The Box in the Woods (Truly Devious, #4)
by Maureen JohnsonPublished by: Katherine Tegen Books on June 15, 2021
Genres: Young Adult, Mystery
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
After solving the case of Truly Devious, Stevie Bell investigates her first mystery outside of Ellingham Academy in this spine-chilling and hilarious stand-alone mystery from New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson.
Amateur sleuth Stevie Bell needs a good murder. After catching a killer at her high school, she’s back at home for a normal (that means boring) summer.
But then she gets a message from the owner of Sunny Pines, formerly known as Camp Wonder Falls—the site of the notorious unsolved case, the Box in the Woods Murders. Back in 1978, four camp counselors were killed in the woods outside of the town of Barlow Corners, their bodies left in a gruesome display. The new owner offers Stevie an invitation: Come to the camp and help him work on a true crime podcast about the case.
Stevie agrees, as long as she can bring along her friends from Ellingham Academy. Nothing sounds better than a summer spent together, investigating old murders.
But something evil still lurks in Barlow Corners. When Stevie opens the lid on this long-dormant case, she gets much more than she bargained for. The Box in the Woods will make room for more victims. This time, Stevie may not make it out alive.
Content Tags:
Perfect for readers who want:
- An interesting mystery set in a camp in the woods.
- A murder mystery that feels like a throwback to ’80s and ’90s slasher fics.
- A funny cast of characters with different personalities.
- A slightly awkward protagonist with anxiety who does her best.
Many thanks to Katherine Tegen Books and Turn the Page Tours for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Not gonna lie, I haven’t read the previous books in this series, even though I’ve been meaning to. I’ve heard good things about them, though, so when I saw this promoted as a standalone, I jumped right on it! Do I think it lives up to that marketing? In a lot of ways, yes. There are enough mentions of what happened in the previous books for me to get the gist of it, and I didn’t feel like I needed more explanation to jump into this one. However, like with most series, I feel like I probably would’ve gotten more out of this book had I known the characters already going into it.
The Box in the Woods is a fun murder mystery with a ’80s/’90s slasher vibe going for it. It’s filled with fun characters, plenty of humor, a bit of teen angst, and a mystery that’ll keep you guessing until the end.
I had a lot of fun with this one, and I definitely intend to go back and read the rest of the series now. The characters were fun and cracked me up, though there were also deeper, soul-searching moments, too. The only downside was that the ending felt a bit rushed, like the build-up didn’t quite lead to a tense climax. The case was resolved too easily, too, and not really through logic or detective skills but pure happenstance, which was unfortunate. Despite that, though, this book was mostly just fun!
Stevie makes for an interesting, albeit awkward (in all the right ways) protagonist.
Talk about relatable protagonists. Stevie has anxiety, which for anyone who also has the joy of experiencing it (like myself) doesn’t always make things easy. Or rational. Okay, but the fixation on worrying about the snakes thing? Totally rational. I’m with Stevie on that one.
I enjoyed Stevie as a lead character. She’s super rational and looks at the world as a problem. She’s also slightly awkward and doesn’t always know how to react to things, which I can soooo relate to, being the awkward onion I am. Her awkwardness cracks me up, because it’s funny when it isn’t you, right? I think she’ll also be relatable to young adult readers, because despite being intelligent, she’s still very much a teenager, and struggles with a lot of teen things, like boyfriends.
“I mean, there are some around the lake, but not at the camp.”
“The camp is on a lake.”
“Yeah, but the snakes are . . . I mean, they’re around, but over on the other side. No snakes at the camp.”
There were for sure snakes at the camp. It was entirely made of snakes. Why hadn’t she thought of the snakes?
The story is told with a dual timeline, one part in the present and one in the past at the time of the crimes.
I’m a fan of this format. For one, it lets the readers get to know the victims in a way they can’t from Stevie’s point of view. Second, these characters are worth knowing. It’s easy to relate to them, too. The goody two-shoes who decides she wants to live a little bit. The otherwise nice kid who just happens to be a drug dealer. The “average” teen who seems neither good nor bad. The town bad boy who gets away with a little too much. It’s an interesting group of people and lends itself nicely to an even more interesting mystery.
“I’m sure. Why?”
“You’re kind of crushing my hand.”
“Oh!” She released her grip. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I have two. Actually, I have three, but that’s because the experiment went wrong . . . “
She laughed. That’s what was great about Eric. He could make her worries vanish. Eric knew something about living, something she wanted to learn.
“I won’t tell anyone,” she said.
“Oh, good. I can’t let them shut down my lab, not when I’m so close. Soon my creation will come to life!”
Having not read the previous books, this was my first time meeting the side characters, and I definitely wasn’t disappointed! What a fun group of folks!
Not gonna lie, Nate is my favorite. How can he not be, as a sarcastic writer who would rather hole up in a library by himself than have to actually face other people? Obviously, Nate is my spirit animal. Seeing him face the horror of children and camp was funny, not to mention his obvious avoidance of actually having to sit down and write, which I can also relate to. I definitely want more Nate.
Janelle felt like the anchor of the group. She was more practical than Nate and tethered Stevie to reality in a way that she desperately needs. I love Janelle’s passion for arts and crafts but also how somewhat “normal” she seems compared to the other two.
“That’s okay. He doesn’t like writing either.”
A strange look passed over Lucas’s face.
“He will,” he said, before drifting off to the opposite corner of the pavilion to fill his sand bottle. When he was gone, Nate approached Stevie and sat down.
“I think Lucas is going to Misery your ass,” Stevie said. “Sorry about your ankles.”
The mystery, despite being solved a bit easily, has some interesting twists and is filled with plenty of action.
Never a dull moment, as they say. Well, except maybe when there’s a bit of teen romance angst, but this is young adult so I can’t say that’s unexpected. There were plenty of moments that were creepy and mysterious and definitely hooked me into wanting more. I never did guess the resolution (and I don’t think it’s one that really can be guessed). However, the plot twists kept me engaged and curious, and I had trouble putting the thing down, because I just had to find out what happened.
“Do you see the kid with the red hair?” he replied. “Blue shirt? His name is Lucas. He is my nemesis.”
“You can’t have an eight-year-old nemesis,” Janelle said, picking the grapes out of her fruit cup.
“Don’t tell me how to live my life.”
About Maureen Johnson
Maureen Johnson is the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of several YA novels, including 13 Little Blue Envelopes, Suite Scarlett, The Name of the Star, and Truly Devious. She has also done collaborative works, such as Let It Snow with John Green and Lauren Myracle (now on Netflix), and several works in the Shadowhunter universe with Cassandra Clare. Her work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, Buzzfeed, and The Guardian, and she has also served as a scriptwriter for EA Games. She has an MFA in Writing from Columbia University and lives in New York City.
Enter to win one (1) finished copy of The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson! Open USA only. There will be 1 winner.
Giveaway starts: Tuesday, June 15,2021
Giveaway ends: Tuesday, June 22, 2021 at 12:00 a.m. CST
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WAIT – I didn’t realize that this could be read as a standalone lol. The publisher sent a finished copy of the book my way but I haven’t picked it up as I still need to read the third book.
I’m glad you were able to enjoy the book and great review~!
Kal @ Reader Voracious recently posted…ARC Review: That Weekend by Kara Thomas
I mean, according to the blurb it can be. xD I will warn you that there are definitely spoilers for the first three books in it (or at least I assume there are, since it sort of summarizes previous events in places). I’m not really picky about minor spoilers so I didn’t mind, but if you don’t want ANY spoilers, I’d recommend reading them in order.
[…] ★★★★☆ || GoodreadsThis was my first Truly Devious book, and I really enjoyed it! It was pitched as a standalone in the series, and I thought it did well at that. Of course, you’ll get more out of it having read the previous books, but I wasn’t lost or confused on any points. Stevie made for a super relatable protagonist, with her awkwardness and anxiety. Nate was definitely my favorite, though. He’s my spirit animal. We’re obviously kindred souls. I will say that while I didn’t guess the murderer, I think that was partly because it came out of nowhere and the mystery would have been unsolvable except for some really fortuitous finds at the last minute, which was a bit disappointing. I love slow builds in mysteries, clue by clue, rather than an unguessable conclusion. That’s just personal preference, though. All being said, I’m definitely going to go back and read the first three books in this series, because I had so much fun with this and really enjoyed the characters. […]