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A review by booksbytheglass
The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
what a conclusion this was!!! I absolutely flew through this one in three hours 🥳
after the super rude cliffhanger of THE VANISHING STAIR, the next installment picks up immediately after (thank goodness) and leads into stevie’s mind solving the cold case of the century! and this time, there’s more than one flashback POV and I was so here for it!
the way it slowly unfolded between past and present to give us all of the answers finally? so well done
what didn’t work for me was the weird side plot of taking down david’s father aka senator bell. david himself is a loose cannon and treats stevie and his friends like absolute trash - and you’re telling me she just forgives him without any groveling? he blamed her for causing multiple deaths and she STILL wants to make out with him? no thanks I’m out
I just felt it was a quick insert of “what do we do with these characters” without any real impact on the story itself 🥴
but the reveal at the end was so brilliantly done!!! for a slow burn series, the payoff was long overdue but worth the wait!
rating: 4 stars
wine pairing: dry creek zinfandel
after the super rude cliffhanger of THE VANISHING STAIR, the next installment picks up immediately after (thank goodness) and leads into stevie’s mind solving the cold case of the century! and this time, there’s more than one flashback POV and I was so here for it!
the way it slowly unfolded between past and present to give us all of the answers finally? so well done
what didn’t work for me was the weird side plot of taking down david’s father aka senator bell. david himself is a loose cannon and treats stevie and his friends like absolute trash - and you’re telling me she just forgives him without any groveling? he blamed her for causing multiple deaths and she STILL wants to make out with him? no thanks I’m out
I just felt it was a quick insert of “what do we do with these characters” without any real impact on the story itself 🥴
but the reveal at the end was so brilliantly done!!! for a slow burn series, the payoff was long overdue but worth the wait!
rating: 4 stars
wine pairing: dry creek zinfandel