By: Maureen Johnson
#1 in Truly Devious Series | 416 Pages | Pub. 2018
Truly Devious At A Glance
- Overall Rating: ★★★★★
- Heroine: Nancy Drew 6.0
- Dude: We are as on the fence as Stevie
- Steaminess: Spin-the-bottle level
- Brutality: I’m not going near any tunnels anytime soon
Pairs Well With
Old Fashioned
- 1 1/2 oz Bourbon or Rye whiskey
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- 1 Sugar cube
- Few dashes plain water
Spoiler Free Review
I read this book because I saw Maddie and Sara talking about it on twitter and decided I needed to jump in on this book. Both Teagan and I love true crime and listen to murder podcasts all the time. A girl who tries to solve a cold case and encounters another murder along the way? Sign me up.
Because I love all things dark & twisty, the setting was right up my alley. Set on a private mountain in Vermont, Ellingham Academy can only be accessed by the school designated coaches. It’s a park-and-ride situation for everyone, so escape is difficult. Stevie, who is obsessed with true crime, convinces her parents to let her go to this boarding school in the middle of the woods to solve a cold case from the 30s.. Yep, we are already creeped out and nothing has happened yet.
We meet a cast of interesting characters, most of which are child prodigies. Internet stars, artists, novelists etc. are the kids that Stevie will live with and befriend. This made for some very entertaining situations. A study yurt? Hysterical. Also, a yurt seems like it would be really cold in Vermont. Just saying.
Stevie may be one of my favorite characters of all time. She is witty and so incredibly smart. She kind of reminded me of The Mentalist or Shawn from Psych with her observations and how quickly she pieces things together. Her ability to read people is outstanding. And she has this subtle sarcasm that I definitely relate to.
“Whether they were real or fake, Stevie didn’t know, and she wasn’t sure it mattered. A table full of teeth is a table full of teeth.”
But my favorite thing about this book was how Johnson addressed anxiety. So many people dismiss anxiety as people needing to “stress less” and don’t address it as a real health problem. Stevie works through hers in a few different ways and experiences the reality of just not sleeping due to extreme anxiety. As a person who wakes up at all hours and can’t sleep until they work out the anxiety, I appreciated the accurate representation of how it works and what can help stave it off and/or solve it.
“I think we all come here because we have something in our heads we can’t get out.”
Have you read Truly Devious? Let us know what you thought in the comments!
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I’m so happy that you liked this one!! And I’m not going in any tunnels either, yikes.
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Thanks for the recommendation!!
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I bought this ebook a couple of months ago. I can’t wait to read it. Great review!
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Thank you!!! Hope you enjoy it!
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Thank you! Me too 😊
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This sounds great! I love the notion of a study yurt…but you’re right. You might need a parka in VT. I’m glad to hear that anxiety was treated in a sensitive way in this book.
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Thank you!!
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I’ve been seeing this book around loads and I’m so happy you enjoyed it! I definitely need to start reading more mystery novels and I think this will be a good start! Awesome review!
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Thank you!! This is definitely a good book to get with reading mystery novels. Let us know how you like it!
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😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
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Ooooh! This book looks right up my alley. I’ll likely add this to my list for the fall!!
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Yes! It was awesome!
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Must add this one to the TBR as well… It never ends! I don’t think I’ll even get through all the books I want to read haha. Great review as always x
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Thanks! Loved this one. But it has a serious cliffhanger!
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OH NOOOOOO! Not a Cliffhanger!
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I knowwwww! But its still worth reading and just means we have to plot to get our hands on the next book!
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Who do we need to pay to make this happen faster???
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Wow. This book sounds amazing. And I love how they addressed how anxiety can lead to insomnia. That part isn’t always depicted in books. Definitely will add this to my TBR!
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enjoy!!
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