Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Nine Liars

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson

23 reviews

bookb1itch's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I really adore Stevie Bell and want to get students in my library to read her stories. I disappointed myself by getting into this one before I realised I'd missed "The box in the woods", which i now need to go back to. This one ends on a surprise cliffhanger, so I hope Maureen Johnson has more cases for Stevie to solve in the near future. Loved that Stevie and her friends were tourists in London for part of this book - some great references to tourist hotspots. Also lovely that part of the book was set during the Brit Pop War of 1995 between Blur and Oasis. Nostalgia for me, but something that might interest today's teens(?). These books talk the reader through the clues which help solve the crime and in my opinion are a better introduction to the genre than "A good girl's guide to murder" series, which is all over TikTok etc. I feel some of the content of "AGGGTM" is too adult for its target audience.

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itsheyfay's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

Honestly not my favorite of the series, but I still love Nate, Janelle, and Vi, and Izzy was a great addition to the group.

But the main mystery was hard for me to stay engaged with and follow. There were too many variables and too many people, so the reveal (while some pieces of evidence made sense) didn’t feel gratifying. Plus, maybe I missed it, but there was no clear motive for the murders.

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readingwithmeredith's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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bella_cavicchi's review against another edition

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funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I love the Truly Devious series. The books don't always hit the mark, but I don't really mind. Give me teen detectives solving cold cases! Why not! That said, I felt that the murder of the 90s far surpassed the present-day narrative here, and so my one complaint (if big) is that I wanted to spend the whole book in the Nine's company. It may also be my Cambridge/London bias...

A delight to devour all the same.

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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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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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