TRULY DEVIOUS SERIES

THE TRULY DEVIOUS SERIES by Maureen Johnson

I absolutely adored this series. Young adult can often be hit or miss for me, and this series had a difficult job ahead of itself: getting me out of a massive Sarah J Maas-induced book hangover. And while it took me about 100 pages into the first book to hit my groove (which was likely entirely book hangover driven), it accomplished its task. ⠀⁣
⠀⁣
I choose to review series as one collective review because I like having all the pieces before I make an opinion. The downside of this is that I can’t get more granular with my review because of spoilers. But here’s what I can say:⠀⁣
⠀⁣
TRULY DEVIOUS introduces us to our full cast of characters. And let me tell ya: it’s THESE characters that make this series *chef’s kiss* — I’ve yet to read any series, let alone YA, with such diverse characters (and here is when I shout-out that Stevie, our main character, has anxiety and seeing our teenage detective fight through anxiety attacks while taking down murderers made the 16 year old in me sooo happy). We’re also introduced to the cold case that is the backdrop of the whole series. We get a dual timeline of sorts: the majority of the series is told in present day, with Stevie and her friends at the elite Ellingham Academy, and then every few chapters we get a flashback to the 1930s, when the wife and daughter of the founder of the school were kidnapped, a case which was never solved.
⠀⁣
As the story develops over the course of the three books, we get closer to figuring out what happened to the Ellinghams, and Stevie gets closer to danger in present day. THE VANISHING STAIR introduces a riddle that the reader has to solve along with the characters (I was STUMPED). And THE HAND ON THE WALL had me racing to solve the mystery before Stevie. ⠀⁣
⠀⁣
What I appreciated about this series is that there was an overarching mystery that was woven into all three books, but there were enough smaller mysteries/side stories to keep you entertained. Overall, I’d highly recommend this series to young adult readers. For adults, I think you’ll still enjoy this series if you like the pace and development of YA novels and are looking to get lost in a story. 

CW: anxiety, depression, suffocation, murder, suicide, kidnapping, house fire, freak accidents, controlling parents, child neglect