“What did you do?” she hissed.
“Me?”
“Don’t be a dick,” she said.
“That ship has sailed. Hang on. We can’t fight yet. Where’s my hug?”

Holy HELL. This book was just superduper amazing, well, for most. I have considered rating this book a 4 stars for some points, and those points would be David. 😐 But thankfully the rest of this book was fabulous, so many things are happening, and my mind was blown a few times here and there.

The story begins just after Stevie has come home, she is in a normal school now, but of course, this is Stevie, she is still up and active with the Truly Devious case. She is determined to solve it, and she has a new piece of proof to help her. But of course, Ellingham academy beckons and she has a chance to go back.. if she accepts the help of a certain someone. I was not happy with his appearance, but I was happy that he offered Stevie help even if it meant for her to make a promise.

I wasn’t too happy that she didn’t let anyone know she was coming, I understand it was all happening very fast, one moment she got home and the next she was in a car and a plane, but still I would have liked for her to at least let her friends know. Or someone at least. Oh well, she had the chance to surprise them, and I had a laugh at Janelle’s and Nate’s reactions. 😛

Stevie is still a very nice character, though given how she seems to be fumbling around in school I wonder how long she can actually stay? She got a ton of things to get back to but she is mostly going fully for the case. Which is indeed a reason why she was accepted, but still… She should also care about school and the subjects. Come on, how many kids have the opportunity to learn all these fun things that she is able to learn. I wish I could go to that school.

I loved reading about Janelle and her girlfriend, they were so cute together. I had a big laugh when Janelle was fixing the machine for Stevie and Janelle’s girlfriend was all drooling over her awesome girlfriend.

We meet several new characters in this book, Fenton, a professor who is also working on the case and wants Stevie’s help (especially since she is at Ellingham). Her cousin (I believe) who is very sweet and I was definitely rooting for him and Stevie to get together. And then there is Stevie’s lab partner who mostly talks about Disney while dissecting all sorts of things (um…).

Next to Stevie’s POV we also have transcripts from back when things went to hell in 1936/when the kidnapping happened, POVs from several characters from back then. All giving an even deeper look to what happened back then. To who Truly Devious is. I love reading more about the case, and seeing more and more clues and details. <spoiler> And the case gets solved. Yep. Stevie manages to piece everything together and figure it out. I was grinning from ear to ear, it was just so fabulous that she was able to solve it. That she taped together all the pieces she had and managed to find out the truth. Good job, Stevie! But I can understand that she is afraid of telling anyone. Someone murdered Hayes, and I am guessing someone murdered Ellie (I just cannot believe that she died because she got lost, why didn’t she knock on the door? Why didn’t she scream? So many options, yet she died alone in the tunnel.</spoiler>

As I said earlier, David was a big NOPE for me in this book (just like in the previous book, though I have to say he was way worse in this one). He was annoying and frustrating and so childish. Later on I could understand that he was frustrated, then again, he should be more understanding of Stevie. She was planning to tell him, but with how unstable he was… there was just never a true good moment.

The author is fabulously able to make the whole place, not just the school, but also the grounds and the nearby village, come to life. Just like last time, I could just see me wandering through the woods, on my way to school or to the village. Love it!

Big points to the seeing the title of this book return in the book. I guess I could have seen it coming, but I totally forgot about THAT.

The ending, oh boy. That ending. o.0

Now I just got to wait for the next book, which I guess will be the ending. I can’t wait to see what happens there, I am guessing it will be super exciting and filled with thrills.

I would recommend this book (and of course the first one) to everyone! You will be in for a ride.