*** Minor spoilers ***
Book #2 was a tad better than the first one, in my opinion. The original case surrounding Albert, Iris and Alice gets partially solved but there’s still quite a few open questions and new leads to follow. So, that’s good.
But I’m still not too fond of the pacing, character development and the author’s way of writing how Stevie finds clues and solves things, as I feel like we’re not really taken on the journey but rather have the answers dumped into our (including Stevie’s) laps which is such a shame considering this is a murder mystery story.
The beginning of the second book seems very trivial, even irrelevant. I feel like I should read something into it and spin my thoughts further but it’s not written good enough for that. Also, I’m still not very invested in the characters and I just can’t seem to care for Stevie’s dilemma with David, etc.
Two things stood out however: 1) With this book it’s starting to feel like the things happening include Stevie somehow. Like, some things happen because of her being there. But also, the thoughts came to mind that the school maybe doesn’t want anyone to find Alice because they want to get the money, as they’re planning with it already (yes, I do sort of think that Alice is still alive). 2) The cliffhanger here is definitely more catching than in Truly Devious. So, I’ll definitely be reading The Hands on the Wall (book #3).
