Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - The Box in the Woods

Stevie is a fun protagonist and I enjoyed listening to this audiobook more than I enjoyed reading the previous three physical copies. I think this type of YA mystery is well suited to an audiobook format since there is generally minimal tension and, much like murder mystery parties, I don’t think the answer is meant to be solvable.

Because we moved settings to a summer camp rather than the academy, I think some of the structure fell apart for me. It’s such an odd thing that happens in summer camp stories (and only in stories) where an adult in charge of the camp will tell one child they can bring their friends and that’s the way the author integrates known characters that form the support system around our main character. I don’t know why that bugs me so much but it’s so weird, especially for positions that interact with children. Like, you don’t want to vet these friends at all? Just one interview? They play a very small part in this anyway so I’m willing to overlook it.

I didn’t like the mystery as much in this book either. Like Stevie notes, it’s different when the people involved aren’t all dead and gone. There’s a greater discussion that can be had about the morality of true crime content, especially of recent events rather than very old cold cases. But Stevie doesn’t completely dive into that so I won’t either.

Over all I’d say this is a fun enough read if you’re looking for something with a mystery element but low danger. It is not necessary to read the previous three books before this one.

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tanvi45's review

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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baksaydora's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I liked this one too. It was a little slow for me, and I still think the romance is unnecessary.

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m4rtt4's review

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

this was... okay, but a huge disappointment after the Truly Devious Trilogy.

Johnson made Stevie dream of being like Hercule Poirot, but the foreshadowing fell flat with the 'grand reveal'. The point of Agatha Christie's mysteries is that all of the information is available to the reader before Poirot reveals his solution, but since the solution depended on Sabrina's diary which was only revealed in the 'grand reveal' itself, there was no way the reader could have tried solving the mystery themselves and that automatically takes off half of the fun in reading murder mysteries. Also making the killer a literal Nazi is sooo unoriginal and overused — I am no Nazi sympathizer (!!) but I've seen this so many times in all types of American media that you just can't surprise me with that anymore.

I was mostly annoyed with how the mystery was executed, but as a cherry on top I couldn't care less about Stevie and David's relationship either — I don't see what they are supposed to see in each other, and in my opinion Stevie is perfectly capable of being a strong female YA protagonist without having a love interest.

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captainoliimar's review

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I picked this book up a while ago and didn't realise it was part of a series until after I had finished it. That didn't stop me from enjoying the book, though, I feel like it stands up pretty well as a standalone book, though I am very excited to get to go back and read the rest of the series. I thought the mystery was very intrigueing and the twists were so cool and unexpected. The characters were fun to learn about and I enjoyed the way it switched between the present and the past when the crime happened!

Characters: 9/10
Atmosphere: 10/10
Writing: 10/10
Plot: 9/10
Intrigue: 9/10
Logic: 9/10
Enjoyment: 10/10

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

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laurenevlyn's review

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Another amazing addition to the world of Truly Devious! I greatly appreciated the fact that the case was introduced and solved in one book (as opposed to the slow revealing of information that occurred throughout the original trilogy). I have to admit, I’m not the biggest fan of David and Stevie (they’re cute but where’s the romantic chemistry??? Plus when he called her “Princess” 😑🤢) Nevertheless, I enjoyed all the characters and their quirks! I can’t wait to read Nine Lives (and the 6th book when it comes out)!

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orangeoverload's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful informative mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Another brilliant book by Maureen Johnson. Stevie Bell does it again, this time at a Summer camp. The setting of the camp was delightful to read, the chapters from the 80s were also brilliant, and all of the characters really held their own. I love love love this series!

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