, and can't make peace with the idea she has to go to an actual school and not just rely on solving whatever mystery finds her during her adult years. All the other ones have something to their own, rube Goldberg machines whilst having good grades, a book out whilst still applying to 71 colleges, even David, who's doing "as little as possible" and feels inadequate next to Stevie... But she doesn't seem to want to move on from her successes, and that might just inevitably become her downfall. But I don't think there's another book planned to explore that. And that's okay. I feel like Stevie's chapter is over - I thoroughly enjoyed the series over the past few weeks, but I'm okay not continuing, and letting my own imagination run for what happens next.
I'm not as "trapped in this universe" as I've felt with other triologies, and I definitely find that this is also a good standalone, without having to read everything in order and beforehand. Thank you, Maureen, for this adventure.

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