The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious #2)

So the second I finished Truly, Devious in November, I 1) Preordered this book 2) Re-read it to be sure I was sure of all the clues about who the kidnapper was and so I knew and could satisfy myself as I waited to learn the answer to that all consuming riddle. (P.s. magnificent author lady, if you are reading this, I asked everyone I knew to come up with answers, and we all had so many. And of course I thought about it every single day when I woke up, and yet didn\’t come up with the answer and it\’s literally so simple I was so mad at myself!) So last night I was thinking about how I would get to read this today, I\’d literally marked my Calendar, when it was delivered to my kindle at 11 pm central time! HUZZAH FOR ME, but alas not for my sleep schedule. I started reading it right away because I had to know the answer to the riddle, and I was about 76% of the way through when I realized, Holy Shark, I have read 76% of this book. Then I was so sad that it was going to be over soon, that I thought about putting it down. It was 1:30 am after all. But I couldn\’t. So onwards I went. And now I\’m going to have to wait a whole year just to read the next one, which has me in the pit of despair. If you haven\’t read the first book in this series, please read it, and then come talk to me about it. I need to converse about this. I\’ve read A LOT A LOT of books in my lifetime, and I rarely write reviews, but this series has stuck with me, and inspired me in my own writing, and I just want to share it with everyone. Maureen Johnson is so talented, my creative writing major self is made extremely insecure by her immense talent. This is me, bowing down to the new queen of mystery. That is all. (Off to re-read and try and solve the modern day stuff because I am thoroughly vexed by this wait time)

Yet another cliffhanger… I should have been done after book one (which, of course, also ended on a cliffhanger), but more-so because of the authoress\’ clearly biased politics. Now, some may find this to be nit-picking on my part, and maybe a bit overblown, but I need to say it: It takes a really bitter person to fashion a series around a kidnapping/murder investigation, and make the main villain totally unconnected to that a (although never explicitly confirmed, but glaringly obvious) Republican Senator. A man who is cold, so far as of now unrelated to the central mysteries, and evil for the sake of being the storys antagonist. Were never told why hes a bad guy in any direct way; Hes obviously not a very good father, shady, and has a hidden M.O., but Stevie frequently refers to him as the devil and racist, fascist scum. This is a person who Stevie blatantly wishes, while on a private plane with the man, was dead she wonders at the plane crashing, and if the world would be better off if he perished. Like… what the??? Even if she were to die as well, she says it would be for the greater good. That is a RADICALIZED, HATEFUL mentality. Everyone in the book has such strong, negative reactions to this Senator. And dont try and tell me that Edward King is never mentioned being a Republican. It does not take a genius to put it together, and this is just another case of a bitter author using her platform to demonize the Republican Party. Were not all racist, bigoted, xenophobic sheep. What I get from this is that anyone who associates with Republicans is shunned and ostracized. Its shameful. The story couldve been so much better without this plot line. It was unnecessary to what I wanted to read based on the initial blurb from book one. That rant over, I can get back to the book as a whole but whole, it really isnt. Splitting up a YA mystery into three books is a strrrretcccchh. And it feels that way. There is so much expository stuff that could have been chopped away, and turned this trilogy into a fairly longer standalone. It would have worked better that way. Even a duology wouldve been fine! No more frustrating cliffhangers, and a lot less (if Im being honest) boring filler. Some random side notes: A good mystery typically lays most of their cards on the table and begs you to SOLVE ME (if you can). Here, were given some clues to start, and then thrown other tidbits of clues at the very end we could never have picked up on. Ever. And again and again, were fed more, but it doesnt feel fun. I want to know the broad strokes, and THEN the smaller details. And we cant do anything about any of it, even if we knew the answers to some, until Stevie gets it in her head. David and Stevie are toxic together. I dont understand the pairing AT ALL! Again, I found this book too young for me. It lacked the hardcore sleuthing I craved, and was pretty Nancy Drew for the modern age, but with more hipsters. I wanted more Nate, Janelle, and Mudge the only sensible and interesting characters. I have to give credit for the way Stevies anxiety is handled. Props for accurate depictions of panic attacks. Mental illness is no joke… but there is something seriously problematic with Davids behavior, and no one acting on getting him help is sad. Im done with this.

I absolutely loved Truly Devious, my big complaint was that it was so deeply unresolved, it was more a chapter than a complete story. So I was thrilled to get my hands on Vanishing Stair. It moves unbearably slow and really nothing happens. I love the characters, and I won\’t spoil what plot exists but it\’s infuriatingly incomplete. We now have 2 books with no sense of resolution to any of the main storylines. Hayes\’ death is still unsolved, in fact it\’s even less clear than it was in Book 1. The Ellingham case is still unresolved (though there is a promise it has been cracked). It was a whole book of seemingly holding its breath and to be honest I\’m turning blue from holding my breath so long. The length of unresolved plot lines is slowly choking me out like dry ice left in a tunnel.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. But when compared to the first book it just isn\’t as good…possibly because there was a lot of recapping of the first book ( useful if it\’d been a while since you read Truly Devious but a bit dull for me as I\’d JUST read that one) and the main plot is a little thin…I\’d have liked a new mystery or significant reveal alongside the ongoing 1936 storyline for Stevie to investigate…she did do a bit but it just wasn\’t enough for me possibly a case of the middle book syndrome? That being said I still love the setting and the characters. A couple of new characters were added who were interesting and there was a reveal (I did guess ) at the end which answered a few more questions. Again it would have thoroughly irritated me if I\’d have to have now waited a while for the third book but as its already out I\’ve already ordered it and can\’t wait until it gets here!

At around 3am this morning, I finished \’The Vanishing Stair\’. This is a fact, and it is one I am sad about as it means there will be no new content in this series for me to read for almost 10 months. And I have already decided that this is one of my favourite series that I have ever read, and I\’ve been reading a lot lately. As you might expect after \’Truly Devious\’, the twists and turns in its sequel were frequent, and again, we have been left with a shocking cliffhanger (I would like to have some serious words with the person who invented cliffhangers), actually no, there were a few big reveals in the last couple of chapters and I still have so many questions, we have been left with multiple cliffhangers. The idea of waiting till January for \’A Hand on the Wall\’ is unpleasant to say the least. I am actually also quite impressed with myself for figuring out who the kidknapper was before Stevie did, albeit my \’eureka moment\’ was actually triggered by something I would later learn was incorrect, and it was only a chapter or so before Stevie worked it out – but that is not the point! My love of the characters in this series only grew over the course of this book – Nate holds a special place in my heart – and although I am sad to wait so long, I am happy that this series isn\’t over yet because that means I know they\’re all coming back.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member