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maggieha 's review for:
Truly Devious
by Maureen Johnson
I liked this book, but I also expected so much more from Truly Devious and it seems am in the minority with this one.
In therms of contemporary YA, it was pretty solid book, although tad boring sometimes. But in terms of a mystery fiction, it didn't do well for me at all. Not the worst, mind you, the idea was interesting enough, but the execution was kind of frustrating.
One of the biggest reasons is: the plot of the mystery wasn't even resolved, about 60% (at least) of the informations we needed to get by the end of the book were left hanging or not answered. I know this is a trilogy, but when you have a mystery book with a case or two, it needs to have a wrapped up arc, at least a little, we need to know the answers to the whodunnit, to the riddles. Yes, some things can be left hanging when it's a series so we will want to continue, but thi ain't it. It just felt very sloppy to me in that aspect.
Secondly, while I thought the idea of the cold case from around 1930s was interesting, I thought the execution was not exactly great. It was done in a kind of messy way, always switching up between not only past and presen, but also many POVs and times in the past. Most of all, I felt real disconnection from the past side of the story b/c of those things. The past and the present POVs just didn't fit right together for me and it made me slightly disinterested in the past ones.
In therms of the mystery aspect of the book, the things that were happenening in the present were kind of rushed and uninteresting and pretty much unresolved.
I thought many charactes here had a lot of potential for sure. While I didn't connect to the heroine, I thought Stevie was likeable. There were other quite interesting side characters, my fevourite being Nate. I hope we get much more of him in the future. David, I did not care for tbh. I didn't care for the slight bits and pieces of the romance either, I thonestly thouth the two characters didn't fit with each other at all, like AT ALL.
The setting was probably the most - or one of the most - interesting things about the book for me. The book is set in a private school built on a mountain. Although I wished we got to follow Stevie's classes much more, I liked the setting quite a bit.
Let's talk about the mytery and the ending
Not only did we not get all the answers for the part in the present, but the past one was even worse off. It was not revealed who kidnapped his wife and daugther and killed the student either. At the very end, Stevie finds some kind of mystery box in Ellie's room that point at the fact that maybe two student from the academy were behind the past murders and kidnappings in the 1930s. Student that we never once saw in the pat POVs. So ok, it may have been them, who cares when I don't even know them or about them? The only mystery of it that was interesting to me - slightly - was why was the box with their things and photoes in Ellie's room. Is she maybe the daughter of the kidnapped Alice, or rather the granddaughter? Or did she just find the box? Or was she a part of some kind of group?
There's 50% of me that just doesn't care at all. The other half has read one book already and just needs to know the answers, so I will read the sequel to know.
Lastly, the revelation of who David's father was... I mean, should I even care about it? Because I don't.
The plot slightly bored me at parts, the mystery didn't grab me all that much (no, not even by the end) and nothing really surprised me either (and the thing by the very end, I didn't care for it enough to be surprised tbh). But I liked it well enough as a contemporary book - the characters were nice, the setting was interesting and it was generally en entertaining book to read for a while. But this is a mystery story, and unfortunately, that side of the book just didn't hold up for me as well.
In therms of contemporary YA, it was pretty solid book, although tad boring sometimes. But in terms of a mystery fiction, it didn't do well for me at all. Not the worst, mind you, the idea was interesting enough, but the execution was kind of frustrating.
One of the biggest reasons is: the plot of the mystery wasn't even resolved, about 60% (at least) of the informations we needed to get by the end of the book were left hanging or not answered. I know this is a trilogy, but when you have a mystery book with a case or two, it needs to have a wrapped up arc, at least a little, we need to know the answers to the whodunnit, to the riddles. Yes, some things can be left hanging when it's a series so we will want to continue, but thi ain't it. It just felt very sloppy to me in that aspect.
Secondly, while I thought the idea of the cold case from around 1930s was interesting, I thought the execution was not exactly great. It was done in a kind of messy way, always switching up between not only past and presen, but also many POVs and times in the past. Most of all, I felt real disconnection from the past side of the story b/c of those things. The past and the present POVs just didn't fit right together for me and it made me slightly disinterested in the past ones.
In therms of the mystery aspect of the book, the things that were happenening in the present were kind of rushed and uninteresting and pretty much unresolved.
I thought many charactes here had a lot of potential for sure. While I didn't connect to the heroine, I thought Stevie was likeable. There were other quite interesting side characters, my fevourite being Nate. I hope we get much more of him in the future. David, I did not care for tbh. I didn't care for the slight bits and pieces of the romance either, I thonestly thouth the two characters didn't fit with each other at all, like AT ALL.
Spoiler
It didn't help that I was suspiciou of David for 99% of the book, the other 1% I plainly did't like him. I think I would've liked Stevie more with Nate instead. They would fit better. I just didn't WHY these two were interested in each other at all.The setting was probably the most - or one of the most - interesting things about the book for me. The book is set in a private school built on a mountain. Although I wished we got to follow Stevie's classes much more, I liked the setting quite a bit.
Let's talk about the mytery and the ending
Spoiler
David maybe being killed by Ellie.. We STILL don't know, do we? She ran away, which may reasonably point out the fact that she was behind it, or some part of his death. But was it planned? Did the murder him? Was it an accident somehow? Doubtful, but still. Did she have help? Why did she do it? There's so many other little deatils we don't know and we don't even know the big anwers either. Eilli's motivations were weak, feeble, just like he character. It didn't make me care that she was - maybe - the one who did it.Not only did we not get all the answers for the part in the present, but the past one was even worse off. It was not revealed who kidnapped his wife and daugther and killed the student either. At the very end, Stevie finds some kind of mystery box in Ellie's room that point at the fact that maybe two student from the academy were behind the past murders and kidnappings in the 1930s. Student that we never once saw in the pat POVs. So ok, it may have been them, who cares when I don't even know them or about them? The only mystery of it that was interesting to me - slightly - was why was the box with their things and photoes in Ellie's room. Is she maybe the daughter of the kidnapped Alice, or rather the granddaughter? Or did she just find the box? Or was she a part of some kind of group?
There's 50% of me that just doesn't care at all. The other half has read one book already and just needs to know the answers, so I will read the sequel to know.
Lastly, the revelation of who David's father was... I mean, should I even care about it? Because I don't.
The plot slightly bored me at parts, the mystery didn't grab me all that much (no, not even by the end) and nothing really surprised me either (and the thing by the very end, I didn't care for it enough to be surprised tbh). But I liked it well enough as a contemporary book - the characters were nice, the setting was interesting and it was generally en entertaining book to read for a while. But this is a mystery story, and unfortunately, that side of the book just didn't hold up for me as well.