Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

36 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

4.75

I thought this was so much fun, and the author seems extremely cool. I loved how realistic the characters seemed, and I'm such a fan of a puzzle. I'm really looking forward to reading more in this series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Murder, Toxic friendship, Classism, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol, Mental illness, Bullying, Child death, and Panic attacks/disorders

whyistoothpaste's review

mysterious relaxing medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

It has a nice rhythm. It kept me entertained and also it was pretty nice to see the characters thinking throughout the book. The author established that Stevie is a crime aficionado and obsessed with the Ellingham case so it’s nice to her indulge in her hobbies and her experience. Also even though it was an amazing read, definitely very slow beginning. It took like about 200-ish pages to get into the good nice mystery thriller part. And a lot is still left to uncover. Definitely worth it but time consuming. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

headinthepages's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Grief, Mental illness, Alcohol, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Cursing, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

some_random_person_hi's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

Great until the ending in the way that I can't believe the ending even counts as an ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Grief, Mental illness, and Death

Minor: Racism

booklover26's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

3.5

I liked this book overall, but the first half was slow. The present was boring, while the past was interesting.

But after Hayes died, things started to ramp up and get interesting.

I read the majority of the second half in one day. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Cursing

Minor: Child death, Drug use, and Alcohol

samchase112's review

adventurous mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I'm not a mystery girl, but I figured I'd give this one a try after a recommendation from a coworker — and the season, of course! It was definitely fun, and I enjoyed the mysterious world it set up for sure. The characters were diverse and interesting, and there's a lot going on that I did enjoy. The only reason I'm not continuing the series is because I've heard the ending is disappointing, and I'm not interested in getting into another How I Met Your Mother situation — you know. A fun foray into YA mystery that I don't regret!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

Minor: Classism and Racism

itsheyfay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Stalking

Minor: Gaslighting, Transphobia, and Infidelity

rylin_marie's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

oh. my. goodness. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Murder, Cursing, Torture, Alcohol, Child death, Stalking, Kidnapping, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, and Gun violence

m4rtt4's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

A good start for the series, though it was very obvious from the text that it's a part of something bigger and doesn't really work as a standalone. The characters felt pretty shallow and stereotypically one-dimensional, but I could brush that off as the book's focus was more on the murders and the atmosphere really managed to creep me out at times — also the surroundings of the boarding school were well created and described. I'm excited to read the sequel, but I seriously hope it's got some more depth and action in it🤞🏻

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Grief, Kidnapping, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Alcohol, Mental illness, and Child death

emkaho's review

funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Kidnapping

Minor: Mental illness