Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson

15 reviews

rylin_marie's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? No

4.25

omggggg i love this series !!!

okay so for a while i shipped stevie and david, then stevie and nate, then stevie and hunter, and then overall picked david. 

the ellingham family is so dear to my heart i love them. and dottie epstein !! they all deserved sm better my heart breaks for them all. 

the only thing that annoys me is the stereotyping. this book automatically assumed all republicans are bad and racist and sexist which def isn’t true. i get there are DEFINITELY some people (not just republicans) like that and its completely disgusting bhr just assuming they all are is kinda annoying ? 

(if we’re being so fr i hated david for like 99% of the series and tbh im still not a huge fan 😭)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Torture, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Medical content, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Murder, Violence, and Vomit

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

Minor: Addiction

elsebeok's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Confinement

themoodreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Drug use, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Cursing, Addiction, Death, Alcohol, and Child death

laurenevlyn's review

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.5

Amazing book. Amazing series. Amazing conclusion. The Truly Devious Series is a mystery masterpiece and The Hand on the Wall is an amazing ending to the Ellington case. I can’t wait to read the next two as soon as possible!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Kidnapping

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Drug abuse, Gore, Child death, Addiction, Pregnancy, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Racism

oceanwriter's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.0

Questions finally get answered in The Hand on the Wall. Who is 'Truly Devious'? Who killed two of the academy students? What happened to Alice Ellingham? And the latest question, who killed yet another connection to the school and the Ellingham case? With all of the recent tragedies, the school risks being closed for good.

Stevie isn't the only one desperate for answers, and though she does have the biggest piece of the puzzle figured out, she still doesn't know why two of her friends have been killed. Meanwhile, David is on a mission to sabotage his father's presidential campaign. This leads to a group of the academy students staying behind at the school despite an evacuation order... because nothing could go wrong trapped in a blizzard in a school that's shaping up to be cursed.

The story winds down in this book and focuses a lot on the historical part of the mystery. It's also slightly more character-driven than the previous two books. I'm curious about what's next given this one doesn't end on a cliffhanger. So far, I've had fun with this series and plan on finishing it in the near future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, Drug use, and Mental illness

Minor: Addiction

maggiegirouard's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

really good, I actually wasn’t able to predict pretty much anything that happened which normally I can, so that was exciting because I genuinely had no idea what was going to happen next, which made it fast-paced and quick to read. Clever, interesting how all the details connected and worked out. Really good representation of anxiety. Some really good, well-written, original lines. Personally I think this was the best of the 3. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, and Body horror

strongsun's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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

4.5

Bit annoying nothing came up about the dna or whatever proof it was that Alice's estate had so stevie didnt technically solve the mystery

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Alcohol, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Infidelity, and Gun violence

emily_mh's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

This was terrible. I invested three books worth of time and money for THIS???????

Already, the culprit of the original mystery being Marsh was disappointing, not because I had predicted this from book one, but because money isn't an interesting motive!! It sucks!! And then Johnson goes and makes it the motive for the MODERN murders too???? And the murderer is a bare sketch of a character at that??? And also, it turns out Alice died of measles???? Did someone say massive cop out??? And then Stevie doesn't want to present the evidence about Alice's real parents, because that way the money stays with the school. With a PRIVATE. SCHOOL. Set up by a BILLIONAIRE. And people go on thinking Alice is missing instead of paying her respects and letting her rest. Other annoying things include: nothing actually happening in this book and a lack of tension despite the really interesting premise of being snowed in on a mountain in the middle of nowhere; David suddenly being okay with Stevie; Frankie and Eddie serving no purpose or character arc beyond hoarding evidence for future Stevie to find; and finally, the random moose motif that doesn't mean anything. The only thing saving this book from a one star is that it was borderline entertaining and creepy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Death, Child death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Violence, Cursing, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Medical content, Ableism, Kidnapping, Animal death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Gun violence, War, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Blood, Addiction, Drug use, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Vomit, Grief, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Racism, Suicide, and Stalking

Child birth, explosions, adoption, loss of a loved one (friend, aunt), illness

roncanread's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Alcohol, Addiction, and Drug use

Minor: Bullying