Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson

43 reviews

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

Wow, the way that Maureen Johnson set up another murder mystery for Stevie to unravel was so damn entertaining!

This takes place at a summer camp which Stevie is recruited by the owner to join so that she and her friends (Janelle, Nate, David) can attempt to solve the 1978 murders of four camp counselors in the woods. They’re known as the “Box in the Woods” murders and had remained unsolved. I was expecting another few books to fully crack the case but Johnson provided a completely standalone mystery, which was equally shocking and impressive! 

I can’t wait to continue on and read the next book. These books are cozy, funny, and sometimes extremely tense and stressful mysteries, and I love the anxiety representation in them too.

I highly recommend them, and it’d be cool if they adapted it into a movie series! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Cursing, Blood, and War

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

mysterious tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder

Minor: Medical content, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

laurenevlyn'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

4.5

Another amazing addition to the world of Truly Devious! I greatly appreciated the fact that the case was introduced and solved in one book (as opposed to the slow revealing of information that occurred throughout the original trilogy). I have to admit, I’m not the biggest fan of David and Stevie (they’re cute but where’s the romantic chemistry??? Plus when he called her “Princess” 😑🤢) Nevertheless, I enjoyed all the characters and their quirks! I can’t wait to read Nine Lives (and the 6th book when it comes out)!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Child death, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Car accident

Minor: Death of parent, War, Antisemitism, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

rissaandherbooks's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

Incredible!! (I especially love Nate.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Gore, Car accident, Child death, Gun violence, Murder, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Cursing

Minor: Alcohol

brianna_moye's review

adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

ciarramist's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Antisemitism, and War

There are very brief mentions of a minor character’s father being a former Nazi, nothing related to this or the Holocaust is discussed in detail, but it is briefly mentioned.

madisone's review against another edition

adventurous informative 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

4.0

I'm glad to see some of the old characters again. Nobody really changed except for David who no longer really sucks. The case didn't really interest me much this time which sucked. Even though I didn’t like Carson, he was a good character and I would have liked to see more of him. The writing style was easy and good. Nice October book overall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: War

bookedandbusy's review

mysterious tense 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? Yes

5.0

Loved this book so much!! Such a great addition to the series! Can’t wait for the next book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: War

jillkaarlela's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious fast-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? No

4.75

“Truly devious” series is back and better than ever. Usually spin-offs are not as good as the original, but that is definitely not the case for A Box in the Woods. Stevie, now that she has solved the Ellingham crime of the century, is now in demand to solve other murders. A camp director offers Stevie a paid counselor role to come and bring her friends to help her solve the “Box in the Woods” murders of 1978 at the camp where they occurred. This book brings a new summer camp slasher thriller type vibe to the series and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Maureen Johnson truly delivered on the addict-ability of the books, matching if not exceeding the shocking plot twists of the first three books. When I tell you that I never in a million years would have guessed this, I am not kidding. I wanted to stay up all night reading this, but couldn’t because of school, and I went to bed upset every night that I couldn’t keep reading. This book seriously defied every expectation that I had for it, and I am so thrilled to see what new adventures Stevie is going on in the next books. Again, Stevie is such a complex and lovable character. We see straight into her thought process and experience everything with her, including a close up on her mental health struggles. These mental health struggles (anxiety and panic attacks) are presented in such an honest way, which many other books from different authors should take note of. Additionally, it should be noted that Maureen Johnson DELIVERS on the representation! Such good LGBTQIA+ rep!! Again, Maureen Johnson is giving everything and more. If you didn’t know already, I love these books. 
Age rating: 14+ (true crime gets graphic at times) 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Child death, and Death

Minor: Cursing

sunsetcity's review

adventurous dark emotional informative 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Child death, Cursing, Death, Grief, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder