Information:
- Author: Maureen Johnson
- Genre: Mystery
- Length of Series: 5 books
- Page Count: 416 (first book)
- Year published: 2018 (first book)
Read This if You Like:
- Mystery Series (also trilogies, sort of)
- Boarding Schools
- More popular YA series
- Snarky Female Protagonists
- Dragged out, slow paced storylines
- Corrupt Politicians (It’s a side part of the story)
- Dual Timelines
- Great friend groups
- Vermont Settings
Spoiler-Free Summary:
In 1936, Ellingham Academy, founded by the famous and wealthy businessman Albert Ellingham was established in Vermont as an elite private school for brilliant thinkers. But things soon became dangerous, as both Albert’s daughter and wife were kidnapped, with the only evidence being a cruel letter bearing a poem discussing methods of murder. The case has never been solved, and in the present day, Stevie Bell is starting her first year at Ellingham with her one goal being to find out who was behind the kidnappings, once and for all. That is, if Stevie can navigate her new social circle, classes, and general anxiety. A project with her classmate gives Stevie the perfect opportunity to work on solving the case- but soon, that classmate is found dead, and evil has returned to Ellingham Academy. Now, Stevie has two cases to solve, which may just be interconnected- but naturally, investigating will lead to secrets being revealed- and someone trying to prevent that from happening.
Review/Opinions:
Note: This series has 5 books in total, however books 1-3 follow a connected storyline while books 4 and 5 are more standalone stories. I’ll be discussing only books 1-3 in this review, and there will be no major spoilers.
This series seems to be one of the more popular ones when it comes to well-known modern YA books. Sure, I don’t believe it’s as popular as some of the BookTok reads, but the Truly Devious series still seems to have a large following and fan base. Anyway, I asked for the box set of the series for my birthday because I wanted more good murder mysteries, and I ended up having the books sit around unread in my house for a while until the end of May, when I was trying to read some books that I’ve been putting off. And I have a lot of opinions on this series. I did read all 3 books right after each other (which I rarely do), and it ended up being enjoyable overall. On the other hand, there were a bunch of story issues that brought this series down.
The main issue with this series is actually the fact that it’s a series. Normally, mystery series have each book focusing on a different murder or mystery that the main character needs to solve. But in Truly Devious, the 3 books all focus on one mystery (both the case in the 1930s and the murders in the present), and they aren’t solved until book 3. Yes, I believe that it’s a more unique approach than other YA murder mysteries. However, it also means everything is dragged out and slow. In Book 1 alone, the first present day murder doesn’t happen until page 200, and then there isn’t much later plot twists until the end of the book and into book 2. Plus, books 1 and 2 both naturally have huge cliffhanger endings, so if you don’t like those, this series isn’t for you. And when there isn’t any murders going on, or new clues to be found? The author fills the book with general teenage drama and school life scenes instead of more exciting parts. The emphasis on teenage drama is a problem I have with almost every boarding school book I’ve read, especially with more murder and horror focused stories. We came for suspense due to plot twists, and not for suspense because something is going on in the friend group! Honestly, this could’ve worked really well as an extended standalone with some less important scenes cut out, but this seems to be a series just so the author could include as much as possible.
When there was actual sleuthing going on, it wasn’t the best compared to other YA murder mysteries. I wish there was more emphasis on Stevie solving the case in the past then the one in the present, especially because Stevie receives a huge piece of evidence for the past case at the end of Book 1, the evidence is ignored in majority of book 2, and then at the end of that book Stevie automatically solves the case despite not doing much actual searching for clues throughout the book. However, it is made up for using the book’s chapter structure: along with Stevie’s present day chapters, there’s also chapters that take place in the past and focus around the past kidnapping case and the character’s reaction to that. I’m extremely picky when it comes to historical YA settings, so some parts of these dual timelines were a bit confusing for me, but they were still a fun inclusion to make up for the fact that there isn’t too much focus on the case in the present. In terms of the modern day murders, there was also less emphasis on Stevie setting out to find clues for them, but also a lot more plot twists, including some that shocked me a bit. The final reveal of the murderer was actually a person who I didn’t guess would do it, and they had a motive that connected to both the past case and the present day.
I also enjoyed the cast of characters in this novel. Stevie is definitely a bit of a snarky protagonist- when we are introduced to her, she’s complaining about how a bunch of signs along the highway say there are moose, but Stevie hasn’t seen a single one (and for the record, this is a very real experience as someone who has visited Vermont, where this series takes place.) But snarky detectives are the best for murder mysteries, because they always end up being really smart too. And Stevie also is a realistic character as well, especially because she shows multiple signs of anxiety, which causes many inconveniences in her school life. In addition, one of my favorite parts of boarding school novels is when the main character builds a community with people in their classes or who they share a dorm building with, and Stevie definitely does that, with many of the student characters getting plenty of development. Plus, the author makes sure they all have unique interests and personalities, which helps to flesh them out as they experience the effects of the murders on campus.
And then there is the romance. Normally, I find most YA romances to fall into one of two categories: super cute and amazing, or enjoyable but not too adorable or tender. But Truly Devious has one of, if not the least favorable romances I’ve seen in a YA novel. Throughout the series, Stevie falls in love with David, one of her dorm members, who is portrayed as a troublemaker and joker, one of my least favorite archetypes for a YA love interest. There was no chemistry, good banter, adorableness, tenderness, or anything like that in Stevie and David’s relationship- it was just too bland, and those two characters just weren’t a good pairing as a couple. And it doesn’t help that (minor spoiler) there are many times throughout the three books where Stevie and David end up fighting and avoiding each other for a while, which is never a sign of a good relationship. In my opinion, Stevie definitely would have been better off with Nate, because they actually understood each other and just clicked more, but I’m still fine with them being only friends. I just wish that the relationship between Stevie and David was way more favorable than it is.
Overall, based on my very long collection of thoughts, this series was a very mixed bag for me. Even if it was slow and had an unsatisfactory romance, it did have a fun mystery and cast of characters that some fans of boarding school or historical mysteries may enjoy, even if this series is a little overhyped. I’m going to take a break from this series before reading books 4 and 5, but I’m planning to read the author’s upcoming book, Death at Morning House (releasing in August), which is a standalone YA murder mystery unrelated to the Truly Devious series, and which will most likely improve some of the flaws in Truly Devious because of its status as a standalone.
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