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

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Honestly I didn’t know where this book would go, I felt like it would fall flat after the series. I felt like it wouldn’t hold up to the previous books but honeslty  this is probably my second favourite book in the series, first one being the vanishing stair. I felt like we really saw more into who Stevie was, whereas with the first three books we really saw her as this crime obsessed kid. It was nice to see the author dive more into Stevie’s anxiety problems, and as a kid with anxiety I could totally relate. I loved the little small town “Hallmark” vibe of the book. I loved how we learned more about Stevie’s triggers for her anxiety, and I love that she FINALLY got a love interest. I felt like her ending up with David was the perfect ending. Overall, I did feel like the mystery was sort of an afterthought as we really only see a progression in the solving of the case after around page 250.I didn’t mind this however because of how enthralled I was by Stevie’s personal life and her problems. I felt like the ending of the case was very satisfying. ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE PLOT TWIST. And I felt like Stevie finally relaxing and finally admitting her true love to David was an amazing ending. I hope that their will be another book with these amazing characters in it. (Maybe David was hinting at something at the end, I’d love to see Stevie solve some “real life” murder mysteries.) 

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