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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
I'd definitely give this book 4.5 out of 5 starts. I loved it and can't wait for the next one. I just felt like it was a little slow and so much of the "action" of the book took place in the last 75 pages. overall though I think this book was amazing. I can always tell that I love a boom when I have to stay up late to finish it and that's what this book had me doing.
I literally can't wait for the next book in this series because the entire time it just felt like this book was building to so much more. it really set the stage nicely for the next novel I just wish I had more of it own story rather that just setting the stage and introducing us to different things.
I literally can't wait for the next book in this series because the entire time it just felt like this book was building to so much more. it really set the stage nicely for the next novel I just wish I had more of it own story rather that just setting the stage and introducing us to different things.
Wow this was great! I was engrossed in the story and the mystery from the very beginning and it only kept getting better and better. The characters were great and I love our main cast Stevie, Nate and Janelle! I was on the fence about David for most of this book and there were points I could barely stand him (I wasn't at all into his little romance with Stevie) but the ending explained a lot about the way he acted and now I'm curious to know more about him. Speaking of endings.. WHAT AN ENDING. I can't believe it ended on such a cliffhanger! I'm glad I'm reading this now that the series is over so I can comfortably binge-read this series without having to wait in torture.
I gave it 4.5/5 stars. I didn't expect to like this book too much because i was scared of all of its great reviews, but i need to say that it was really great. I loved that this book is a YA thriller because we don't have too many of them and this was amazing and i couldn't guess where the story was going and the ending shocked me. I liked the writing style but i found that some of the characters were one dimensional and there were only for the plot and some of them weren't even used for the plot and because of that i gave it 4.5 and not the full 5 stars. Everything else was great and i can't wait to continue whit the next book in the series and I'm reading it ASAP.
A great read! Writing is good and the story is very compelling. Can’t wait to read the next one, glad I already have it on my shelf.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Good writing. Great story in the beginning and book had potential but the “romance” seemed forced and they had the chemistry of wet paper towels. Ruined the book for me.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm going to be up front here and say that the star off is for a mystery novel that doesn't solve the mystery! I don't like that this wasn't done in one installment. That said, I'm already tucked well into the second book, if that tells you how I felt about all the other elements.
I love that this is a traditional murder mystery set in a modern YA world. Johnson ticks all the current YA boxes: culturally diverse? Check. LGBTQ+? Check. Differently-abled? Check. Mental health discussion? Check. But she hits all these points without waving big flags that say "see! I've got it all in here," rather it flows naturally and some of these characters are background while others are primary. And Johnson is witty! This novel is darkly humorous.
Stevie has been admitted to Ellingham Academy, a chichi two-year high school in the mountains of Vermont that admits students based on their passion for a particular subject--for Stevie, the subject is the kidnapping and murder mystery that have haunted the school since its inaugural year. As Stevie learns more about the original case, she is drawn into a new case that may or may not have been an accidental death.
The school is suitably full of hidden doors and passageways to please any fan of Harry Potter and Johnson puts together a school that many students may wish existed in real life (minus the murders). The atmosphere, pacing and clues would make Agatha Christie proud, while the witty writing and characterization should please most fans of YA, heck, most fans of clever writing.
I love that this is a traditional murder mystery set in a modern YA world. Johnson ticks all the current YA boxes: culturally diverse? Check. LGBTQ+? Check. Differently-abled? Check. Mental health discussion? Check. But she hits all these points without waving big flags that say "see! I've got it all in here," rather it flows naturally and some of these characters are background while others are primary. And Johnson is witty! This novel is darkly humorous.
Stevie has been admitted to Ellingham Academy, a chichi two-year high school in the mountains of Vermont that admits students based on their passion for a particular subject--for Stevie, the subject is the kidnapping and murder mystery that have haunted the school since its inaugural year. As Stevie learns more about the original case, she is drawn into a new case that may or may not have been an accidental death.
The school is suitably full of hidden doors and passageways to please any fan of Harry Potter and Johnson puts together a school that many students may wish existed in real life (minus the murders). The atmosphere, pacing and clues would make Agatha Christie proud, while the witty writing and characterization should please most fans of YA, heck, most fans of clever writing.
Dumb, but readable. I don't know why the name Stevie bothers me so much, but it's incredibly annoying. The character (Ellie) who puts babysocks in her hair and can't play the saxophone is absolutely too much and I hate her every second she's mentioned. Nate is a solid character, but not fleshed out enough. Book devotes too much time to character development. Maureen Johnson is known to be obsessive with her ideas, and while I think that's great...it leads to some really annoying inability to self-edit pointless or eye-rolling details. This book was also longer than it should have been for the amount of plot there was in it. The book didn't actually start until 2/3 in, but then ended on a cliffhanger. It really could have avoided this by cutting out half a book's worth of fluff. It really hit its stride then, though.
2.5/5 (Two is too low, 3 is too high, but hey - there are no halves