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tori2629's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
The 5th book about true-crime obsessed, detective prodigy Stevie Bell. While the actual mystery of this one felt maybe a little rushed I guess? I still enjoyed it a ton! I didn't exactly guess the whodunnit, but I rarely do, so to me it was a decent reveal. I love how the mysteries that Stevie is solving take place in different time periods. 1930s, 1970s, 1990s, its a good variety.
MJ is great at writing quirky but realistic characters, and she definitely knows her way around true crime so, I feel like she's really found her niche here!! I have enjoyed her writing before, I liked Shades of London, and my Sister in Law Loved Suite Scarlett, but she MJ has a bad habit of leaving a series on a cliff hanger and not getting back around to writing/publishing the last book... so.... Fingers crossed for Stevie Bell!!
I feel like I'm in the minority for actually liking David, but I'm also a super weirdo who likes Logan the best out of Rory's BFs on Gilmore Girls, so IDK. Maybe I have a just thing for a subtype of "Bad Boys" and it's "Rich Rebels" (I just thought of that now, go me.) He genuinely cares about Stevie, he knows he's not who he was "raised" to be, and he wants to prove it. He screwed up big time at the end, but he's also having a bit of an identity crisis. All of the characters are freaking out about the future in their own way, (except maybe Vi, who seems to be pretty chill about it.) Janelle is WAY overthinking it, and making spreadsheet after spreadsheet, Stevie is absolutely avoiding thinking about it as much as possible, and Nate is secretly stressing and not telling anyone that he might just be the most freaked out of all. David's way of dealing with it is to be an impulsive idiot. It all checks out. I'll be ok with it if things get resolved in the next book... *AHEM. MJ.*
MJ is great at writing quirky but realistic characters, and she definitely knows her way around true crime so, I feel like she's really found her niche here!! I have enjoyed her writing before, I liked Shades of London, and my Sister in Law Loved Suite Scarlett, but she MJ has a bad habit of leaving a series on a cliff hanger and not getting back around to writing/publishing the last book... so.... Fingers crossed for Stevie Bell!!
I feel like I'm in the minority for actually liking David, but I'm also a super weirdo who likes Logan the best out of Rory's BFs on Gilmore Girls, so IDK. Maybe I have a just thing for a subtype of "Bad Boys" and it's "Rich Rebels" (I just thought of that now, go me.) He genuinely cares about Stevie, he knows he's not who he was "raised" to be, and he wants to prove it. He screwed up big time at the end, but he's also having a bit of an identity crisis. All of the characters are freaking out about the future in their own way, (except maybe Vi, who seems to be pretty chill about it.) Janelle is WAY overthinking it, and making spreadsheet after spreadsheet, Stevie is absolutely avoiding thinking about it as much as possible, and Nate is secretly stressing and not telling anyone that he might just be the most freaked out of all. David's way of dealing with it is to be an impulsive idiot. It all checks out. I'll be ok with it if things get resolved in the next book... *AHEM. MJ.*
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Blood
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Grief, and Drug use
ameliapond1434's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Panic attacks/disorders
huntress's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Blood, Gaslighting, Grief, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Drug use, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Murder, Violence, and Vomit
alliemikennareads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
Yet another great mystery in this series, Nine Liars brings our beloved characters together yet again. This book has lots of coming of age tension, and a solid mystery that unfolds around a house in the English countryside. Maureen Johnson is the only person who has written multi-timeline mysteries in a way that I love, and I’ll continue to gobble up this series as more books come out. I appreciated the asexual representation and the coming out moment - it felt authentic but well done.
I wanted a little more resolution from this one on all fronts - the friendships seem much more background than usual, but it still carried the broader story arc along nicely.
I wanted a little more resolution from this one on all fronts - the friendships seem much more background than usual, but it still carried the broader story arc along nicely.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
booksmoviesandstories's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Murder, Violence, Toxic friendship, Drug use, and Alcohol
tinytrashqueen's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Death
Moderate: Gore and Violence
libraryghost's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism
thebakerbookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
4.0
Buckle up for another fun Stevie Bell mystery!
That being said, this one might be my least favorite out of the series. The plot felt more contrived than the others (the reason they all end up in England lol), there’s some friendship drama that was frustrating because you could see it a mile away (teenagers, gah!), and THAT ENDING WAS CRUEL.
Anyways, still really enjoyed it, obviously. The mystery from the past was confusing at first because I couldn’t keep the nine characters straight, but once it got going, I really liked it. It had some nice twists and turns, and I did not figure anything out.
The present story…maybe I’m an old fuddy duddy but I felt like the teenagers were being more teenagery in this one than the past books. Or I could be misremembering the past books lol. Either way, that’s a me-problem because these books are YA and meant for teenagers and I won’t begrudge them that!!
I will, however, begrudge it that cruel cliffhanger ending. I’m not over it and I need the next book ASAP please and thank you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Infidelity, and Violence
Minor: Drug use
whewtaewoon's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
lyla_wicks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
johnson (like always) did a great job at setting the atmosphere for the book, and - as someone who lives in london - i found it very interesting to see it through a visitor’s point of view. a lot of the book did feel like it was focused on what was going on in the characters’ lives (college applications, relationship drama etc.), and, while i did enjoy reading about this, i wish that we saw more about the actual mystery throughout it, and that some more details were mentioned before the reveal to make it more tense. as for the ending, i felt really frustrated about the cliffhanger, as it seemed like all of david’s character development (and his and stevie’s relationship development) had been for nothing
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Gore, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Alcohol