Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The ending!!!
This series is cool because it doesn’t follow the typical mystery series plot formula of a whole new thing every book, but it’s more like one big book in parts, making it engaging, interesting, and builds up anticipation for the next book. It also makes these easy to fly through because it almost feels like an episode in a TV show rather than a four hour movie.
Also, I enjoyed this a lot more than the first :)
This series is cool because it doesn’t follow the typical mystery series plot formula of a whole new thing every book, but it’s more like one big book in parts, making it engaging, interesting, and builds up anticipation for the next book. It also makes these easy to fly through because it almost feels like an episode in a TV show rather than a four hour movie.
Also, I enjoyed this a lot more than the first :)
Now...that is an ending! So good and let me be honest, I have no idea of all the answers to the questions that are left so I am very happy to be reading this series after it's done so I can immediately move onto the third book right now. Stevie continues to be fabulous; I do love a good sleuth who is still learning her trade. The supporting cast also remains wonderful and I cannot wait to see how we wrap this one up.
POPSUGAR Reading Challenge #39: A book revolving around a puzzle or game
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
The Vanishing Stair had its ups and downs for me, with the second half being much stronger than the first, but overall, it was a good time and an intriguing read. Helpfully, the first 10% or so is a recap of what happened in the previous one; it was as if Maureen Johnson knew that I forgot the entire plot of novels the second I finish the final page and decided to accommodate to that specific brand of idiocy just for me.
Reading back my review of Truly Devious, the first book in this series, I can see that The Vanishing Stair improved upon some of the things that I felt were lacking in book one. The mystery element of Truly Devious left a little to be desired, but I was thoroughly entertained by the mystery in this book and feel completely satisfied with the way things panned out. However, it did take forever for the plot to actually get started. I was surprised when I checked how far through the audiobook I was and realised I had already hit the 50% mark: up until this point, so little had happened that I wouldn't have been surprised if I was still 20-30% of the way through. I remember Truly Devious being pretty action-packed, so I was discouraged by The Vanishing Stair being so much slower, but the big reveal in act three honestly made up for the complete lack of action in the first half of the book. It was SO rewarding to solve the unsolved mystery around which the entire series is based just seconds before the narrator read it out.
One of the things I like about this book is the writing style. Apparently, I felt the opposite while reading Truly Devious, and I can still understand why it bothered me then -- it is overly quirky, but for some reason, I found it endearing in this volume. I guess I had a change of heart. Stevie’s inner monologue was so funny, and I also think that Johnson nailed the depiction of the teenage voice. A great example of this is the part where Nate, talking about his struggle to write his second book, says, "Can I just introduce the characters at the start, then put two hundred question marks, and then end by saying the dragon has been slain?" This is SUCH a millennial mood, and I loved it. The realism of it was awesome, and the silly little details like this that annoyed me while reading Truly Devious gave The Vanishing Stair a pleasantly whimsical demeanour. It was a little bit cheesy, something I also noted in the first book, but this didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story very much, if at all.
My one major gripe with this book is the excessive amount of description. There was a lot of narrative real estate assigned to describing characters' outfits, and it was really distracting. Every time a character entered a scene, there would be a detailed account of what they were wearing, and I kept zoning out and having to rewind the audiobook whenever this happened because this is the kind of thing I would normally skim-read while reading a physical book. Setting and location also suffered the same problem, but this wasn't as big a deal -- describing setting is important for helping the reader visualise the scene in their mind, but what the characters are wearing doesn't need to be as specific unless the scene truly calls for it (e.g.a wedding scene, a Halloween scene, etc.).
Again, the diversity of this series continues to be awesome; I don't have much to add on this topic except that I liked that The Vanishing Stair introduced a disabled character. Otherwise, all I can say is this: THAT GOD DAMN CLIFFHANGER!!!! ON THE LAST FREAKING PAGE!!!!! I need book three yesterday!!!!!!!!
Reading back my review of Truly Devious, the first book in this series, I can see that The Vanishing Stair improved upon some of the things that I felt were lacking in book one. The mystery element of Truly Devious left a little to be desired, but I was thoroughly entertained by the mystery in this book and feel completely satisfied with the way things panned out. However, it did take forever for the plot to actually get started. I was surprised when I checked how far through the audiobook I was and realised I had already hit the 50% mark: up until this point, so little had happened that I wouldn't have been surprised if I was still 20-30% of the way through. I remember Truly Devious being pretty action-packed, so I was discouraged by The Vanishing Stair being so much slower, but the big reveal in act three honestly made up for the complete lack of action in the first half of the book. It was SO rewarding to solve the unsolved mystery around which the entire series is based just seconds before the narrator read it out.
One of the things I like about this book is the writing style. Apparently, I felt the opposite while reading Truly Devious, and I can still understand why it bothered me then -- it is overly quirky, but for some reason, I found it endearing in this volume. I guess I had a change of heart. Stevie’s inner monologue was so funny, and I also think that Johnson nailed the depiction of the teenage voice. A great example of this is the part where Nate, talking about his struggle to write his second book, says, "Can I just introduce the characters at the start, then put two hundred question marks, and then end by saying the dragon has been slain?" This is SUCH a millennial mood, and I loved it. The realism of it was awesome, and the silly little details like this that annoyed me while reading Truly Devious gave The Vanishing Stair a pleasantly whimsical demeanour. It was a little bit cheesy, something I also noted in the first book, but this didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story very much, if at all.
My one major gripe with this book is the excessive amount of description. There was a lot of narrative real estate assigned to describing characters' outfits, and it was really distracting. Every time a character entered a scene, there would be a detailed account of what they were wearing, and I kept zoning out and having to rewind the audiobook whenever this happened because this is the kind of thing I would normally skim-read while reading a physical book. Setting and location also suffered the same problem, but this wasn't as big a deal -- describing setting is important for helping the reader visualise the scene in their mind, but what the characters are wearing doesn't need to be as specific unless the scene truly calls for it (e.g.a wedding scene, a Halloween scene, etc.).
Again, the diversity of this series continues to be awesome; I don't have much to add on this topic except that I liked that The Vanishing Stair introduced a disabled character. Otherwise, all I can say is this: THAT GOD DAMN CLIFFHANGER!!!! ON THE LAST FREAKING PAGE!!!!! I need book three yesterday!!!!!!!!
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
While this book certainly wasn’t perfect, it was a clear step-up from the first one in the series. Part of that was due to the setting…everyone wants to read a murder mystery set at Halloween!
I also felt more connected to the characters this time around, namely Stevie and David and their rollercoaster romance. Especially David. Put a man in a button-down and a long coat, and have him smile while being covered in blood, and I’m immediately on board. That being said, other side characters—such as Janelle and Nate—still felt flat and peripheral, like they didn’t exist outside of their moments with Stevie, which was disappointing.
Overall, this book—particularly the ending—made me feel frazzled. So much was revealed, but I was only left with more questions. Where is Alice? What’s the secret about Alice? And what’s the deal with Fenton? And David? His dad? Needless to say, I am sat for the next book.
I also felt more connected to the characters this time around, namely Stevie and David and their rollercoaster romance. Especially David. Put a man in a button-down and a long coat, and have him smile while being covered in blood, and I’m immediately on board. That being said, other side characters—such as Janelle and Nate—still felt flat and peripheral, like they didn’t exist outside of their moments with Stevie, which was disappointing.
Overall, this book—particularly the ending—made me feel frazzled. So much was revealed, but I was only left with more questions. Where is Alice? What’s the secret about Alice? And what’s the deal with Fenton? And David? His dad? Needless to say, I am sat for the next book.