Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson

48 reviews

junefish's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Medical content, and Gun violence

Minor: Homophobia, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Infidelity

kayladaila's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

Stevie Bell goes undercover as a camp counselor to solve a decades old murder. This was a laugh-out-loud funny little stand-alone mystery with almost all our favorite Truly Devious characters back! Maureen Johnson continues to write fairly accurate adolescent prodigies, as readers will see Stevie torn between solving the murders and pining for David. The story of this one was definitely riveting and I hope there are more stand-alone Stevie Bell mysteries!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, Death of parent, Car accident, and Child death

Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Panic attacks/disorders

skudiklier's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Another amazing mystery with Stevie Bell! I've never thought of myself as a mystery fan by any means, but between the Truly Devious series and this new book, I'm wondering if I need to rethink that stance. This book just flies by in the best way. Everything about it is good, from the pacing to the characters to the conclusion. As long as Maureen Johnson writes books like these, I'll keep reading them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Medical content, Homophobia, Gun violence, Drug use, Child death, Car accident, and Alcohol

Non-spoiler version: holocaust mention Spoiler version (really don't read this if you don't want it ruined)::

the murderer is a literal nazi from WWII and hiding this is his primary motivation for the murders central to this book. It doesn't talk much about the specifics of the holocaust or anything though

thelizzielibrary's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A great mystery! I really appreciate this case being in a single book, instead of a trilogy this time. The trilogy was interesting, but I don't love Stevie as a narrator enough to not get tired after book two. This time, the characters have their relationships set up and it made it easier to focus on a truly insane mystery! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Violence

bella_cavicchi'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? It's complicated

4.0

Returning to the Truly Devious world was an utter delight. Installment Four is a sharp and well-plotted summertime mystery -- perfect for someone (me) coming fresh off of a Mare of Easttown obsession! My main complaints lie in the ease of the discovery/reveal, but all in all, it remains a successful standalone addition to the series. Good stuff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Medical content, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug use

Minor: Antisemitism

heytherekaity's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, and Infidelity

aliciaclarereads's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Drug use

thaatswhatsheread's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? No

4.0

I was so happy to revisit Stevie and her friends! This was perfect as a ya mystery with nods to horror slashers with the camp murder setting.

We pick up with Stevie the summer after her eventful school year, where she has gained a bit of notoriety as a teen sleuth. A subscription box CEO reaches out to her about being a camp counselor at a summer camp, but also helping him solve a cold case concerning the murder of four camp counselors in the woods a few decades ago. She asks to bring her friends as fellow counselors and the trouble starts.

Coming into this a big fan of the Truly Devious series, I enjoyed the equivalent of hearing from old friends again. As a horror fan, I enjoyed the nods to teen slashers with the nature of the Box in the Woods murders. This is a fun spinoff, deviating from the dark academia setting to a light summer camp murder mystery.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Drug use

Minor: Blood, Car accident, and Death