Truly Devious: A Mystery: 1 (Truly Devious, 1)

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I love the aesthetics of these book so much. The dark academia feel / mysterious boarding school element is an absolute favourite of mine. WE NEED MORE OF THIS !! This book is also kinda gory at times? And creepy? And ooh boy I loved that so much !! (Even though I was lowkey worrying about people appearing at the end of my bed as I was trying to sleep after finishing this) The story also follows messages of bravery, teamwork and perseverance. Stevie is brave, strong and is willing to work with other students. PS: Some amazing science facts are briefly explained in the book. For kids who have read mystery books they will definitely enjoy this one! There were a lot of similarities and I found it easy to follow along with the intrigue because of that. I would love to know if the author was at all inspired by that case. I felt cheated like I was baited in reading entire series and I feel for it and I hate myself for it! And the anxiety rep was perfect. Although Stevie was a very dull narrator with not much of a personality, this felt like an OwnVoices book. Mental health rep is very important, especially in books outside of contemporary fiction where these things aren't usually depicted.

Honestly, this whole thing is confusing. I'm so not cut out for detective work. I'll leave that to Stevie.😎

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Francis Crane is the 16-year-old daughter of the wealthy businessman who owns Crane Flour, a baking empire. The Cranes are good friends of Albert Ellingham, hence Francis’ presence at Ellingham Academy. Francis likes secrets, chemistry (particularly explosives), and crime. So much to love in this book! The dueling mysteries, present and past. The incredible mansion/school setting. The smart, diverse and quirky characters. This mystery had us fooled at every turn! And the best news? It’s the first in a series.” — Justine Magazine I LOVED THIS BOOK. If you need a new YA mystery novel, this is the one for you! Truly Devious totally took me by surprise. I had no idea I would love this book as much as I did! I cannot say same for David. From the beginning of the series, I keep getting irritated by his pretentious manners and in this book… when I was reading the chapters related with him, I wanted to jump into the book and punch him in the face. Oh and every time I see Albert Ellingham talking about how much he loves games, I just picture an mischievous smile on his face—maybe even evil.😨

I’m giving my four mysterious, exciting, intelligent thriller stars! I cannot wait to read the sixth book! I’m truly devoted fan! I hope we can read more about Nate Fisher in near future! The Vanishing Stair was what I expected it to be; an unnecessary bridge to the third book and this whole series could have been a duology. Yes, this book fell into the second book syndrome with much blabber and not much happening till the end! When David calls and arranges a place for the entire gang to visit him in England, Stevie gets so excited! And as soon as her trip starts, she finds herself involved into another cold case investigation: the mystery of nine! Stevie agrees, as long as she can bring along her friends from Ellingham Academy. Nothing sounds better than a summer spent together, investigating old murders. This was ... WILD. The twists?!?! The turns!!! The REVEALS. I think this is definitely becoming one of my new favourite series?? and I am DYING FOR BOOK THREE ALREADYYears later, under the influence of pain relievers following a hospital stay, Izzy's Aunt Angela says some things to her that raise Izzy's suspicions. Does her Aunt know what happened to her two murdered friends? the underlying political tones were awesome. i love political references and metaphors and they are very rare in YA, so i appreciated that. I finished this book with the sudden urge to pace, bitter and frantic and feeling every second of my frustration and deprivation. It was almost unbearable to come so close to getting answers, to barely feel and almost taste before being snatched away and left to walk the circle of my own thoughts, which centered partly on the question of: who the hell was the first person to invent the concept of cliffhangers and have they ever issued a public apology? I definitely enjoyed this second novel in the Truly Devious series more than the first. It still carried all the luscious descriptions of crisp Autumn mornings that I so loved in Truly Devious; I'll never tire of reading about fall in New England.