Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

Title: Truly Devious

Author: Maureen Johnson

Cover: I like the cover. The title font is fitting for a mystery. The cover is a little busy, but not overly.

Review: Stevie, who is a crime buff, is off to a specialized high school, where students get to focus on their own specialities. Stevie's plan is to solve the cold case of the murder and missing person case of the wife and daughter of the founder of the school, from back in 1936. But then a current day student ends up dead, and she gets wrapped up in that mystery. Are there connections? Will Stevie solve the cases?

I have to start by saying that even though I've only read a few of her books (the Shades of London series), I adore the author Maureen Johnson, or at least what I know about her from her online personality, and what I saw in person once at ALA. She is fabulously quirky and fun. I saw a little bit of that personality in Stevie in the beginning of the book and then again about three quarters of the way through. Maybe it was there the whole way through and I was just distracted and didn't catch it the whole time.

Even though it was obvious that the reader is supposed to catch that there is something more to David, I wanted to know more about him from the start. By the end of the book, I'm still not sure we know all there is to know, and I look forward to finding out.

I enjoyed the intermixed mysteries, and look forward to seeing if the mystery of Iris and Alice can be solved. I think Johnson's storytelling of these two mysteries was well-handled. Both were given adequete time and attention, and it was not confusing to the reader.

Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for the next book!

Comments

Shiver and Linger by Maggie Stiefvater - Slight Spoiler Alert

Review written on August 7, 2010 ** Mildly Spoilerish** Books 1 and 2 in the Mercy Falls series I read Shiver last year, shortly after it came out. I did really enjoy the book and even voted to be sure it would appear on the list for the committee I'm on. However, I always had one problem with the book -the "cure". No one else seemed as bothered by this as me, but I just can't get past that. I did like that there was some science involved with why they turned into the wolves when it was cold. Despite the so-called cure, the book was good, so of course I wanted to read the second book, Linger . Only ten chapters in, I was highly annoyed by the book already. The moment that Grace said that Isabel was cold and Isabel said it was Grace that was hot, I just knew that she was going to be sick and how she would be "cured". At first I thought that Sam had gotten her sick somehow, but at least that wasn't the case. At least what Cole d...

Initial thoughts on Mockingjay

Don't worry, I'm going to try and stay away from spoilers, at least for now! In my opinion, the hardest part of writing any book or story is writing the ending. I imagine that it's probably incredibly more difficult when you are writing the ending of a book that has been a popular series. The author always knows that some fans will love it and some fans will hate it. Of course you can't please everyone. That said, how do I feel about Mockingjay? As I book, I loved it, and I wasn't disappointed at all. The action was just as fast-paced and captivating as the two previous books of the series. Suzanne Collins has mastered the art of keeping the reader from getting bored. Around half way through the book, I got a little teary, but I won't say why just yet. Nor will I reveal what part of the ending of the series made me cry. Maybe later I'll come back, when more people have finished the book, or when I figure out if there's a wa...

Year One by Nora Roberts

Title: Year One Author: Nora Roberts Cover: A decent cover that represents the start of the plague and the crows that come with the darkness. *Mild Spoilers Ahead* Review: I will say first that I am not a typical Nora Roberts fan. In fact, I've only read three other books by her, that being the Seven Signs Trilogy that starts with Blood Brothers. If I remember correctly, those also had a fantasy/paranormal feel to them, while her typical books do not. It was the fantasy elements of this book that appealed to me. A plague strikes, first taking a family, but since it is highly contagious and they are traveling after the holidays, it quickly spreads, wiping out large numbers of the population. There are already some people with gifts before the plague hits, but after, these gifts grow stronger, and others gain powers as well. These people, from witches, elves, fairies, and more, are called the Uncanny, and some people blame them for the plague, or are just generally hateful...

Across the Library

Search This Blog