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A review by mysticpagemage
The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Book Review
The Box in the Woods
Maureen Johnson
2 Stars
Stevie Bell, 17 year old cold case solving student currently on summer break, recieves an email from a quirky entrepreneur. Carson is now the new owner of a summer camp that was the site of four unsolved, gruesome murders in the late 70s. He is wanting to bring Stevie in to solve the case so that he can start a podcast about the town, the camp, and all that happened there. Stevie accepts his offer on the condition that she can bring along her friends. What follows is three teenagers pretending to be responsible for children while completely lacking any maturity at all. Will Stevie solve the case? Will the town get peace? Will Stevie learn to communicate better with her boyfriend, because that is also an issue in this book that needs resolved, read Box in the Woods in you wanna find out.
The characters themselves did not feel real in the slightest. That has nothing to do with the author. It is just hard to grasp a cold case solving teenager in the year 2024. It is also hard to see these teens as they are presented: getting into a prestigious school based on their talents and drive but lacking emotional maturity and responsibility to be camp counselors. It just felt muddled to me personally.
I think that there were some characters that had the opportunity to be progressive in the way that I would see camp counselors being. Janelle and Nate were more level headed and aware of the things that needed to be done. They seemed to be drastically different from Stevie in how they carried themselves and acted, however I have not read the other books so I cannot confirm if this is the case.
The story it's self really didn't have many twist and turns that would keep you trying to figure out exactly who the culprit was. It was laid out at the beginning that there were three likely suspects however there was never any red herring evidence that led toward one more than the others. There wasn't really much evidence at all and what was evidence was easily missed if you weren't hyper aware of what could be important aspects of crimes. The reveal of who the culprit was felt as if even the writer didn't know which direction to take the book until the last moment.
This isn't to say that there weren't good things about the book. The flashbacks to the 70s were interesting and could have been inhanced upon to give a greater feeling of what those times were actually like. The scene where two characters were being chased was done well and gave the feeling of having objects or trees imploding nearby as they were being shot at. I think over all the intensity could have been cranked up more for a better sense of impending doom in the moment. I also think that some of the evidence could have been done or revealed in better ways.
Over all the book was an enjoyable popcorn read but i would not reread it in the future. Nor would it be something that I recall quickly to recommend to friends or family.
• Initial Response: 2/5 (ready to move on to my next book)
• Recommendation: 1/5 (would not recommend)
• Re-Readability: 1/5 (will not reread)
• Writing Style: 3/5 (easy to read)
• Engagement w/ Plot: 3/5 (of course I wanted to know who did it but also there were issues)
• Character Likeability/Relatability: 2/5 (see above)
The Box in the Woods
Maureen Johnson
2 Stars
Stevie Bell, 17 year old cold case solving student currently on summer break, recieves an email from a quirky entrepreneur. Carson is now the new owner of a summer camp that was the site of four unsolved, gruesome murders in the late 70s. He is wanting to bring Stevie in to solve the case so that he can start a podcast about the town, the camp, and all that happened there. Stevie accepts his offer on the condition that she can bring along her friends. What follows is three teenagers pretending to be responsible for children while completely lacking any maturity at all. Will Stevie solve the case? Will the town get peace? Will Stevie learn to communicate better with her boyfriend, because that is also an issue in this book that needs resolved, read Box in the Woods in you wanna find out.
The characters themselves did not feel real in the slightest. That has nothing to do with the author. It is just hard to grasp a cold case solving teenager in the year 2024. It is also hard to see these teens as they are presented: getting into a prestigious school based on their talents and drive but lacking emotional maturity and responsibility to be camp counselors. It just felt muddled to me personally.
I think that there were some characters that had the opportunity to be progressive in the way that I would see camp counselors being. Janelle and Nate were more level headed and aware of the things that needed to be done. They seemed to be drastically different from Stevie in how they carried themselves and acted, however I have not read the other books so I cannot confirm if this is the case.
The story it's self really didn't have many twist and turns that would keep you trying to figure out exactly who the culprit was. It was laid out at the beginning that there were three likely suspects however there was never any red herring evidence that led toward one more than the others. There wasn't really much evidence at all and what was evidence was easily missed if you weren't hyper aware of what could be important aspects of crimes. The reveal of who the culprit was felt as if even the writer didn't know which direction to take the book until the last moment.
This isn't to say that there weren't good things about the book. The flashbacks to the 70s were interesting and could have been inhanced upon to give a greater feeling of what those times were actually like. The scene where two characters were being chased was done well and gave the feeling of having objects or trees imploding nearby as they were being shot at. I think over all the intensity could have been cranked up more for a better sense of impending doom in the moment. I also think that some of the evidence could have been done or revealed in better ways.
Over all the book was an enjoyable popcorn read but i would not reread it in the future. Nor would it be something that I recall quickly to recommend to friends or family.
• Initial Response: 2/5 (ready to move on to my next book)
• Recommendation: 1/5 (would not recommend)
• Re-Readability: 1/5 (will not reread)
• Writing Style: 3/5 (easy to read)
• Engagement w/ Plot: 3/5 (of course I wanted to know who did it but also there were issues)
• Character Likeability/Relatability: 2/5 (see above)