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meikesbieb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death and Murder
honestlyyours77's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Kidnapping, Death, and Murder
themoodreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Child death, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Death, Kidnapping, Blood, and Alcohol
awebofstories's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
My daughter has expressed interest in reading Agatha Christie and loves watching television adaptations. When I heard about this series (on the All About Agatha podcast), I immediately purchased the boxed trilogy and the following 4th book for her for Christmas.
And she still hasn't read it.
However, my interest was piqued. I asked to borrow her books, and she handed over the still shrink-wrapped trilogy, promising that she would start it once summer break arrived. I went into this book as an opportunity to discuss something with my daughter, but I ended up enjoying it on its own merits.
We meet Stevie, a student at an eccentric and exclusive Vermont Boarding school with a dark history. In fact, it was the dark history that attracted Stevie to the school. You see, Stevie wants to be the next iteration of Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and Miss Marple, and she is determined to solve the mystery at the center of the school's history.
Stevie is a wonderful character. She's a believable teen dealing with many of the problems teens face today. She also suffers from severe Anxiety. If I could only choose one thing to praise in this book, it would be Johnson's depiction of Stevie's anxiety and how she works it into the story. This is probably the best depiction of it that I have read anywhere.
I loved the world of this book. Yes, the basis of the school is a little ridiculous if you spend too much time thinking about it, but it works perfectly here. I wish I could have attended this school, or one like it, without all the murder. I can't wait to come back to Ellingham Academy.
The one thing about this book is that it is the first in a trilogy, and readers need to incorporate that into their expectations. While I gave this book a grade based on my enjoyment, I reserve the right to change that once I finish the trilogy. (To clarify, the first 3 books work as a trilogy. After that, books are more or less series novels).
My only complaint about this book is that I had trouble keeping some secondary characters straight. Set in a school, there is necessarily a not-small cast here. One of the things that I respect most about the book's strongest influence, Agatha Christie, is that she could create a distinct cast. Here, some of the students melted into each other, and I sometimes had trouble keeping track of who was who.
Other than that, this book was a great success for me. I'm excited not only to read the next book but also for my daughter to start this series, as I know that she will enjoy it.
Moderate: Mental illness, Murder, and Child death
lily1304's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
I get that the main character is really into true crime, but it seems like she never took a second to think about the negatives of true crime? You'd think if it's something you've dedicated your life to, even if you're a teenager, you'd read the Wikipedia section called "Criticisms" and think about the glorification of police and the distraction from the everyday, un-podcast-worthy violence that kills many more people than serial killers ever did? A character name-checks J Edgar Hoover! Was that supposed to be ironic??
In the same vein, "anarchists" are this vague shadowy group that operates in the 1930s murder the main character is investigating. The book is clear that the anarchists likely aren't actually responsible, but it's weird they're thrown in there as a Boogeyman without ever examining why they might have had beef with Mr. Rich who founded the school. "He was a philanthropist! A good guy! He funded the town's schools and fire departments and police officers!" HMMM.
That said... I mean, I did stay up late to finish it and i immediately put a hold on the sequel. There's a chance that the series is self aware about these things and will develop some more complex ideas about crime and justice in the later books. I'm genuinely very curious where the story is going.
Graphic: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death
Moderate: Murder and Kidnapping
Minor: Alcohol
tangleroot_eli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
That said, I felt annoyed or outright alarmed about several things in the book that made it harder to get through than I'd expected.
- I know how pedantic this sounds, but the kidnapper is not called "Truly Devious." They're called "Devious." The "Truly" is the letter's closing, like "Love, Tipper," "Sincerely, Your Friends at State Farm," etc. And while I bought that Stevie, a 21st-century teenager who probably doesn't write many formal letters, wouldn't know this, the idea that the 1936 characters would look at a letter signed "Truly, Devious" and call that letter-writer "Truly Devious" was one of the least believable parts of the book.
- Relatively early in the book, Janelle tells Stevie that Vi uses they/them pronouns. Stevie proceeds to use she/her pronouns for Vi for the rest of the book. From this I have to conclude that either Stevie, Maureen Johnson, or the Katherine Tegen copyeditors don't care about respecting people's pronouns.
I did note the book's one solid clue as to Devious's identity before Stevie starts putting things together in the end. But it was so obvious and heavy-handed in an otherwise subtle book that I immediately dismissed it as a red herring. The fact that it genuinely is a clue? I'm still not sure if that's sloppy writing or sheer genius on Johnson's part. -
The book never points toward an adult as a possibility for Hayes's killer. I think this is Johnson's way of showing how little adults matter to Stevie: they're either obstacles to overcome, like her parents, or mentors to learn from, like Larry. But in a book about and allegedly for teenagers, I was disconcerted that the only suspects were teenagers. -
How do I loathe David? Let me count the ways. He's not funny. He's not charming. He's a classist, misogynist, douchey edgelord who thinks that being an ass to pretty much everyone he meets is the way to stick it to his morality- and propriety-obsessed father and doesn't realize or care that he's actually recapitulating his father's worst behaviors. The first time he and Stevie kissed, I groaned, "Noooo! Not this asshole!" The “if a boy is mean to you, that means he likes you, and you should totally go along with that” trope needs to die yesterday. After the scene where David wheedles his way into lunch with Stevie's parents, I was so livid I almost couldn't read on. This isn't my first teen sleuth rodeo. I understand that Johnson writes David this way so that when Stevie starts to suspect that Hayes' death was murder, readers immediately think of disdainful, deceitful David and share Stevie's panic: Is he a killer? Has she been making out with a killer? But this is done in such a clunky way that Johnson may as well put David in a T-shirt that says, This schmuck isn't the killer. But if he's not a killer, he's still a schmuck. I'll read to the end of the original trilogy, because I'm too interested in the Ellingham case and Hayes' death not to know how they resolve. But if David continues to be a major player and doesn't have a major character transformation, I'll not be reading the standalones, because no one needs that much schmuck.
Moderate: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Bullying, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
karly_ackley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Murder, Death, and Kidnapping
ditareads___'s review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Murder
david_slack110507's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The biggest strength of the book is that it is fast-paced, I got through most of the book very quickly and the condensed chapter length helped with this as they didn't drag on for too long. Another highlight of the book is that the dual timelines work very well with me sometimes preferring the past timeline over the present Ellingham one, but both were interesting, and their associated mysteries were good as well though in that regard I would say that the Truly Devious plotline from the past was a much more interesting mystery than the one in the present regarding the murder of Hayes.
My biggest issue with the book is that I found it very difficult to connect with the characters as with regards to the past timeline, the story is told factually that sometimes has some character moments that help develop the cast of characters for that timeline, but this doesn't happen often. The cast of characters for the present timeline wasn't also the easiest to connect as very few characters stood out to me apart from Nate and Stevie who I think had the most distinctive personalities/characters though I would be interested in seeing them develop, I just found that it was quite overwhelming with the number of characters introduced and then often left for extended periods of time before being reintroduced into the story.
The second half and near the end is definitely the strongest part of the book and I am very interested in seeing where both the Truly Devious and Hayes' murder throughout the series. I do hope that the series doesn't drag out the mystery, but I have a feeling that it will reach a satisfying conclusion. I would give this a 4 but I feel like a 3.5-star rating is much more appropriate as my main issues such as the lack of connectivity as well as Stevie and David's relationship kind of came out of nowhere. I feel like my experience with this book would have been much better if I had read it more consistently, so this is a fault on my part.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder
Moderate: Violence and Grief
Minor: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Cursing, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content
simply_fran's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Child death, Murder, and Kidnapping