From the Bookshelf of The Rebellious Readers …

Truly, Devious (Truly Devious, #1)

Maureen Johnson

Start date: October 1, 2020

Finish date: October 31, 2020

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Discussion leader: Lucy Tonks (the invisible life of a reader)

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What Members Thought

Dec 17, 2020 Amelie rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery

“Games are not fun when you don't know you're playing.”

Truly Devious follows Stevie Bell, who is accepted into Ellingham Academy, a school known for its gifted students, and also known for its famous unsolved murder case from the past. Stevie is intent on solving this case, but when another chilling murder occurs at her school, she is soon caught up in a dangerous game where nothing is as it seems.

“You have to take things as they are, not how you hear they're supposed to be.”

I thought this was a “Games are not fun when you don't know you're playing.”

Truly Devious follows Stevie Bell, who is accepted into Ellingham Academy, a school known for its gifted students, and also known for its famous unsolved murder case from the past. Stevie is intent on solving this case, but when another chilling murder occurs at her school, she is soon caught up in a dangerous game where nothing is as it seems.

“You have to take things as they are, not how you hear they're supposed to be.”

I thought this was a well-written mystery with lots of unpredictable moments. The book was a little hard to get into at first with the slow pacing and lack of action for the majority of the first half of the book, but afterwards, things did improve and I enjoyed it. I liked the idea of having two different narrations for the two cases set during separate times yet in the same place, and it really helped establish the setting to make Ellingham Academy appear more darker and spookier, where things aren’t as they seem.

“The thing about looking just a little bit means it’s really easy to look a little bit more.”

The way things were concluded in this book sets things up well for the next book, but I personally would have liked things to have been resolved and explained better. The previous Ellingham case wasn’t even solved and while I understand the case will continue to be explored in the next books, I would have liked Stevie to find more clues, instead of just finding a few unknown objects of significance right at the end. For the other ongoing case, Stevie found a series of clues that pinpointed the blame on a certain individual, but it wasn’t even a definite answer since we don’t know for certain if that was actually the culprit, and I was hoping for more answers that confirmed the truth, and perhaps a less open, incomplete ending.

“Shock is a funny thing. Things get both sharp and fuzzy. Time stretches and distorts. Things come rushing into focus and seem larger than they are. Other things vanish to a single point.”

I liked the characters in the novel that were introduced to the story though. Our protagonist Stevie, is a crime fanatic intent on solving the famous Ellingham case. I really liked her quirky and curious nature. Stevie’s other housemates include Janelle, a black girl with an interest in engineering, Nate, an aspiring author with a low self-esteem, Ellie, an enthusiastic artist, and David, a mysterious coder who gets romantically entangled with Stevie. I did feel like Stevie and David’s romantic relationship felt rushed and underdeveloped considering they were making out not long after meeting one another, when they barely knew each other, but I couldn’t help rooting for them at times during the book. The cliffhanger ending has also made me curious to learn how their relationship will progress in the next book.

Overall, despite a few little things that bugged me, this was still an enjoyable and suspenseful mystery novel, and I’m looking forward to continuing the rest of the books in the series.

4/5 stars ...more

16 likes · Like · see review

Dec 25, 2020 winnie rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, ya, mystery, contemporary

...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Jul 31, 2021 gaby rated it really liked it

AH this was such an enjoyable read!

i was a little sceptical about this one, just having had bad past experiences with mj’s other works but this one pleasantly surprised me!

this book was jam-packed with a captivating and complex mystery story. the tone balanced a light, easy writing style while also maintaining a creepy mysterious undertone of murder and deceit.

with that cliffhanger of an ending, i can’t wait to dive into the next one!

5 likes · Like · see review