Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Box in the Woods

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.

Content Warnings

beckyremillard's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

Fresh off solving the murders at her boarding school (the current ones and the ones from the 1930s), Stevie is invited to solve four murders that happened at a summer camp in 1978.

I loved the original Truly Devious series and I love that there’s another one. Technically this book could probably be a stand alone, but for character development and to understand the references it’s best if you’ve read the first three.

This book is somewhere in between medium to fast pace in my opinion. It’s primarily told from Stevie’s perspective, although it occasionally goes back to 1978.

I absolutely did not expect the twist of who did it. There’s a bunch of information leading up to it but we don’t know all the evidence until it’s revealed by Stevie.

NAZI’S?!?!

Not really related to the plot of the story, but I thought Nicole was so annoying and unnecessary. I thought maybe she’d redeem herself at the end but nope.

Content Warnings

puddleshoes's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

silika'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? No

4.5

Content Warnings

thelastairbadger'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? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

dilani's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It gave what it was supposed to be giving…but at the same time it didn’t. I love Stevie and her friends, especially Nate. I was ecstatic to see more of him. Although the mystery Stevie was solving kept me reading, it felt like something was missing from the overall book. Maybe I didn’t feel as excited as I did when I first read Truly Devious? Still a solid book and I would love to see where Stevie goes from here.

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