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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Not as good as the other ones but I still enjoyed it. David needs to be not be so self destructive and Stevie needs to stop LYING omg girl get it together.
While I enjoy the narrators voice/performance, everything else about this book felt off the rails compared to the first three and even the fourth book. The first 3 books were really solid and atmospheric, even if I didn't like Stevie's love interest David. The fourth book had less of David and had more of Stevie's friends which I liked.
But this one? Stevie was whiny, really only thinking about David (which, like, WHY? He's the literal worst and I genuinely see no redeeming qualities for him. I just do not get it), worrying over college apps, and lying to her friends (who took it well but should have been more upset at Stevie). I really wanted to like this but I powered through only because I thought Stevie would dump David. It was a weird tour through London with the mystery only haphazardly sprinkled in. Spoiler:
But this one? Stevie was whiny, really only thinking about David (which, like, WHY? He's the literal worst and I genuinely see no redeeming qualities for him. I just do not get it), worrying over college apps, and lying to her friends (who took it well but should have been more upset at Stevie). I really wanted to like this but I powered through only because I thought Stevie would dump David. It was a weird tour through London with the mystery only haphazardly sprinkled in. Spoiler:
Spoiler
she didn't, he broke up with her and it only PROVES he's actually scum
I will keep reading Truly Devious books as long as Johnson keeps writing them, even as they become more and more contrived. In her senior year, teenage detective Stevie Bell is bored and dreading the upcoming fracturing of her friend group as they leave the Ellingham Academy nest. She manages to get involved in a country home murder mystery in England, and of course brings along her three best friends.
It is becoming increasingly ridiculous that Stevie's friends tag along with her to every mystery. It was bad enough at the summer camp in book 4, but it seems like the suspect group (a close knit crew of wealthy uni friends) would barely tolerate Stevie butting into the decades-old murder of their friend, much less her three tag-alongs (David is a special situation, because he is connected to the niece of someone involved in the mystery). They are also increasingly pointless. I love Nate and am always up for more of his wisdom, but even he does not do much in this novel. Stevie's friends are there for personal drama - they do not help with the actual solving of the mystery. I have rarely felt an author's hand so intensely as Janelle, Vi, and Nate being in this novel and not left at Ellingham.
This book also spends so much time on Stevie/David drama. The drama is nearly entirely driven by Stevie's realistic but aggravating insecurities. Stevie is young, she's anxious, and this is her first relationship, so it makes sense that she reacts the way she does. But it does not make me want to root for these two - maybe they should break up, and wait until they are both more emotionally mature to be in a romantic relationship.
While I did not enjoy this book's personal drama, I did, as always, enjoy the mystery. It was perhaps too many suspects at once (I did not even try to keep track of who was who in the friend group), but it was well-crafted and clever.
I assume the next one will be some kind of college murder mystery, and I cannot wait.
It is becoming increasingly ridiculous that Stevie's friends tag along with her to every mystery. It was bad enough at the summer camp in book 4, but it seems like the suspect group (a close knit crew of wealthy uni friends) would barely tolerate Stevie butting into the decades-old murder of their friend, much less her three tag-alongs (David is a special situation, because he is connected to the niece of someone involved in the mystery). They are also increasingly pointless. I love Nate and am always up for more of his wisdom, but even he does not do much in this novel. Stevie's friends are there for personal drama - they do not help with the actual solving of the mystery. I have rarely felt an author's hand so intensely as Janelle, Vi, and Nate being in this novel and not left at Ellingham.
This book also spends so much time on Stevie/David drama. The drama is nearly entirely driven by Stevie's realistic but aggravating insecurities. Stevie is young, she's anxious, and this is her first relationship, so it makes sense that she reacts the way she does. But it does not make me want to root for these two - maybe they should break up, and wait until they are both more emotionally mature to be in a romantic relationship.
While I did not enjoy this book's personal drama, I did, as always, enjoy the mystery. It was perhaps too many suspects at once (I did not even try to keep track of who was who in the friend group), but it was well-crafted and clever.
I assume the next one will be some kind of college murder mystery, and I cannot wait.
adventurous
sad
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:
Yes
Again, I really like it when a book in this series ends with a mystery being solved rather than just the story kind of stopping.
I liked the way the two time lines were intertwined. I liked the details of the crime from the past.
I was annoyed at teenagers acting like teenagers, which is probably just not being a teenager anymore.
I do like how the books deal with and present panic attacks and how the main character deals with them.
Not a lot to say otherwise. Good mystery series continues. Teenagers are moody and act stupid, which is pretty on par for teenagers.
I liked the way the two time lines were intertwined. I liked the details of the crime from the past.
I was annoyed at teenagers acting like teenagers, which is probably just not being a teenager anymore.
I do like how the books deal with and present panic attacks and how the main character deals with them.
Not a lot to say otherwise. Good mystery series continues. Teenagers are moody and act stupid, which is pretty on par for teenagers.