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A review by amyteurhour
The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson
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.