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A review by slimepuppy
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I'd heard great things about this book, so to say I came in with high expectations would be an understatement. However, even though it was a quick and flowy read, I could not ignore the many problems I had with it, despite knowing it was meant for an younger audience.
- main character, despite being an avid true crime fan, dreams to be a cop. cops, famously known among true crime fans to be useless, corrupt and uncaring of victims. Stevie doesn't even point this out, or make some bullshit statement about wanting to be "one of the good ones", the law enforcement is portrayed as being one hundred percent effective and great
- boring romance with a character that spends the majority of the book being annoying to Stevie for no good reason... and that's about it for his character. one moment they're fighting, the other they're rolling around on the floor making out. why? he hasn't shown a single redeeming quality other than being attractive
- no actual sleuthing or investigating is done by the main character for over HALF THE BOOK. even then, Stevie doesn't do any investigating about the Ellingham case, the main thing that made me want to read this book in the first place
- the main mystery is too old. none of the people affected by it are alive. we don't even hear about offspring or any descendant who might care about seeing the mystery be solved. who cares if Stevie cracks the case? everyone who could find peace from it being solved is long gone.
- the culprit of The main is mystery is painfully obvious from the moment he shows up on the page. I searched for some spoilers out of curiosity to know if my guess was right, and voilà, I even guessed the motive right. does this mean I'm a genius and I get to go to a fancy school in the middle of nowhere? no, it just means the mystery is predictable.
despite all this, the writing is well done, (most of) the characters are cute, and it be could a great read for someone younger as an introduction to mystery stories.
- main character, despite being an avid true crime fan, dreams to be a cop. cops, famously known among true crime fans to be useless, corrupt and uncaring of victims. Stevie doesn't even point this out, or make some bullshit statement about wanting to be "one of the good ones", the law enforcement is portrayed as being one hundred percent effective and great
- boring romance with a character that spends the majority of the book being annoying to Stevie for no good reason... and that's about it for his character. one moment they're fighting, the other they're rolling around on the floor making out. why? he hasn't shown a single redeeming quality other than being attractive
- no actual sleuthing or investigating is done by the main character for over HALF THE BOOK. even then, Stevie doesn't do any investigating about the Ellingham case, the main thing that made me want to read this book in the first place
- the main mystery is too old. none of the people affected by it are alive. we don't even hear about offspring or any descendant who might care about seeing the mystery be solved. who cares if Stevie cracks the case? everyone who could find peace from it being solved is long gone.
- the culprit of The main is mystery is painfully obvious from the moment he shows up on the page. I searched for some spoilers out of curiosity to know if my guess was right, and voilà, I even guessed the motive right. does this mean I'm a genius and I get to go to a fancy school in the middle of nowhere? no, it just means the mystery is predictable.
despite all this, the writing is well done, (most of) the characters are cute, and it be could a great read for someone younger as an introduction to mystery stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Murder