Truly Devious (Starting from June 2nd)

[Mahi]

Truly Devious read will kick start from June 2nd.

If you are joining this Buddy Read, comment below! Everyone is welcome! If you have already read it, you can join the discussions as well.

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

Thank you for making this! So excited to get started :)

[Mahi]

Jadey, Let me know know your timezone if it's ok with you and the pace of the read, so that we can plan the read accordingly.

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

I’m currently in GMT+1, how about you? I don’t mind about pacing, I can read quite a lot. There are 30 chapters in total so.. how about 10 chapters a week? Or if we read more than that we just don’t discuss any spoilers on here past what we should have read? I don’t mind

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

(if you think we should do it faster/slower than that let me know! whatever works for you :) )

[Mahi]

GMT+5.5. How about 3 chapters a day, so that we can finish in 10 days? chapters are small i guess as the book holds 400 pages.

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

okay sure, I'll try and keep up with that! I've just finished chapter 3.

I got so confused by the prologue. I hadn't read the synopsis so I thought that she was going to be the protagonist! So I was so shocked by what happened.

[yanitta☏]

I’m gonna briefly chime into this discussion bc I love this series, and I had the exact same thoughts when I read the first chapter. And without anyone to cheer me on, I actually put the book down after reading the first chapter just because of that. But then, I felt like I should really read it, and my second attempt to read this book made me love it so much!☺️

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

Hahah I totally get that! For me though it was definitely a 'woah' moment and I was really motivated to keep reading. I think it's rare for a YA book to start straight out with a [redacted]. (I'm not really sure how to go about with spoilers here haha)

I also want to mention how beautiful the map of this is!! I love a good map in a book. I wish it showed where the library and a few other places were though.

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

Also idk how old you guys are or if you can relate but for me personally this book is making me so nostalgic for when I first started university. Such wholesome content with Stevie trying to fit in and make friends!

[Mahi]

I'm loving the atmosphere of the book :) Finished Chapter 3. I go through synopsis when i want to pick a book, but I don't know why i didn't read the synopsis of this one. Ending of the prologue surprised me, and i'm still confused about it. We would like to have you in the further talk, Yanitta.

[Mahi]

The phrase before the start of 1st chapter “EXCERPT FROM MURDERS ON THE MOUNTAIN: THE ELLINGHAM AFFAIR” is confusing me...

[yanitta☏]

The format of this book is unique. Sometimes there are case files, interviews, newspaper articles and things. And I guess that's a really creative way to tell a story. I guess the 'Excerpt' phrase was the cut out letters?

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

It's just saying that the following paragraphs are taken from a book called 'Murders on the Mountain: The Ellingham Affair'. So it's just an excerpt from one of the books that was written about the 1936 murders/kidnapping :)

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

Are you reading an ebook copy? My physical copy has the paragraphs in a different font to differentiate but I've read ebooks where the formatting isn't as clear

[Mahi]

Kindle edition. Font issue confused me Hahah.... Is current pace of the read comfortable or do you recommended any changes?

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

Ah that makes sense! yeah I don't mind!! I won't lie... I have read a couple of chapters ahead of chapter six because I was so engrossed but I wasn't gonna discuss them until tomorrow haha. if the current pace is good with you then I'm fine with it ! :)

[Mahi]

I'm lagging behind :( ... I will pick up the tempo tmrw :)

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

oh no that's okay !! We can dial it down to two chapters a day if that helps?

[Mahi]

we might finish this book before the estimated due date as the chapters are quite charming. I'm expecting a wide character arc for Minerva squad....Finished 9th chapter

[Mahi]

Done with chapter 12. Some dumb things are placed here and there, followed by an exciting advancement in the plot !!

[Mahi]

Writing is simple and yet pretty good.

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

I'm glad you've managed to catch up :) I'm really liking how anxiety is represented in Stevie's character, it feels very natural and relatable so far.

[Mahi]

Not only Stevie, other characters are ordinary, not overhyped, often relatable. Jadey, which chapter are you currently reading?

[riley]

Hi I just started this book a couple days ago and im on chapter 12 do u think I could join the convo

[Mahi]

Of course you can join the discussion, riley. Are you enjoying the book so far?

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

I agree! :) I was a couple of pages away from chapter 15 but now I've read up to chapter 18. I think I might order the next book since we're over half way and I'm really enjoying it! Would you guys be up for reading the sequels?

[Mahi]

First book is good enough, so i'm interested for the sequels. it is difficult to narrate a murder mystery with a gripping narration in 400 pages, but Maureen wrote three books with one killer. I'm eager to know how she managed to fill the other 2 books.

[yanitta☏]

I already read the second book, and in my opinion, it's much better than the 1st book! I ordered The Hand on the Wall from Book Depository 2 weeks ago, and I'm still waiting...but I'll join you if you're going to read the last book.

[Mahi]

Finished chapter 21. We will continue the series :)

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

Just finished reading chapter 23 by accident, oops! Got sucked into the story and wasn’t paying attention to the number. Only 6 chapters to go! Excited to see where the ending will go.

[Mahi]

haha... we cannot control the pace when the plot is too good. First book might be finished by tmrw.

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

Ordered the sequels! I also just finished the book. I'm not sure how much I was gonna be able to read in the coming week so I thought I'd just finish it. I'll save my thoughts until you're finished though Mahi :)

[Mahi]

Finished Truly devious #1 :)

[Mahi]

I have mixed feelings regarding the final chapters, and I'm eager to know the opinions on the first book.

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

Oh brilliant! We timed that well I think! So here are a few of my thoughts I wrote down straight after I finished (put a spoiler tag for anyone else who’s not finished reading yet):

(view spoiler)[
- Disappointed by the ending.
- Wanted more murder mystery, more speculation/clues, feel like I was mislead by the premise. She's meant to be this great crime enthusiast/detective and yet the only things she found at the end were given to her by luck. Which is something Larry says about cold cases mainly solved by luck, but you'd think with her having access to all of these documents and items that she'd figure something out in the first book.
- Thought the pacing was a little off.
- You can definitely tell this is the first book in a trilogy; I obviously haven’t read the other two books yet but I’m wondering if I’ll think at the end that it’d be better off as a duology.
- Loved the setting, the characters.

I did enjoy it overall! I gave it 3 stars. Up until the ending it was a 4 star read for me, I was just expecting a bit.. more. (hide spoiler)]

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

Mahi wrote: "I have mixed feelings regarding the final chapters, and I'm eager to know the opinions on the first book."

What were your opinions and your mixed thoughts of the ending? :)

[Mahi]

I have been considering 4 stars until i reached the final 3 chapters.

(view spoiler)[Revealing Ellie as the person who killed Hayes was not convincing. I expected some connection between the two murders.

stating two students as the culprits of the main murder is equally dumb. i believe the author just wants to surprise the readers, so she just revealed some things in a wrong track.

i think Ellie didn't killed Hayes and even the two students didn't planned or have an intention to kill Iris or Alice. the mystery might have more twists and finally some other guy will be truly devious.

David's secret, son of Edward King, is unnecessary considering all the ongoing mystery.

I've some questions though. one of them is that Stevie found a 8x8 inch small box in the Ellie room, so is 8x8 inch box is considered small? even police can't find that box in the room haha... (hide spoiler)]

[yanitta☏]

My copy of The hand on the wall just arrived in the mail! I'm so happy. I guess I'll be reading it with you guys because I have other books to finish. :))

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

I hadn't thought of the police and the box Mahi! hopefully it's something that's covered in the next book rather than a plot hole. I'll post here once my sequels arrive in the post btw :)

[Mahi]

Though i had issues with the ending, i'm eager to read 2nd book :)

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

The sequels came in the post for me today! So I'm ready to read the second whenever you guys are :)

[yanitta☏]

I've already read the second book, but I'm planning to read the third book this weekend because it's my last free weekend before school restarts. But the time is totally up to you. I'll join in for the discussions.

[Mahi]

Jadey, can we start the second one from tmrw, so that we might have a chance to join Yanitta for the third book?

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

Yeah sounds good! I've been buzzing to start so tomorrow's perfect !

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

I've read the prologue so far, for some reason I'm struggling to get back into it. I think it's because it's started off talking about new characters. I think I feel a bit deflated because with mysteries it feels like cheating a little bit if you can't guess who it is from the start? If that makes sense. I know it has to span three books but I think I'd rather have had the bulk of the characters already introduced by now. I'll try again tomorrow !

[yanitta☏]

You'll get used to them. I felt the same way, but after a while, you start to get familiar with the new characters and they're interesting!
But I felt like making that the first chapter/prologue was a mistake. The author should've swapped the order of chapters.

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

Yeah I figured, it's just a little of a roadblock to build momentum reading. I'm into the first chapter now but now the obstacle is how everything from the last book is being recapped. I think once I've got this chapter over with I'll be a lot more into the story.

[Mahi]

Finished chapter 3 :)

[Jadey (the Bookish)]

Finished chapter 3! The parallels/similarities between Stevie and David against Francis and Eddie are really interesting. I don't envy Stevie's trip with Edward King at all, it must be a horrible feeling having to make a deal with a man like that with completely different morals to you.