m4rtt4's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-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
3.25
this was... okay, but a huge disappointment after the Truly Devious Trilogy.
I was mostly annoyed with how the mystery was executed, but as a cherry on top I couldn't care less about Stevie and David's relationship either — I don't see what they are supposed to see in each other, and in my opinion Stevie is perfectly capable of being a strong female YA protagonist without having a love interest.
Spoiler
Johnson made Stevie dream of being like Hercule Poirot, but the foreshadowing fell flat with the 'grand reveal'. The point of Agatha Christie's mysteries is that all of the information is available to the reader before Poirot reveals his solution, but since the solution depended on Sabrina's diary which was only revealed in the 'grand reveal' itself, there was no way the reader could have tried solving the mystery themselves and that automatically takes off half of the fun in reading murder mysteries. Also making the killer a literal Nazi is sooo unoriginal and overused — I am no Nazi sympathizer (!!) but I've seen this so many times in all types of American media that you just can't surprise me with that anymore.I was mostly annoyed with how the mystery was executed, but as a cherry on top I couldn't care less about Stevie and David's relationship either — I don't see what they are supposed to see in each other, and in my opinion Stevie is perfectly capable of being a strong female YA protagonist without having a love interest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Car accident, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Violence
Minor: Slavery, War, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Medical content
captainoliimar's review
adventurous
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? No
5.0
I picked this book up a while ago and didn't realise it was part of a series until after I had finished it. That didn't stop me from enjoying the book, though, I feel like it stands up pretty well as a standalone book, though I am very excited to get to go back and read the rest of the series. I thought the mystery was very intrigueing and the twists were so cool and unexpected. The characters were fun to learn about and I enjoyed the way it switched between the present and the past when the crime happened!
Characters: 9/10
Atmosphere: 10/10
Writing: 10/10
Plot: 9/10
Intrigue: 9/10
Logic: 9/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Characters: 9/10
Atmosphere: 10/10
Writing: 10/10
Plot: 9/10
Intrigue: 9/10
Logic: 9/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence
Moderate: Homophobia
theespressoedition's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Drug use and Homophobia
Minor: Gore
laurenevlyn's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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
4.5
Another amazing addition to the world of Truly Devious! I greatly appreciated the fact that the case was introduced and solved in one book (as opposed to the slow revealing of information that occurred throughout the original trilogy). I have to admit, I’m not the biggest fan of David and Stevie (they’re cute but where’s the romantic chemistry??? Plus when he called her “Princess” 😑🤢) Nevertheless, I enjoyed all the characters and their quirks! I can’t wait to read Nine Lives (and the 6th book when it comes out)!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Child death, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Car accident
Minor: Death of parent, War, Antisemitism, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia
orangeoverload's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
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? No
5.0
Another brilliant book by Maureen Johnson. Stevie Bell does it again, this time at a Summer camp. The setting of the camp was delightful to read, the chapters from the 80s were also brilliant, and all of the characters really held their own. I love love love this series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Gun violence
Minor: Homophobia
letiross's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug use
Minor: Homophobia
ciarramist's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Antisemitism, and War
There are very brief mentions of a minor character’s father being a former Nazi, nothing related to this or the Holocaust is discussed in detail, but it is briefly mentioned.marioosa517's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Drug use, Grief, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Infidelity
pigeonsallthewayd0wn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, and Murder
Minor: Homophobia
elliizzzabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
It was fun to jump back in to the world of Stevie and her friends for a one off mystery. The fact that this was a stand alone, rather than a trilogy as the last parts had been, was good and bad. Good because I didn't have to wait for the sequels to finish the mystery but bad because I feel the story wasn't quite as fleshed out as it could have been. Everything wrapped up very quickly and it was hard to guess the killer before the final reveal because it all hinged on a lot of info that was revealed right at the end and that was completely unrelated to the rest of the case. There were hints, but you would have to have been really analysing the info to have made the jump. However this book deserves credit for managing to do the impossible: make me actually like David! I also liked the way the book commented on the true crime genre and the way it affects the real people involved. If there are going to be more books in this series I think I would like another longer more complex story like the original trilogy, probably set back at Ellingham. But this was a nice little summer detour :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Minor: Homophobia