Scan barcode
A review by lindsaysofia_25
Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I am Maureen Johnson's biggest fan! There's something so wonderful about her writing style and I'm always impressed by the detailed plotting. This is an author who was made for YA murder mystery, honestly. This novel, and the entire series, encapsulates exactly what I love about this little subgenre of mystery wherein the point is to watch a genius protagonist solve the case, rather than observing the case unfold as the reader yourself. I just love being inside Stevie's mind! At times, I was laughing out loud at the narrative style, and at others I was completely enthralled by Stevie's thought process... it was fantastic!
I have to also point out that this book balances the coming of age and romance aspects inherent to a story following a high school student against the mystery very well. Stevie and her friends feel like real high schoolers, all the way down to being extremely horny at inappropriate moments. The themes in the mystery also serve the personal stories of the characters well and vice versa, which helps everything tie to together nicely.
I just love the depiction of the Nine in the flashbacks to '95, and the dynamic the surviving ones have in the present. I am a sucker for these dysfunctional, friend-cestuous, deeply connected friend groups depicted in books ever since reading Secret History, and Nine Liars really delivered on that front. Honestly I'm also impressed Johnson managed to introduce all of them and get me to remember their unique characters without just overwhelming me considering there are nine of them that all appear in the story at the same time.
Last but not least, two quick comments on particular plot elements. First, I really like that it winds up being Peter and I think putting his flashback right before Stevie explains it was very well-done. Readers saw what happened and his mindset at the time (which can only be described as sociopathic) but it wasn't graphic, which is important for YA (and my sensitive constitution). Second, I like that the mystery is resolved, but the novel ends on a cliffhanger in Stevie's personal life. Readers have enough intrigue to await another book, and Johnson signals that there will be another in this way, but since this part of the series is really a set of spinoffs from the original trilogy, the novel is still self-contained. While I love the trilogy and I do enjoy how intricate the plotting gets when you have three novels on a single set of mysteries, I also think that this and Box in the Woods were well-served by essentially being the literary equivalent of a bottle episode, where the mysteries are solved under time constraints.
I have to also point out that this book balances the coming of age and romance aspects inherent to a story following a high school student against the mystery very well. Stevie and her friends feel like real high schoolers, all the way down to being extremely horny at inappropriate moments. The themes in the mystery also serve the personal stories of the characters well and vice versa, which helps everything tie to together nicely.
I just love the depiction of the Nine in the flashbacks to '95, and the dynamic the surviving ones have in the present. I am a sucker for these dysfunctional, friend-cestuous, deeply connected friend groups depicted in books ever since reading Secret History, and Nine Liars really delivered on that front. Honestly I'm also impressed Johnson managed to introduce all of them and get me to remember their unique characters without just overwhelming me considering there are nine of them that all appear in the story at the same time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder