A review by bzliz
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

This is an easy read for any YA mystery lovers and unlike many YA mysteries I’ve read
no mysteries get solved! Clues are constantly missed by police but always found by our teenage detective Stevie. Crime scene investigation takes approximately an hour or two in this world and virtually no evidence is taken by police which is pretty convenient for Stevie. She also somehow avoids getting in actual real trouble for putting her fingerprints all over actual clues (which she doesn’t appear to hand over to investigators anyway) and for tampering with crime scenes.


The romance between Stevie and David came out of nowhere for me. I do enjoy the importance Stevie places on trying to maintain her friendship with Janelle and it would be an easy step to say Stevie is autistic-coded, though it is unclear if that was intentional. 
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