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skyfluff8's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Drug use, Gore, Body horror, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
camiclarkbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Stevie Bell is back! The fifth installment of her “Truly Devious” series, “Nine Liars,” was another fun YA cold case murder mystery, though it lacked some of the charm of the previous books.
“Nine Liars” sees Stevie Bell struggling with her senior year of high school, unsure what she’s going to do next. Her friends are focused on college applications and her boyfriend, David, is at university in London, which leaves Stevie alone with her thoughts and worries, until David suggests she and her friends come to London for a study abroad.
While abroad, Stevie learns about a double-murder from the 1990s, that the police wrote off of a burglary gone wrong. A group of nine tight-knit best friends played a drunken game of hide-and-seek while on vacation at a country house. The next morning, two of them were found dead, murdered with an ax. A relative of one of the remaining seven friends believes that there is more to the story and convinces Stevie to investigate.
“Nine Liars” had a lot of promise to deliver more of the quirky Stevie Bell readers loved in the previous books in another destination murder like in “The Box in the Woods.” Instead, “Nine Liars” felt like a sitcom episode where the characters go on vacation.
The book spent a lot more time focusing on Stevie’s personal life, particularly her long distance relationship with David. Previous “Truly Devious” stories have shown us that when Stevie’s investigating, it’s all-consuming, usually to the detriment of her personal life. In “Nine Liars,” it’s essentially the opposite. While this is probably excellent personal growth for Stevie, it’s not the character readers love.
All in all, “Nine Liars” was a good YA mystery with the same clever twist reveals that the “Truly Devious” series is known for. However, the case was rushed and the characters felt flatter than their usual vibrant selves.
This murder mystery would have been stronger as a duology, but since Johnson recently signed a deal for two more Stevie Bell mysteries, it’s likely that “Nine Liars” will serve as a bridge to a new arc for the peculiar teen detective.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Death
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Alcohol
letiross's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Drug use
thewoodlandbookshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Addiction, Vomit, Grief, Death, Murder, Suicide, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, and Alcohol
toffishay's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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? No
3.0
This was a weaker mystery than the others in the Truly, Devious series. A little harder to follow and more of a guess at the end. The travel through London dragged the story to me, but others might find that part interesting. The more social drama between Stevie and her friend group was interesting though; I would have liked to see more of them to offset how annoying Stevie is in this one! The book leaves off on a cliffhanger that I think will have me coming back.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Death
Moderate: Violence, Grief, Infidelity, and Murder
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Suicide, Medical content, and Death of parent
bookedandbusy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I really enjoyed this book! I found it a bit slower paced than the previous books, but regardless it was an incredible book still! a lot was left up to debate so I’m wondering if there will be another book or if it’s just meant to be an open ending
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Suicide
kayladaila's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Murder, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Classism, Colonisation, and Drug use
purrpurr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.0
they came back and suddenly they are out of reach again. with that ending though, i am certain there will be another book. i just ........ need another one.
another spoiler warning for everything that follows.every truly devious book can be split into the mystery part and the personal part. the personal part was fine, great even but unfortunately this was the weakest book mystery-wise.
i loved the set up but if i may quote my notes: .... peter helped with the whiskey thats all im saying. and although i had many other hunches, this was kind of obvious from the first time it was stated. the fact peter yelled “i’m fine” after throwing up was also so suspicious. and although i loved the time jumps, it just made the whole story slower because stevie had to find everything out after the reader did. just like we could already figure that there was an important hint on one of the analogue pictures – it just took the characters so long to get to that.
so yeah, you could quickly cross out many suspects. for some reason i was instantly sure all the women were innocent. i LOVED sebastian, so i was simply praying he was innocent (and there was loads speaking for that so). oh, and julien was also a given. everyone dissed and disliked him, it would have been too obvious. which leaves yash and peter. the trauma poor yash probably has from this week. horrible. (thinking back to when my notes said: peter and yash <3 married haha guess not)
one more thing: did we find out what the button was? /gen
am i tripping right now or did stevie never tell us. i thought the button was code for the clothes peter had been wearing but i guess not. what was the button? if anyone paid enough attention, please enlighten me.
now we’ll get into the recurring characters. my darlings. although, maybe not in this book – looking at you stevie. i mean yes, lesson learned, but she was so mean and heartless to her friends a few times throughout the book. everything is david, david, david and where did that get you, huh, stevie? (they were NOT on a break, he is in the wrong).
while we have another david L, we have only nate Ws, obviously. except he spent 5K on collage applications, i guess. (i’m baffled this is a thing in the states). apropos being baffled about culture: stevie could have been a little less startled about british and european culture, i know she is smarter than this. shoutout to david though, who answered all her questions about behaviour patterns with “well, they’re british”.
HAPPY COMING OUT NATE ILU AND U DESERVE THE WORLD!
another spoiler warning for everything that follows.
i loved the set up but if i may quote my notes: .... peter helped with the whiskey thats all im saying. and although i had many other hunches, this was kind of obvious from the first time it was stated. the fact peter yelled “i’m fine” after throwing up was also so suspicious. and although i loved the time jumps, it just made the whole story slower because stevie had to find everything out after the reader did. just like we could already figure that there was an important hint on one of the analogue pictures – it just took the characters so long to get to that.
so yeah, you could quickly cross out many suspects. for some reason i was instantly sure all the women were innocent. i LOVED sebastian, so i was simply praying he was innocent (and there was loads speaking for that so). oh, and julien was also a given. everyone dissed and disliked him, it would have been too obvious. which leaves yash and peter. the trauma poor yash probably has from this week. horrible. (thinking back to when my notes said: peter and yash <3 married haha guess not)
one more thing: did we find out what the button was? /gen
am i tripping right now or did stevie never tell us. i thought the button was code for the clothes peter had been wearing but i guess not. what was the button? if anyone paid enough attention, please enlighten me.
now we’ll get into the recurring characters. my darlings. although, maybe not in this book – looking at you stevie. i mean yes, lesson learned, but she was so mean and heartless to her friends a few times throughout the book. everything is david, david, david and where did that get you, huh, stevie? (they were NOT on a break, he is in the wrong).
while we have another david L, we have only nate Ws, obviously. except he spent 5K on collage applications, i guess. (i’m baffled this is a thing in the states). apropos being baffled about culture: stevie could have been a little less startled about british and european culture, i know she is smarter than this. shoutout to david though, who answered all her questions about behaviour patterns with “well, they’re british”.
HAPPY COMING OUT NATE ILU AND U DESERVE THE WORLD!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Death of parent, Outing, and Toxic friendship
butterflygirlkmc's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Death
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol
korpney's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Alcohol