A review by elliizzzabeth
The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-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

3.75

It was fun to jump back in to the world of Stevie and her friends for a one off mystery. The fact that this was a stand alone, rather than a trilogy as the last parts had been, was good and bad. Good because I didn't have to wait for the sequels to finish the mystery but bad because I feel the story wasn't quite as fleshed out as it could have been. Everything wrapped up very quickly and it was hard to guess the killer before the final reveal because it all hinged on a lot of info that was revealed right at the end and that was completely unrelated to the rest of the case. There were hints, but you would have to have been really analysing the info to have made the jump. However this book deserves credit for managing to do the impossible: make me actually like David! I also liked the way the book commented on the true crime genre and the way it affects the real people involved. If there are going to be more books in this series I think I would like another longer more complex story like the original trilogy, probably set back at Ellingham. But this was a nice little summer detour :)
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