Truly Devious Truly Devious Series #1 by Maureen Johnson
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Web ID: 15412769Truly AMAZING
"Truly Devious" by Maureen Johnson is a captivating mystery where we learn about Ellingham Academy, in this boarding school, a big mystery lies. I loved Stevie’s character because her drive to uncover the truth behind the mystery that lived to be decades old was so cool to me! I Have never read a mystery novel, but I would say that this is a nice start as I dive into more mystery books in the future. The way Johnson really brought this character to life and the descriptions of her made me picture it very well. An aspect I enjoyed about this book was the eerie atmosphere. The academy seems so mysterious and the way the book was set up with more and more tension leading up to that final chapter where you learn everything, it just made my head explode! Stevie racing against time to solve the mystery, and seeing her face her own insecurities and problems along the way sparked my instincts. While this book has its features, at times it felt a little slow for my pace. I’ve never read a mystery book so I’m not sure how they are usually paced, but honestly, as someone who gets distracted easily, it did take me a while to finish this book. Another clever plot point of this book were the extra clues that you go back to and say “Hey, wait a minute, I didn’t even notice that before!” It introduces an extra layer of complexity to this book, and as it unravels (when something is actually happening in the book) I was on the edge of my seat trying to piece the puzzle together with Stevie. Overall, I would say that this book was fun to read and I had a nice experience and I don’t regret reading it one bit.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Great read, love the side by side.
I think that this book has a really unique way of telling the story of the new and old crimes laying out. They part of the modern case and then some of the cold case in chapters. I really like how its like two story's playing out at once and its an amazing read. I also love the protagonist, she's sarcastic and introverted and obsessed with true crime so very relatable.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Got me out of a reading slump
My sister recommended this book and it was absolutely amazing! The pacing was perfect to keep the plot moving but not so fast that the details and clues seemed random and out of the blue. It was such a fun read I could hardly wait to pick it up again. After I finished it I got the next two and the third one was phenomenal; I read it in one sitting.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Loved this Book!
This was the first book I have ever read with a mystery in the plot. This book makes me want to pick up more mystery! I would recommend this book!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Boarding school murder stories are sure wins
After recently delving into the mystery genre, I think it’s safe to say that, despite its flaws, Truly Devious is among some of my favorite murder mystery books. Boarding schools, unsolved murder cases, and eerie riddles are probably the best elements to put together. The story follows true-crime enthusiast Stevie Bell in her first year at Ellingham Academy, a prestigious boarding school for young, bright students to cultivate their talents. This school had faced calamity when Albert Ellingham's wife and daughter were kidnapped in the 1930s. Now, in the 21st century, Stevie sets out to learn everything about this case (and maybe even solve it herself.) I mostly enjoyed reading this book because the setting was absolutely captivating. I adore early boarding school atmospheres in novels, and adding murder on top of it makes it such an appealing topic to read about. The school also had a lot of diversity within it, with students coming from all different backgrounds and abilities. In some cases though, I feel like some of the characters mentioned were a bit unnecessary, and it felt like they were just there to add on to the representation in the book. However, I loved the anxiety representation of the story. Throughout the story, Stevie suffers from panic attacks and intense anxiety, and the way Johnson wrote her going through this was realistic and well done. And I just loved Stevie’s character as a whole. She was a focused person who knew what she came to the school to do, yet she was still a bit awkward and vulnerable. While she was a friendly person, she still had her flaws, which just brought her to life even more. And I like how she was able to have almost a Sherlock Holmes vibe without seeming like too much of a genius. Moreover, while I do think that Stevie’s housemates were all interesting characters individually, I feel like they kind of faded into the background of the story. Out of all the characters, I think that Nate was probably my favorite; he’s a writer suffering from a creativity crisis, and even though he isolated himself from the rest of his housemates a lot, he was such an amazing and supportive friend to Stevie. I think that one of the main flaws with this book, however, was the romance. When the love interest was introduced, you could tell that he and Stevie would have an odd dynamic, and as the story moved on, they would constantly bicker with one another. And while I can see that Johnson was trying to set it up as an enemies-to-lovers sort of trope, the tension between them didn’t really feel romantic to me. So when the romance was introduced, it really caught me off guard. Ergo, the romance in the novel felt really unnecessary to me, but I think it would have been quite interesting if it had progressed just a little slower. Overall, although I think some elements of the story could have been written a little differently, it was a fun read and I couldn’t put the book down. Anxiously waiting to get the second book!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Boarding school murder mystery!
A murder mystery set at a boarding school with an obviously neurodivergent protagonist. Loved it!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
great characters
I really enjoyed this mystery. I loved that it had elements of Agatha Christie and even directly referred to her for inspiration. I love that this school values intelligent children instead of pushing their ideas to the side. At the same time I also liked that these kids behaved like kids and not miniature adults.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
So fun!
Perfectly quirky murder mystery that combines modern wit and YA characters with a vintage school setting and unsolved mystery from the past. Addictive and fun! Recommend for older teens and up.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com