The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson

4.05 AVERAGE

ashleyyyyylove's review

4.5
adventurous challenging mysterious fast-paced

imke_d's review

3.75
funny mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
I'll be real, the beginning of this book was so slow, I put this book down for a few months like 3 times before I finally got into it. Once you got through that first part the book got really fun. I liked the camp setting, and I thought the cold case was interesting and showed that not everything is always black and white. I was really surprised by the end and felt everything coming together, which is always great.
shannonmahoney's profile picture

shannonmahoney's review against another edition

3.0
this book was good just not as good as the other ones. i enjoyed this series as a whole but this book just seemed kinda unnecessary. i know it's technically like a connected stand alone but why? there was a trilogy about a girl solving some murders/kidnappings and it was good and she solved them and that was the end and should've probably just stayed the end. also the boarding school vibes added a lot and this book didn't have them. definitely didn't expect the ending though.
theotherkei's profile picture

theotherkei's review

4.0
The real mystery behind the killings wasn't what I had in mind and that's what I really liked about this book. I had an inkling as to who might have participated in the killings but I never got to guess who the prime suspect was until Stevie explained it all in the end. It was a "SURPRISE" but not the shocking/mind-effing kind.
nancys23's profile picture

nancys23's review against another edition

3.5
adventurous challenging mysterious 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: No

haleymurkin97's review

4.25
informative mysterious 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
emmymemily's profile picture

emmymemily's review

4.0
Oh I hope there are more!!

freyaaaaaaaaaa's review

3.0
3.5
i love the characters so so much but i miss ellingham
hnnhgrvn's profile picture

hnnhgrvn's review

5.0
Loved this! Was so happy to be back with Stevie and the gang. If Maureen Johnson ever publishes more of these I will read them all.
laurenmiller100's profile picture

laurenmiller100's review against another edition

3.75
adventurous funny mysterious
Oh, Truly Devious. I love this series. It’s fluff. It’s fun. Its creepy. It’s implausible but also scratches the exact itch left by Christie and Conan Doyle. Our main cast is very endearing, and these stories are an excellent palette cleanser if you’ve been reading too much grim material lately.


  • Characters: 7
  • Atmosphere/Setting: 6
  • Writing Style: 7
  • Plot: 7
  • Intrigue: 8
  • Logic/Relationships: 8
  • Enjoyment: 8