Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson

57 reviews

brianna_moye's review against another edition

Go to review page

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


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

letiross's review against another edition

Go to review page

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


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jojo_fiction_'s review

Go to review page

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.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

babyleo's review against another edition

Go to review page

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? No

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

alliemikennareads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

3.75

The Box in the Woods was a fun spinoff of the previous Truly Devious books. Just like books 1-3, I read this straight through in a day. 

I loved that we returned to some of my favorite characters and got more of Stevie’s mystery solving adventures. However, this felt a lot more surface level and underdeveloped compared to the prior books. While the story weaves past and present and ties everything together in the end, the “big reveal” didn’t feel nearly as built up to in this book as each mystery felt in the rest of the series. 

I hope for more books in this series because I love Stevie as a detective and her friends are the best. But I’d like a little more focus on the mysteries vs the friend storylines in the future! 

I’d still recommend this to fans of the series - it’s a quick read and an interesting mystery still! 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

marioosa517's review

Go to review page

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


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

hkburke2's review against another edition

Go to review page

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. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

avacadogurl's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

This book was so good, I love these characters and I loved the experience of reading as always!!
I also was able to guess that Patty did something really early on, so I'm very proud of myself :)

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

strongsun's review

Go to review page

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 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

chavborromeo's review

Go to review page

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.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings