Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson

40 reviews

m4rtt4's review against another edition

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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.
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laurenevlyn's review against another edition

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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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marine2907's review against another edition

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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

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whewtaewoon's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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rissaandherbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

Incredible!! (I especially love Nate.)
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someryarns's review against another edition

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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

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hkburke2's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I like the school setting a little better, but hard to complain about a summer camp. I was thrown off that this was self-contained (unlike the first three/the original trilogy...) and I could've enjoyed more of the original timeline to add some meat, but I still just enjoy these characters and the writing. Just fun. 
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strongsun's review against another edition

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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

4.5

Wish we spent more time in the 70s, but the mystery was satisfying 
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chavborromeo's review against another edition

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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

3.5

I'm excited reading this because finally after the Ellingham case there's going to be another cold case to solve and the premise is kinda interesting. And I love to see if there's a development between Stevie and David's relationship.

However, I don't know why I feel disappointed? I hate Carson. He's a fucking opportunist. I feel like Janelle's being left out? Nate and Stevie's friendship❤ And David and Stevie? Seriously, I know their relationship is not typical but I really think they need to treat each other better. And Stevie's so focus on solving the case to the point that she's ignoring her people.

About the case, I'm not expecting its going to be about some Nazi. Like what???? There's no enough foreshadowing. The case is a bit far fetched. The revelation is not satisfying. Like oh thats what happened huh but okay. And the ending is too short😤 Its not really just something I expected but whatever.
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naomi_k's review against another edition

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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? Yes

5.0

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