Challenge Corner discussion

All Stevie Bell wanted was to find the key to the Ellingham mystery, but instead she found her classmate dead. And while she solved that murder, the crimes of the past are still waiting in the dark. Just as Stevie feels she’s on the cusp of putting it together, her parents pull her out of Ellingham academy.

For her own safety they say. She must move past this obsession with crime. Now that Stevie’s away from the school of topiaries and secret tunnels, and her strange and endearing friends, she begins to feel disconnected from the rest of the world. At least she won’t have to see David anymore. David, who she kissed. David, who lied to her about his identity—son of despised politician Edward King. Then King himself arrives at her house to offer a deal: He will bring Stevie back to Ellingham immediately. In return, she must play nice with David. King is in the midst of a campaign and can’t afford his son stirring up trouble. If Stevie’s at school, David will stay put.

The tantalizing riddles behind the Ellingham murders are still waiting to be unraveled, and Stevie knows she’s so close. But the path to the truth has more twists and turns than she can imagine—and moving forward involves hurting someone she cares for. In New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson’s second novel of the Truly Devious series, nothing is free, and someone will pay for the truth with their life.

20% : (view spoiler)[I am glad to be back in Ellingham Academy and I couldn't have guessed that Edward would also be a major character in this one. The chapters of the past are surely intriguing me enough to know more about him (I am assuming both Edwards are the same person?) The five theories of Ellingham were so ridiculous!!!!!! None of them are probably true. I hope we get to know what happened to Iris, Alice and Dottie in this one (hide spoiler)]

38% : (view spoiler)[WTH - THE letter, the letter that made the whole case so damn mysterious was not sent by the actual kidnapper? Francis and Edward were upto some nasty shit, but that Edward is different from Edward King. I am so confused lol, and also afraid for Stevie, the way she's investigating she'd surely land herself in trouble sooner or later (hide spoiler)]

53% : (view spoiler)[Everyone involved in the disappearance so many years ago is probably dead so I dont even know who to cast my doubts on. As for Ellie, how did she go away is surely an interesting mystery. I am slowly giving up on trying to figure it out myself because I feel it is so out of my league, i wont be able to figure this out in a 1000 years. (hide spoiler)]

69% : (view spoiler)[Oh no :((((((( I hate this tension between David and Stevie, I hope it gets resolved soon. Although I were in David's place i would have felt equally hurt :( On other hand, i don't feel like Ellie got stuck and died, this looks like a murder to me (hide spoiler)]

82% : (view spoiler)[Mackenzie is involved in whatever happened to Iris and Alice it seems....but what did Albert realise? I dont understand did i miss something or is it written this way to confuse the readers? (hide spoiler)]

Finished: (view spoiler)[WOAH!! This was super amazing and I LOVED THE ENDING! Sadly this one ended on a cliffhanger as well and I'd have to pick up the next book asap because I just can't rest without knowing what happened to Alice! (hide spoiler)]

UGH i am so behind on all the buddy reads! Will get to the next book on Saturday or Sunday!

20% : (view spoiler)[Alice wasn’t Albert’s daughter? I don’t honestly remember if this particular bit of information was revealed in the first two books but I was shocked! Clearly George isn’t the culprit and the real mastermind is still lurking somewhere, I have zero idea of who it might be, Nelson maybe? I don’t want to believe that David was responsible for the fire, he genuinely was upset but not cruel enough to set a house on fire. (hide spoiler)]

40% : (view spoiler)[These people are so technology savvy lol, David has come up with a genius plan to prevent King from coming into power and I am looking forward to all these amazing characters working together. George on the other hand has been cleared of suspiscion completely and Flora as well but now my focus has shifted to Leo…definitely picked up some weird vibes there. (hide spoiler)]

60% : (view spoiler)[Ok I am really confused now? So George really was the one who orchestrated it all but without knowing about Alice, Idk I just feel a bit cheated, I had hoped for this big mystery reveal but it feels like a diffused bomb yk? Plus Stevie is all about David and David is all about being rude and jealous, there’s more drama and less sleuthing going on. (hide spoiler)]

80% : (view spoiler)[I didn’t like that we are getting to know every detail of the mystery before Stevie connects together all the clues and has the realization, I don’t know why this book just doesn’t have that level of appeal for me as the first two. (hide spoiler)]

100% : (view spoiler)[I will accept that the way Stevie explains how she solved the mystery is mesmerizing but overall this one didn't have all the charm of the other two, maybe it was because i was getting sick and impatient of going in loops and just wanted it over with or maybe it had something to do with the fact that there was a LOT of focus on Stevie and David's personal relationship, I just don't like deviating from the theme of the book. It all seemed really unnecessary to me. (hide spoiler)]

I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THIS ONE!!! Gotta add it to my planned reads for next week :)

lol same Kira. Still catching up!

SO MANY BOOKS SO LITTLE TIME!!

Chapter 1 – 4 : (view spoiler)[Well, I was getting a bit annoyed by Stevie towards the start when she talked about her life after Ellingham and the way she reacted to David saying no to camp but the murder mystery is making me like the book despite a little annoyance. My attention immediately diverted to what might be the case among the 3 theories and I am excited to find out more. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 5 – 10 : (view spoiler)[Seems like Greg definitely knew something about the murders but ended up dying in the car crash, I am not so sure about Patty as well. She seems good and fine but I can’t bring myself to trust her completely. Stevie and David’s relationship makes me a bit uncomfortable ngl, I just don’t like their romance, at all (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 11 – 18 : (view spoiler)[OH NOOOOO NOT ALLISON! Paul seems like a such an obvious suspect that I am kinda leaning far away from him, I still believe Patty knows more and will come back to the story further in the book. Stevie’s approach to the case is …ehh…honestly I liked her better in the Ellingham books (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 19 – 25 : (view spoiler)[Dangg that was a close call with Stevie and Nate, I am not liking the romantic touch to the story what with David showing up at the end moment and saving them all, it gets a bit unrealistic for me but I am absolutely loving the mystery so need to finish this any way lol (hide spoiler)]

Finished: (view spoiler)[I was not expecting THAT for sure…and I still don’t know whether I liked the turning point for the story or not, on one hand it seemed to jump out of nowhere and I am kinda annoyed but then is that not the whole point of a good thriller? Damn I need to think about this one tbh (hide spoiler)]

13% (view spoiler)[On the one hand, I'm a little annoyed it didn't start where Truly Devious ended; but it also did keep me invested to see it addressed in the first few chapters. It also does make sense that Stevie's parents wouldn't want her to stay at the Academy. (hide spoiler)]

Can I join you guys? I want to start this series in a few days.

Aneta wrote: "Can I join you guys? I want to start this series in a few days."

Sure! I'm slowly working through the series right now.

36% (view spoiler)[So I get David had a lot happen in a short period of time, but he's acting odd. It definitely seems like he's trying to pretend nothing is wrong with him and Stevie.

Ooh, I remember the build up of Francis and Eddie having been involved somehow. I think Miss Nelson may have some part to play as well, with the slightly weird message for Francis. (hide spoiler)]

53% (view spoiler)[ I'm not quire sure what the building plans have to do with the missing phone call record. Is it maybe that there was an extra phone within the building that wasn't part of the official record? (hide spoiler)]

70% (view spoiler)[It's awful how they found Ellie. Her death seems suspicious.

And yeah, of course David would find out eventually. Can't imagine how betrayed he must feel. (hide spoiler)]

100% (view spoiler)[Ahh, now the title and riddle makes more sense. I'm a little surprised we got a big part of the cold case mystery resolved in book 2. There's still definitely a lot to still uncover in the next sequel. (hide spoiler)]

25% (view spoiler)[ What mind games is David planning? Was that an observation or a threat? I'm not a fan of this attitude of his. He's acting like a child. (hide spoiler)]

30% (view spoiler)[After how much build up we've had in the last two books, I almost feel cheated having things confirmed easily with the snippets from the 1930s....

I have a suspicion that perhaps Hunter and his aunt were relatives of Alice and that's part of what led his aunt to get involved in the mystery. Probably not now that I think on it some more since she would be able to show what happened to Alice more than most people. (hide spoiler)]

24% - omg I just started this series and I'm loving the mystery but the characters are meh for now

24%
(view spoiler)[I loved that first chapter with Dottie. I kind of wish she was there longer! Otherwise there is not much happening yet. (hide spoiler)]

76%
(view spoiler)[ dude why is there nothing happening, like I thought after Haye's death the story would pick up into more intense but... it's kinda falling flat for me. I'm bored ngl.
Also, hate David for some reason maybe bc in my mind he's bald?? i know he has curly hair but my imagination got confused (hide spoiler)]

44%
(view spoiler)[I don't remeber writing on the wall at all! It was fun moment. Hayes Major still sucks. (hide spoiler)]

hey so I finished the first book and IDK if I liked it,, is the series worth continuing?

73%
(view spoiler)[I thought Hayes was going to die at the end! It might be because not much is happening after his death. I'm not sure why I rated this 4* stars, it's 3* max for now. (hide spoiler)]

Finished
(view spoiler)[I changed my rating for this book. I lowered it to 3 stars. I just found it really boring this time around and romance came out of nowhere. Stevie disliked David and then they make out and she can't stop thinking about him! But I will read the second for sure because I want to know more about 1936. (hide spoiler)]

19%
(view spoiler)[We have Frankie's POV in past and pretty good so far. There is more information because of that.
I didn't expect King to help Stevie get back to Ellingham academy. (hide spoiler)]

48%
(view spoiler)[So it looks like Truly Devious letter isn't related to kidnappings! (hide spoiler)]

63%
(view spoiler)[And yet again, I like past better! (hide spoiler)]

73% (view spoiler)[ It's sad that at the end of the day, she never got a proper burial. While I get why they never revealed the truth, her life still became a spectacle. Admittedly, less than if they knew where she was. I wonder if Stevie will be able to figure it out and what she'll do. (hide spoiler)]

100% (view spoiler)[ Sadly, I didn't like this book much. While the series has been telling more than showing, I've been okay with it because it's different. But it just became too much when the mystery came together so soon on the past flashbacks compared to what Stevie found. Plus, Stevie finding out/guessing most of what actually happened without enough clues to guide that. I would have preferred she have a few other guesses or guessed part of what happened wrong but close enough. (hide spoiler)]

Starting book 4 this week. Fell behind and just now catching up with BRs

Finally started today!

17% (view spoiler)[ The first few chapters are a little distracting because I'm uber aware of how similar Sabrina's voice is to Stevie.

I'm a little confused on the specifics of the new case Stevie is investigating, so hopefully we'll learn more. (hide spoiler)]

48% (view spoiler)[ I'm having a hard time figuring out suspects. There seems to be some other motive apart from Todd having killed someone. Even though that in itself is more than enough. (hide spoiler)]

84% (view spoiler)[ While I get the elements-- horror tropes, small town secrets and normally like them-- I've been kind of ehh about this story. I think it could have been better to dwell a little more about Stevie and her conflict on taking/getting further involved in this case after Ellingham and especially when people like Carson are involved. (hide spoiler)]

100% (view spoiler)[ So I ended up being right that Patty was somehow involved, but how the last 20ish percent went down just.... it dissapointed. It went big in a way that I don't think it had to to be compelling. The small town secrets was more than enough without the Nazis.....

At this point, I know I'm finishing the series because they're fairly quick audiobooks I can listen to get me back into a reading mood, since I reach for better mysteries and thrillers afterwards (hide spoiler)]