_amandareads 's review for:

Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson

2.0

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I had high hopes for this book and it fell short. I absolutely loved the original trilogy of this series. Things started to go downhill for me in the fourth installment but there were still elements I enjoyed in that story. Sadly, I can’t say the same for Nine Liars. The Stevie and David romance plot line started taking up more space in book four and it completely took center stage in this book. The mystery here was half-baked and confusing and the romance plot overshadowed it to the point it was nearly impossible to follow. I would’ve preferred more focus on the mystery, detective work and even the friendship/group dynamic aspect present in the previous books. Janelle, Nate and Vi are what keep this stories afloat for me and there seemed to be very little of them in this story. Nate and Janelle are present to some extent but played very little part in the plot. Vi was basically nonexistent here. I literally forgot they existed at one point. Which is sad because I loved the dynamic of their relationship with Janelle in the previous books. The previous books feel like classic mysteries with a fun supporting romance plot to keep things interesting. This book felt like a toxic teen romance with a not fully fleshed out mystery unfolding in the background. Overall, pretty disappointed in this book. It feels like a complete departure from the rest of the series. But will I read the next installment? Of course.