Truly Devious

I really enjoyed this! In the last few years I found in very picky about the YA I enjoy. There tends to be very immature characters with needless drama that just annoys me in YA a lot of time but I heard such good things about this I had to pick it up. I LOVED it! It kept me thinking, and I still am. I love a good mystery and a boarding school with a tragic past so Truly Devious delivered. Can't wait to pick up the next one in the series.

I listened to this on audiobook and really liked the narration by Kate Rudd.

I liked this one. It's not my usual style, but I was captivated. I liked the characters and plot... not so much the romance aspect.

An interesting YA mystery novel (albeit with a weird ending but w/e, curious to see where the sequel picks up). Is anything better than murder mysteries at elite New England boarding schools????

This was a pleasant surprise! I seriously didn't expect to like this book this much!
I felt connected to the main character: Stevie. I think she's great.
I liked the story in general, I was really immersed in the story. I didn't want to stop reading, because when I thought I wanted to take a break, something happened and it made me want to continue reading xD!

It was a solid read. I'm looking forward to reading the next book. Hope it's good.

I found this book interesting in concept, and I understand it's a series and this is the beginning but I don't like how NOTHING was wrapped up AT ALL.

The conclusion came so fast and it seemed so causal and nonchalant. I wanted more from it I suppose. The writing is great and characters were interesting but I had higher hopes for the plotting.

I want to give this book more like 2,5 stars considering how utterly frustrated I was that the ending was just a cliff hanger for the second book. Overall liked the writing style and the little hints to other detective stories though I found the flashbacks to be a bit boring. I wish the first book‘s plot was more tied together in the end.

damn, i was so excited to read this too. if not for the romantic subplot, i would've given this a 4 star. i'm a little frustrated that there are no answers given at the end of the book, but it makes it a good first book for the start of what looks like a series.

I am so glad I went into this knowing I had to read all three to find out exactly what happens. The descriptions of the other two books in this series give nothing away, so I have got to get a copy of the next one ASAP!
The mystery is great. Janelle and Nick are really great friends to Stevie. Larry is a great mentor for Stevie. Lots of other characters have their secrets. Some of those we discover and some I am still trying to figure out. We get to see lots of case file information and a few other flashback scenes. I have 2 suspects, but I am not thinking those are both wrong. I think I figured one secret from before, but again no confirmation on that. This is a really great mystery and a really great boarding school story.

While well-written, this is a series mystery. A whodunnit that does not reveal whodunnit . . . Unless you buy the next 2, 3, who knows how many more.

Extremely entertaining to listen to on audio. It's made my drives more fun for a week or so. Luckily, Johnson repeats the clues and the poems often enough that I didn't have to worry about forgetting anything. Started this series because I know it has ended. Moving right on to book 2. Thanks to other reviewers who gave the head's up about the cliffhanger in book one.

3.25 stars This is a weird one to review. I enjoyed it, but it felt like nothing really happened...even though a lot happened? I don't know. I'm probably going to continue on with the series.

This young adult mystery novel about teens living in a boarding school had not been on my radar at all. It was recommended to me, and without that recommendation I might not have ever picked up this surprising book.

Stevie wants to solve mysteries like Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes, so she applies to attend Ellingham Academy. At this school she can finally flourish and focus on becoming the detective she has always wanted to be. So when things start getting dangerous at her new school, and clues tie into the original murder mystery from the opening of the school, who better to figure it all out?

A mostly enjoyable book with a surprise at the end. I didn't predict anything, but the writing and characters didn't grip me at all.

3.5 stars. A really fun, fast mystery - ideal for getting me out of my reading slump.

I had high expectations for this because of how much everyone else loved it, but honestly, it was very forgettable. The mystery didn't keep me intrigued and I really don't care about what happens next. I didn't really care about any of the characters, the romance was thrown in out of nowhere, and overall it just didn't blow me away.

This was a bunch of fun. I completely missed some major things that were revealed to us without being super obvious. I deeply wished this was a stand-alone mostly for selfish reasons. I really can't wait to see who was the OG Truly Devious and the reasons why they did what they did. I found the audiobook to be really enjoyable as well.

Nice books, I do wish Maureen Johnson could have given us an answer to at least one of the mysteries. I found most of the characters slightly annoying at times. Otherwise really interested and I hope to by her second book.

I suppose this book just wasn't my cup of tea. I thought a YA mystery could be fun, but it ended up feeling too predictable with not very much forward momentum. That being said, I finished it. In the end, it's probably me, not the book.

I don't know if I've ever read a YA mystery, but I really enjoyed this one—honestly, more than I thought I would. It was suspenseful and entertaining. Stevie is an interesting protagonist—a clinically anxious aspiring detective. Janelle is a delightful reminder that you can be passionate about fashion, pop culture, and STEM all at once. Nate is kind of an Eeyore, showing how cynics sometimes make the best friends. I like how Johnson integrated diversity and normalized mental illness. She did it in a matter-of-fact “different kinds of people exist” way. None of it was integral to major plot developments, but it was refreshing and provided a richer backdrop. I also think Johnson did a good job keeping this YA, despite high stakes. A good deal of the YA I read can feel more like new adult, to the point where initially Truly Devious read almost middle grade to me. It soon gets more intense, though, with funny lines and common tropes to level things out. Johnson doesn't tie up much at the end, but I liked this well enough that I'm just eager to read more. [b:Vanishing Stair 39893545 The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious, #2) Maureen Johnson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1529970325s/39893545.jpg 49916464] soon!

3.5/5 stars

Moi qui n'aime habituellement pas les intrigues policières J'ai dévoré celle-ci. Je n'en dirais pas plus, mais je le conseille.

Recensie van audioboek (via Storytel)
3,5 sterretjes

Wat een leuk, mysterieus boek. Een kleine hommage aan Sherlock Holmes en Agatha Christie.
Het mysterie in dit boek wordt steeds dieper en complexer, om dan nog raadselachtiger te worden door de nieuwe misdaad. Ik wou gewoon blijven luisteren tot ik de antwoorden had.
Helaas krijg je er geen in dit boek, want to mijn frustratie bleek dit geen alleenstaand boek, maar een begin van een trilogie. Geen enkele verhaallijn wordt afgerond in dit boek. Het eindigt met 10000 vragen en dan ook nog eens met een heel bizarre, onnodige cliffhanger.
Maar ik heb genoten van de rit en ik heb het geluk dat ik meteen in deel twee kon duiken. Anders zou mijn gevoel bij dit boek misschien eerder negatief geweest zijn, gezien ik één en al frustratie en vragen was gebleven.

This novel is the first in a trilogy written by Maureen Johnson. This novel is set in Ellingham Academy which is a famous private school which is for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. This school is a place where the founders daughter and wife were kidnapped. The story follows Stevie Bell, who starts her first year at Ellingham Academy, she wants to solve the cold case, but the kidnapper of the founder's daughter and wife, makes a return.

I don't know why but I didn't really enjoy this novel. I don't know what it was, but for me personally, I really didn't like the book, the mystery was good I guess, but just didn't care for it, I gave this novel a 2/5 Stars.