Truly Devious

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.”

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder. - excerpt from book.

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson is the first of a trilogy which will absolutely be your new favourite this year. I first came across this book from Epic Reads webpage and there was a link to read the first two chapters. The summary itself was already exciting so no harm in reading that. The first chapter itself got me hooked and I cannot wait to get my hands on the book since last year. So I waited patiently until the book reaches my nearest bookstore and when I've gotten it, within 3 days I finished it and I just wanted the next book desperately.

The characters in this book are so unique with mysterious backstories. I'm totally intrigued by all of them and often want more of their history revealed. Whenever our main heroine interacts with someone I'm just on my toes, excited for the story that keeps moving forward. One would say that these characters are too good to be true but yet they have flaws that make them somewhat realistic. Their actions fit what a typical teenager would act and yet it still amazes me. Every action and reaction is unpredictable from each character which is one of the main driving points of this book.

The plot alternates between the past and present which makes it super exciting as every chapters kinda ends at a cliffhanger sort of atmosphere. You'll keep reading for more and more as the story builds up with the character's actions. There is nothing but mystery in this book as the plot thickens, twist after twist will capture your attention. This is one roller coaster ride that you can't get enough of. Even though the timeline alternates, you'll never get lost in this smooth flowing plot. 

I cannot stress how much I love a good murder mystery and this book just blew my mind. From the well written characters to the unpredictable plot, this book just ends with a jaw dropping cliffhanger (at least it is for me). I was in such a reading slump and then this wonderful book brought back my love for reading. I love the excitement of reading each chapter and trying to solve the mystery on my own but it was a tough one. Although it's not like Sherlock Holmes  as this is a modernised version but the fact that it's a mystery that is hard to solve and left hanging at the end certainly brings nostalgic emotions related to reading Sherlock. I highly recommend this book if you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie's work and you will not regret it, only one warning that I can give is that this book is first and the next one will be next year.

The Conspiracy of Us

Sixteen-year-old Avery West's newfound family is part of a powerful and dangerous secret cocity known as the Circle of Twelve, and they believe Avery is the key to an ancient prophecy. Some of them want to use her as a pawn. Some want her dead.

To unravel the mystery threatening her life, Avery must follow a trail of clues from the monuments of Paris to the back alleys of Istanbul with two boys who work for the Circle: beautiful, volatile Stellan and mysterious, magnetic Jack. But both boys are hiding secrets of their own, and when the clues expose stunning new information, Avery realizes the conspiracy could destroy her life-if it doesn't destroy the world fist. - excerpt from book. 


The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall is first the series that is full of mystery. If you are fond of books like The Da Vinci Code or anything to do with deciphering codes and looking for treasure then this book is your cup of tea. I truly enjoyed this book as this is my first time reading this genre on the young adult side. The book started off quite well, the plot slowly thickens and then catches you by surprise. My attention is well kept for majority of the book as there were so much mystery involved. I would say that things happened in the book at a good pace, quite action packed throughout.

The characters were quite interesting, especially the male characters. There is so much to learn about them but the author only revealed a little to keep you hooked. The female protagonist is unexpected, though she started off naive but there was much growth to her in the book. Her interactions with the male characters certainly make this book an abundance of excitement. The emotions involved were captivating for me as you wonder with her about the boys.

Overall the book was a good start which I kinda felt that had a potential to be a movie. The pace was really good and the twists and turns were so unpredictable. I really loved the relationships of the characters. I'm quite excited to read the second book which I think will be good. I wonder how the relationships will further development and am really excited about the mystery behind the prophecy. I highly recommend this book to mystery lovers, treasure hunting lovers or readers who just enjoy a good adventure.

We Were Liars

We are liars

We are beautiful and privileged

We are cracked and broken

A of love and romance

A tale of tragedy

Which are lies?

Which is truth? You decide 

- excerpt from back of the book

We were liars by E.Lockhart is a contemporary young adult book. I went into this book without any knowledge since most people in the booktube community suggested to read it that way. I was surprised by this book and I quite enjoyed it. The plot of the story can really take you by surprise and I like the timing of things happening in the story. I also enjoyed the perspective of the main character and her feelings. The characters of the book are very suitable for the story which made the book a good one.

The message that's the purpose of the book is what I love the most. You might not see it clearly but as things unfold in the story you will. Overall this book is a big surprise with a wonderful meaning attached to it. It's quite a thin book so it's quick to read. I don't think I would read this book again unless I can forget what's it about as knowing the story erases the thrill of reading it. 

The Bride wore size 12

Heather Wells had one more month to go before her wedding day and today she had an appointment with the wedding planner. At her office where she works it was crowded with parents because they wanted to request for a residence hall transfer. Fisher Hall is now the cool place to live instead of the old nickname of Death Dorm because there was a very important residence who just moved in. This VIR had four spaces assigned to him on the fifteen floor and since he is the crown prince of Qalif, there was also extra security set-up by the state department on the second floor and extra cameras were installed. In the front of the queue was a Mrs Harris here to request a room change for her daughter. As claimed by Mrs Harris the roommate is a slut because she did not spend many nights in the room. Mrs Harris also claimed that her daughter did not like it and would like to have a room change.

Heather was telling Mrs Harris that her daughter was to fill in the request form herself and then a bunch of young people came in with the prince.  Kaleigh which was the daughter said she loved her room very much and did not need a change. The prince invited the girls for lunch and then Kaleigh said that they tried to wake her roommate Ameera. They shook Ameera hard and there was no response from her. Heather was worried that there'll be a dead student before the semester even started. She called for the RA in duty but could not get her either so she asked Sarah to go to fourteen floor to check on the student and the RA Jasmine. After not long, Sarah called Heather while crying saying that Ameera was okay where she was just hungover but Jasmine was dead.

The Bride wore size 12 by Meg Cabot is the finale to the Heather Well series. I love this ending for the series because it doesn't seem like an ending but only the beginning of the character's new life. The writing as usual is funny and witty without losing it's main theme of the book. I love that it's a simple mystery book which focuses on our heroine's curiosity and love for solving mysteries. Towards the end of the book, I love that the author brought in a character which was from her other series for just a bit.

The flow of the plots were really good, never revealing too much which made the climax good as I couldn't predict what was to happen. I love that a book can be so simple and thin but yet unpredictable for me. It was definitely a page turner for me being a fan of Meg Cabot and Heather Wells hence I manage to finish the book quite quickly. If I want some murder mystery and humor in it, I'll definitely read this series again. I rarely get disappointed by Meg Cabot so I highly recommend this series to pick up.

Size 12 and Ready to Rock

It's a day off from work but Heather got a call complaining about an incident happening in Fischer Hall. So from her place she ran as fast as she could to NYU and rushed into the second floor library. The moment she got in, she was shot and she saw Gavin (one of the helpers in her department). She told Gavin to take care of her dolls. When she realize there was no pain but just paint on her clothes, she figured that people were playing paintball in the building and Gavin was the one who shot her. It was a paintball  war between the Fischer Hall  desk and RA staff versus the student paint crew. Heather was tricked to give them pizza party money because the cafeteria was closed on Sunday night but in fact it was use to fund this paintball war instead.

After some chit chat, Jamie which was in the library and part of the RA staff of Fischer Hall heard something. Gavin's last name was called and Heather heard Cooper saying nobody gets away with shooting Heather and he fire the paintball gun. It was time to shut down the party and the plan was to round up everyone but Gavin refuses. Suddenly someone burst through the library door and Gavin shot Simon Hague the director of Wasser Hall . He was on duty that night and all you could hear were complaints from him.  Slowly Heather figured the call about someone in trouble were referring to the penthouse because not long after that an ambulance stopped in front of Fischer Hall and the paramedics were headed in that direction. Heather and Cooper soon followed the paramedics to find out that Cooper's sister in law which is also a famous singer Tania Trace fainted. 

Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot is the sequel from Big Boned where we left Heather and Cooper in a engaged relationship. The story continues in a new adventure for Heather and it's one where more of Cooper's family is revealed to the readers. This book is slightly less "detective" and "adventurous" compared to the previous books in the series. I was slightly disappointed in Heather's role in the story but am glad about other characters that were present. One thing that I love from the book is having more of Cooper's family involved. I've always enjoyed having new characters in a book as long as there are depth and growth for those characters.

Another thing about this book for me is some parts of the story is predictable which makes it less exciting to read. I have to say this book was not an eager read for me after I have read the first chapter. It wasn't like the other books where I would read chapter after chapter non-stop. It was just an okay book for me. After reading the interview posted at the back of the book I understand some elements of this book better but it still wasn't good enough of a story to me. I hope the writer has not lost her touch in this series. Somehow I get the impression that the longer the series went on for chic lit, the characters seems to lose growth and more characters will have to be introduced.  I still look forward to the next sequel which was indicated in the interview because I'm a big fan of Meg Cabot. One book does not change my love for her stories but I hope for the best.