I was sucked into this book from the beginning. I loved the switching between the past and the present — it really enhanced the suspense for me. The Ellingham case captureed my imagination just as it did Stevie’s. But was REALLY had me was Ellingham, the school. I went to a small college tucked into the mountains of VT and I felt like I was back on campus this entire book (minus the murders.) Johnson really captured the alchemy that comes from being tucked away in the mountains land left to steer your own education. The students reminded me a lot of myself and my friends while at college. 

 

Once shit started to hit the fan at Ellingham, I couldn’t stop reading. It felt like every time Stevie got her arms around something, a new piece of information changed everything. And the murders weren’t the only mysteries: I wanted to solve the puzzle that is David as much as I wanted to solve the Ellingham case. 

 

One of the things I liked best about Stevie was her struggles with anxiety. I feel like most of the characters I see who have anxiety have it to an extreme, or are constantly in situations where their panic consumes them. I really liked that Stevie had done work to manage her anxiety, that she could identify warning signs and even had medication to help in the most extreme situations. I understood her embarrassment over it, even though the anxiety wasn’t as bad as it once was. 

 

Overall, Truly Devious had everything I could have wanted. I needed to keep reading at almost every turn. I felt like I recognized the characters. The case wasn’t easily solvable, in the past or the present. I flew through this book and had such a wonderful time reading.