Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Truly, Devious by Maureen Johnson

21 reviews

mcc004's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Death

Minor: Death of parent

akirokis's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Death of parent, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

brookey8888's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted 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? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this. I do have to say the mystery doesn’t happen really until almost 250 pages in. Which I don’t mind because I was enjoying the characters in the relationships forming I’m excited to see where this goes. I will be continuing. I also really like Stevie as a main character and 
I related to her a lot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, and Kidnapping

books4em's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

Loved Truly Devious! Yet another young adult cozy mystery that twists and turns, keeps you guessing till the last page, and makes you somehow love and hate the characters. Mental health is touched on in the first book, and I’m hoping it might be further discussed in the series. There’s also some queer side characters, including one who uses they/them pronouns! The relationships between the characters are constantly changing and interesting to see the typical high school dynamics here even though they’re at this special school. I would’ve loved to see more focus on the Ellingham kidnappings/murders -that’s why I didn’t give it 5 stars. But it’s like a typical mystery novel, many subplots and tie-ins. Can’t wait to pick up the rest of the series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gaslighting, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

parkerbehnke's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

It was… okay? Maybe it was because I listened on audio book and there are a lot of characters so I couldn’t always tell what was going on. Not sure if I want to read the others. Ends on a cliff hanger but I don’t really feel intrigued to read more…

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping and Murder

Minor: Death of parent

user753478852's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol and Death

Minor: Death of parent

emily_mh's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The first thing I will say about this one is that it had really, really weird pacing. The best way to describe it is that it felt like one big set-up for the next book, as nothing was really solved or fully investigated. That being said, I really enjoyed reading this. It had so many of my favourite elements: secret tunnels, an isolated boarding school, hidden spaces, and a cold case. Also, Johnson described what Stevie was thinking and feeling really well, so that she felt like an actual person. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, Blood, Cannibalism, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, and Vomit

bookishgoob's review against another edition

dark emotional lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

the beginning half was incredibly slow and i hated it until i realized that there was several books in this series and then it made sense. the atmosphere was being built. this book is a nice dark academia read. i’m starting the second book now.  the main character stevie is a little annoying and a little “not like other girls” which annoys me in books. also her obsession with true crime makes me gag. i hope she learns soon that true crime involves real people and that even though she knows a lot about police proceedings doesn’t mean it’s going to be like her podcasts. i like the building relationship between her and david. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Violence

effys's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious 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

5.0

I am in love with this book, it had an amazing mystery and kept me hooked throughout. I really want to jump into the next book asap. 
I really enjoyed the characters in this book, they all felt real and their were characters I trusted and characters I was very suspicious of but the story kept me questioning whether my opinions were eighth or wrong. The story was interesting and I want to know more about it and the ending made me desperately want to immediately pick up book 2 to find out more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

messykiwireads's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Grief, Gore, and Kidnapping

Minor: Death of parent