Reviews
huh. ok. well it took three books to solve one simple mystery. and there’s two books after this? i am absolutely not reading that. but like, these three books were fine. i’m honestly underwhelmed. idek. but it’s over🩷
i really like tunnels!!!
4.5 ⭐️ i totally loved it
stevie finally got her moose
maureen johnson i hate you so much bc how do i as a dreamy mystery lover find your mysteries painful and lackluster to read. ive never been more miserable reading a book. nonetheless A BOOK WITH MURDERS TO SOLVE IN THE QUIET MOUNTAINS IN A FREAKISH SCHOOL. how you managed to do that is astounding in itself and am i terrible to my own self for still wanting to read the next book based on its premise. i am, aren't i
The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson is the satisfying conclusion to the Truly Devious YA mystery trilogy. Stevie came to Ellingham Academy to solve the mystery of Alice's disappearance in 1937. But three people have died since her arrival: one from a tragic accident, one by misadventure, and now one in a house fire. Beset by tragedy and with a looming blizzard, Elligham Academy is shut down. Except Stevie and her closest group of friends decide to ignore orders and hide out at school. As the weather worsens, Stevie pieces together the final clues to solve all four mysteries. 66CCCC - marginalized uhoria maze http://pussreboots.com/blog/2020/comm...
Sooooo good.
idk why i can’t put these down
SO INSANELY EXCELLENT
This should have been combined with the prior book and therefore be a duology. Once again, the plot isn't bad, but soo dragged.
This should have been a duology. Hands down. The story really did not need 3 books, and it dragged. And the ending was sooo disappointing on top of that, the solution to every single one of the mysteries was a let-down. The premise was wonderful, but the execution was poor, and the whole thing ended up boring. There is no suspense, no tension, and Stevie is not a good character. I never understood what she was doing at Ellingham academy in the first place, but this book confirmed that she is not a great detective, she just deducts things by chance. Only a very small portion of the book is about the mystery anyway, and everything interesting is seen through flashbacks, not through Stevie's investigation. This series just doesn't have what it takes. I felt no connection to the characters, setting or mysteries. And I love mysteries. And boarding schools. I really think overall it was very dull and I wish I had known it was 3 books long, because then I'd have known not to continue after book 1.
And then I read the conclusion to this series, which was, of course, the one that tied all the events together. The Hand on the Wall was incredibly fast-paced, and I was kind of surprised by the conclusion. This book made me want to reread the books all over again, but physically this time, to see if I could discover any hints about both mysteries. I do highly recommend the audiobooks (I believe all three are available on Scribd). CAWPILE: 7 | 7 | 8 | 6.5 | 7 | 7 | 7 (Avg: 7.07)
3.25
C & TW: Drug use, referenced alcohol use, murder I'm glad to come across a dual or multiple POV story with characters from the past and present attempting to solve a mystery that's outside of Adult Historical Fiction Romance! I enjoyed Stevie's self-discovery of who Truly Devious is, who killed Alice and Iris Ellingham, and who killed Haze, Ellie, and Professor Fenton. I didn't expect that twist - and love how it was unconventional! Full review here: https://acitygirlsthoughts.wordpress....
Nate is my absolute favourite charcter in this whole series.
i'm glad to have finally reached the conclusion of the mystery, if nothing else. this trilogy could have been a decent novel, but alas, capitalism. the intriguing 1930s mystery is spread thin over three books, and is padded out with unlikable teenage characters. i wanted more on the relationship between iris and flora! i wanted to follow dottie's chaotic criminal classmates and read about the shenanigans leo and iris got into! instead i got stevie (depressed but in a cool way!) and david (depressed but in a hot way!) being the most unpleasant inconsiderate and self important characters, surrounded by two dimensional YA archetypes.
wow. just wow.
That was a pretty epic conclusion. I loved it!
A YA book that is actually YA. I love this series so much. I am such a fan of boarding school stories and this is Nancy drew at a boarding school. Highly recommend to anyone who’s child is looking to get into mystery or just anyone looking for a low key mystery. Honestly not sure how we’ll get another book out of this series but excited to see!
3.5⭐️
I loved it Ohmygod but why is David such a bitch tf
The ending thoooo
I'm smiling so widely right now but also super emotional. I love mystery books but this trilogy is the only ya mystery that actually caught my attention. I'm gonna miss stevie, nate, david, janelle, vi and ellingham academy. also.. can i talk about how i actually figured out who's the murderer after reading the second book? *pats my own back* not in stevies way but i had my own theories. reading mysteries since second grade really payed off
This was such a satisfying ending!!
Highlights
"Like, that's obviously a branch," Vi said. "Should we tell her? She seems really invested in this." "Definitely not," Nate said as Stevie vanished in the direction of the classroom buildings, earbuds already in her ears. "Let her have her moose."
Then two individuals in dark suits with large winter coats over them appeared. They did not fit in with the other officials. "Oh good," Nate said, looking out the window. "The Men in Black are here.Time for the brain wipe," ha pesge vzc'hd
"I'm trying to figure out if this is the stupidest thing I've ever done," Nate said as he kept up the rear with Stevie. "I don't think it is, and that worries me."
