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tanvi45'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Violence
Minor: Drug use and Homophobia
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Cursing, Blood, and War
m4rtt4's review against another edition
adventurous
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
3.25
this was... okay, but a huge disappointment after the Truly Devious Trilogy.
Johnson made Stevie dream of being like Hercule Poirot, but the foreshadowing fell flat with the 'grand reveal'. The point of Agatha Christie's mysteries is that all of the information is available to the reader before Poirot reveals his solution, but since the solution depended on Sabrina's diary which was only revealed in the 'grand reveal' itself, there was no way the reader could have tried solving the mystery themselves and that automatically takes off half of the fun in reading murder mysteries. Also making the killer a literal Nazi is sooo unoriginal and overused — I am no Nazi sympathizer (!!) but I've seen this so many times in all types of American media that you just can't surprise me with that anymore.
I was mostly annoyed with how the mystery was executed, but as a cherry on top I couldn't care less about Stevie and David's relationship either — I don't see what they are supposed to see in each other, and in my opinion Stevie is perfectly capable of being a strong female YA protagonist without having a love interest.
I was mostly annoyed with how the mystery was executed, but as a cherry on top I couldn't care less about Stevie and David's relationship either — I don't see what they are supposed to see in each other, and in my opinion Stevie is perfectly capable of being a strong female YA protagonist without having a love interest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Car accident, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Violence
Minor: Slavery, War, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Medical content
k5t1e's review
adventurous
dark
funny
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Death
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)!
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
marine2907's review against another edition
dark
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? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Violence, Car accident, Drug use, Gun violence, and Infidelity
someryarns's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Minor: Car accident, Gore, Alcohol, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail
letiross's review
adventurous
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug use
Minor: Homophobia
jojo_fiction_'s review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
The 4th book in the Truly Devious series follows Stevie and her friends from Ellingham: Janelle, Nate, and Stevie’s boyfriend David. During their summer vacation away from Ellingham, Stevie is invited to work at a summer camp called Sunny Pines, formerly known as Camp Wonder Falls. She is asked to solve The Box in the Woods murders, an unsolved murder case involving 4 teenagers from the late 1970’s.
Dealing with poorly handled past investigations, small town secrets, and of course, high school relationship drama, Stevie finds herself in a very different environment than Ellingham, and a murder case that is still raw and fresh in the hearts of the citizens of Barlow Corners.
-----
How?? How does Maureen Johnston keep writing books that rope me in completely?
First it was books 1-3 of the Truly Devious series and now this?? The summer camp setting, the small town vibes, NATE!! I'm obsessed.
Maybe its because I grew up going to summer camps like that (minus the murder), or that I live in a small town, (or maybe it’s just cuz I watched fear street 1978 recently) but I was really able to visualize the setting and the small town characters so well. I was on the edge of my seat and I definitely gasped out loud a few times at some of the plot twists and revelations. I liked that I was able to follow along with the mystery pretty easily, but not to the point that everything was obvious (there's lots of notes in the margins of this book with my different theories lol). I also really liked the flashback chapters going back and forth from past and present. I think that it tied the plot together well and kept things moving at a really good pace and also gave us the information we needed from the past to be able to fill in the blanks in the present.
Stevie was, of course, as quirky and clever as ever. I really like how, unlike her last main case where no one is alive to have a personal connection, Stevie was able to see the real and raw pain of the townspeople. Especially with each new true crime investigation that The Box in the Woods case received throughout the years. It made me think about true crime today and how when discussing the cases of people, especially those that have occurred recently, being sympathetic and respectful to the grieving parties involved needs to be at the forefront.
In terms of the other characters, I really wish there were more Janelle moments. I found her character wasn't really plot central like Nate or even David (and ofc Stevie). She was mainly seen tinkering around the camp and missing her partner who was in Thailand for the summer.
David honestly wasn't in this story too much either and tbh I wasn't mad about it. He didn't really add too much except for some relationship drama when Stevie was supposed to be doing her detective thing. And his character development near the end was slightly better but all in all I'm still not a fan.
NATE THO, oh my god I fell in love. An antisocial king. I don't think I've laughed that much over a character's one liners in a while. (minor spoiler) Also, finally writing his story out of spite cuz a kid annoyed him into doing it??? Iconic
He was really forced out of his shell in this book and I love his dynamic with Stevie due to them both hating to show their emotions or feelings. I really hope we get to see more of his character in the future.
All in all, a fantastic read and I'm so excited to see what Maureen Johnson has in store for us in her next story Nine Liars.
Dealing with poorly handled past investigations, small town secrets, and of course, high school relationship drama, Stevie finds herself in a very different environment than Ellingham, and a murder case that is still raw and fresh in the hearts of the citizens of Barlow Corners.
-----
How?? How does Maureen Johnston keep writing books that rope me in completely?
First it was books 1-3 of the Truly Devious series and now this?? The summer camp setting, the small town vibes, NATE!! I'm obsessed.
Maybe its because I grew up going to summer camps like that (minus the murder), or that I live in a small town, (or maybe it’s just cuz I watched fear street 1978 recently) but I was really able to visualize the setting and the small town characters so well. I was on the edge of my seat and I definitely gasped out loud a few times at some of the plot twists and revelations. I liked that I was able to follow along with the mystery pretty easily, but not to the point that everything was obvious (there's lots of notes in the margins of this book with my different theories lol). I also really liked the flashback chapters going back and forth from past and present. I think that it tied the plot together well and kept things moving at a really good pace and also gave us the information we needed from the past to be able to fill in the blanks in the present.
Stevie was, of course, as quirky and clever as ever. I really like how, unlike her last main case where no one is alive to have a personal connection, Stevie was able to see the real and raw pain of the townspeople. Especially with each new true crime investigation that The Box in the Woods case received throughout the years. It made me think about true crime today and how when discussing the cases of people, especially those that have occurred recently, being sympathetic and respectful to the grieving parties involved needs to be at the forefront.
In terms of the other characters, I really wish there were more Janelle moments. I found her character wasn't really plot central like Nate or even David (and ofc Stevie). She was mainly seen tinkering around the camp and missing her partner who was in Thailand for the summer.
David honestly wasn't in this story too much either and tbh I wasn't mad about it. He didn't really add too much except for some relationship drama when Stevie was supposed to be doing her detective thing. And his character development near the end was slightly better but all in all I'm still not a fan.
NATE THO, oh my god I fell in love. An antisocial king. I don't think I've laughed that much over a character's one liners in a while. (minor spoiler)
He was really forced out of his shell in this book and I love his dynamic with Stevie due to them both hating to show their emotions or feelings. I really hope we get to see more of his character in the future.
All in all, a fantastic read and I'm so excited to see what Maureen Johnson has in store for us in her next story Nine Liars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
yoursparrow's review against another edition
adventurous
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? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use