This was honestly one of my favourite 2018 releases that I have read so far!
If you don't know what Truly Devious is about then here is the synopsis:
Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. "A place," he said, "where learning is a game."
In 1936, shortly after the school opened, Ellingham's wife and daughter, Iris and Alice, were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym "Truly Devious". It became one of the greatest crimes of American history. Something like that could never happen again, of course...
Years later, true-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: she will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Somebody has gotten away with murder.
From reading this I knew that this book was gonna be something I would enjoy. But man I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did!
I'm just going to say now that I did not dislike anything in this entire book. I enjoyed and loved everything about it, and this review is basically going to be me ranting about how amazing it was, giving you reasons why you should pick it up.
To start right off, I loved the storyline. The way that Johnson wove 2 storylines into 1 book is something that can be difficult to do. But Johnson did an amazing job. The way she connected the events that happened in the 1930s to the events that were occurring in present day with Stevie, and only revealing the relevant information from the past, was something I liked seeing. I enjoyed seeing how the past and present events connected and can't wait to see how the rest of the trilogy will work itself out.
Can I just talk about the characters for a second?
There was a diverse range of characters that was good to see. Typically in YA, authors write books that include straight, white characters and that can be somewhat annoying because it isn't like this in real life. Schools today, whether they are boarding schools or not, are going to be diverse. It was good to see some gay characters that weren't frowned upon or bullied.
Mental illness isn't a big focus in the book, but Stevie has to deal with anxiety and panic attacks. There is even a scene where Stevie starts to have a panic attack and she talks about her mental illnesses. I feel like YA doesn't include a lot of character that deal with mental illness. Even when they are put in the authors can do a really shit job at writing about it, especially if they haven't experienced it themselves or had done their research before writing about it. I felt that Johnson described these mental illnesses well along with Stevie's experience with them.
Still on the note of characters, I found that Stevie was a character that I could relate to in some aspect. There were some things I couldn't relate to, but things like her social life was something I definitely could relate to. I don't want to go into this too much because some people would class this as a spoiler, I wouldn't, but I do want this review to be spoiler free. All I want for you to get out of this is that Stevie, and possibly some of the other characters, are characters that readers can relate to, and I love seeing that in a book. It can make ones reading experience better.
Everyone knows I am not a big fan of romance. It's a given thing, I don't read it a lot but will occasionally pick one up. In saying this, when I see a book completely focus on a romance instead of the actual story it frustrates me the most. Luckily for me though, Truly Devious did not focus on the romance between two characters. I honestly don't know if I ship the two characters because I don't know how I feel about them...
Now I'm just going to talk about the ending. You are left on such an annoying cliffhanger that I really want the second book in the trilogy right now!
Just thought I would mention this for anyone who is thinking about picking this up. Maybe wait until the sequel is close to being released so you don't have to wait so long and feel the way I felt when I finished reading it.
The sequel is expected to be publish sometime next year, hopefully I don't have to wait too long.
Something I would also like to mention, you can only get this book in hardcover. The paperback, last I heard, should be available for purchase next year.
I rated this book 5 out of 5 stars, obviously!
I recommend everyone pick this book up.
Happy reading!
Use this Book depository link to buy Truly Devious and I will receive a 5% commission: http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=ameliainwonderland