Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson

8 reviews

simply_fran's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Didn't feel like it was playing fair...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, War, Panic attacks/disorders, and Infidelity

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Violence, Car accident, Drug use, Gun violence, and Infidelity

marioosa517's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Drug use, Grief, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Infidelity

emily_mh's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.25

2.25, and only because I thought this *slightly* better than The Hand on the Wall. Ugh, what a let down. I genuinely had high hopes for this because, like, look at the premise. Yet Johnson somehow turned this into a boring story with no atmosphere??

The biggest issue was the pacing. There was no thorough investigation of the murders as there was really only one track that Stevie investigated, making the plot THIN. Why weren't there proper red herrings??? And then ALL of a sudden, Stevie has solved the mystery. I'm not even kidding, it just happens out the blue when I thought there would be at least a chapter or more till the big reveal.

And to me, she didn't really solve anything, she just found a diary, and Sabrina did the rest.

In terms of the actual resolution, it was okay, though to me didn't quite fit.

It also felt kind of gross in that it felt like Johnson was capitalising on the concept of undercover Nazis without really addressing the horrors of Nazis and WWII.

The second worst thing was that I don't think Johnson did her research, which made it feel like a cash grab (this was not helped by the fact that the writing was a little sloppy and repetitive, which led me to think it had been rushed through the writing and editing process). Any person interested in true crime worth their salt KNOWS the significance of stabbing as a murder method, especially how many times a person is stabbed, and also knows that spree killers exist. These two things are incredibly relevant to the crime that took place, given four people were stabbed to death (a different number of times) in one night. Yet they are NEVER DISCUSSED. 

Finally, the characters. Nate was a true saving grace in this. I loved him, and I loved his character development (even if THAT felt a little rushed and behind the scenes). I also liked that Johnson set it up in the beginning that the story would only feature Stevie, Nate and Janelle, as I really like this trio and their dynamic. But then DAVID comes on the scene. His presence was simply unnecessary, and he was only included to offer some relationship drama, which wasn't needed as it took space away from the already thin plot.

The drama didn't even go anywhere, as Stevie didn't apologise for being rude and David is still going to England when they didn't even have a discussion about it. Also, the fact that David turned down the money reeks to me of more privilege than if he had accepted it?? Like, that random guy was only going to offer it to him??

Janelle was turned into an ornament which infuriated me. And Stevie herself felt flat and annoying (she is at her most irritating when with David), and the whole imposter-syndrome thing could have been played up so much more to give her some depth. 

So, yeah. I did not like this. I really hope Johnson doesn't release any more books in this series because I will feel obligated to read them as I am a completionist, but I have lost all faith that I might enjoy them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Violence, Cursing, Gun violence, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content

Minor: Vomit, Blood, Cancer, Mental illness, Gun violence, Death of parent, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Suicide, Homophobia, War, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexism, Alcohol, Ableism, and Sexual content

Hunting, internalised misogyny, loss of a loved one, motorbike accident, incarceration, Nazis

breezer's review

adventurous funny 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

3.75

Enjoyed being back with the characters but missed Ellingham and the reveal really came out of nowhere. So much love for Nate!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity

junefish's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Medical content, and Gun violence

Minor: Homophobia, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Infidelity

skudiklier's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Another amazing mystery with Stevie Bell! I've never thought of myself as a mystery fan by any means, but between the Truly Devious series and this new book, I'm wondering if I need to rethink that stance. This book just flies by in the best way. Everything about it is good, from the pacing to the characters to the conclusion. As long as Maureen Johnson writes books like these, I'll keep reading them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Medical content, Homophobia, Gun violence, Drug use, Child death, Car accident, and Alcohol

Non-spoiler version: holocaust mention Spoiler version (really don't read this if you don't want it ruined)::

the murderer is a literal nazi from WWII and hiding this is his primary motivation for the murders central to this book. It doesn't talk much about the specifics of the holocaust or anything though

heytherekaity's review

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, and Infidelity