Down the Rabbit Hole

Truly Devious #2

All Stevie Bell wanted was to find the key to the Ellingham mystery, but instead she found her classmate dead. And while she solved that murder, the crimes of the past are still waiting in the dark. Just as Stevie feels she’s on the cusp of putting it together, her parents pull her out of Ellingham academy.

For her own safety they say. She must move past this obsession with crime. Now that Stevie’s away from the school of topiaries and secret tunnels, and her strange and endearing friends, she begins to feel disconnected from the rest of the world. At least she won’t have to see David anymore. David, who she kissed. David, who lied to her about his identity—son of despised politician Edward King. Then King himself arrives at her house to offer a deal: He will bring Stevie back to Ellingham immediately. In return, she must play nice with David. King is in the midst of a campaign and can’t afford his son stirring up trouble. If Stevie’s at school, David will stay put.

The tantalizing riddles behind the Ellingham murders are still waiting to be unraveled, and Stevie knows she’s so close. But the path to the truth has more twists and turns than she can imagine—and moving forward involves hurting someone she cares for. In New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson’s second novel of the Truly Devious series, nothing is free, and someone will pay for the truth with their life.

Book number two in the Truly Devious series. This story takes place after the initial series of events in Truly Devious. I would say this novel had more of the answers that I was already hungry for in book one, and it really did satisfy that mystery portion that I was looking forward to. Both Andge and I felt that it was definitely more of a satisfying novel, and as such rate it at 4 Drink Me Potions, slightly higher than book one.

The Vanishing Stair refers to the last riddle of Albert Ellingham before his death, part of the entire case that our protagonist, Stevie, tries to solve. This story takes place after the disappearance of Element Walker at the end of the last novel, and Stevie had been sent home away from Ellingham Academy. How will she find a way to be sent back? And what other mysteries await there for her to solve?

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top ten tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Titles or Covers that Enticed Me to Buy/Read the Book

August 3, 2021August 2, 2021 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Good morning friends! How was your last week for everyone? Here in Canada, we had a long weekend so I’m happy that this is a short work week. Meant I could also focus more on reading and blogging which is always great.

This week’s TTT was a fun no-brainer to amass titles. These are books that I felt this connection for right away, whether it was the title or the cover. Yes, they always say Don’t judge a book by its cover….but we all know that we do it subconsciously anyway. Sometimes it totally works in our favour as there are so many gorgeous cover art, but of course, it helps that the story inside is just as gorgeous in its storytelling.

Without further ado, here are just several titles I have bought on a whim and/or wanted to read right away from its cover and title alone.

1. Dream A Little Dream by Kerstin Gier

The title and cover just screamed Alice in Wonderland to me with its whimsical dream-like connotation and the key-shaped hole the girl disappeared in. I mean, who doesn’t want to see where this girl will lead us?

2. The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

I love the fake dating trope and the title says it all. I didn’t even know how it was going to be executed to know that I wanted to read this right away. I went out to the store and got myself a copy later that day. Plus, it helps that the colour palette of the cover was very pleasing to my eye.

3. Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Okay, to be honest, the very first moment I saw this I was in the bookstore with a friend. She was very dubious about such a book. I mean, are they witches that tell the truth? What next? Witches that wield fire and water? (She actually hit that on the nail). But I couldn’t shake this book out of my mind so I returned a week later and got myself a copy after all.

4. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

Firstly, the title was unique. How many boys were we going to meet and potentially fall for? But also, this was at a time where I didn’t see many protagonists who looked like me in YA literature. I loved seeing an Asian girl on the cover. Plus, I really liked the aesthetic of her bedroom.

5. Crash / Bang / Gasp by Lisa McMann

This series piqued my interest from the beginning, not only because I read previous books by the author, but because of these covers! Like, look at these gorgeous beauties! The minimal aesthetic is everything, but also the detail in the eyes relating to the title. Why wouldn’t I want to pick this up right away?

6. Frostfire by Amanda Hocking

I didn’t even know initially this was a sequel series to previous series the author wrote in the same world, but I loved the cover so much! The winter scene contrasted with the girl in the middle so nicely and I knew I needed to borrow a copy of this immediately.

7. Control by Lydia Kang

The cover was gorgeous even though the title didn’t initially entice me. It made me think of an experiment, and being from a science background, I knew I had to see what this was all about.

8. Long May She Reign by Rhiannon Thomas

Similar to the title above, I felt the cover looked like it had a science-y feel to it and that definitely intrigued me. And the title gave me royalty drama vibes that had me curious right off the bat.

9. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Okay, who wouldn’t be curious from that title? I normally think insta-love is cringey and unrealistic. But throw in the stats word and I’m hooked! Just say I was always primed for the statistical career path, but I knew I had to figure out if whatever couple featured in this story would be able to get together from “love at first sight”.

10. Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

Last but not least, knowing me, why would I not automatically love everything about this cover and title?? I’m not normally a zombies fan – they can be so gruesome and gory which is not my style – but I had a good feeling that this would be character driven instead of solely plot driven like in an apocalyptic zombie thriller. So I bought it right away and haven’t looked back since.

What did you all think about my choices? Would you pick up any of these books based on their title and cover alone?

Since I haven’t linked to any of my reviews of these books to this post, what is your honest answer? (But if you are curious about their synopses, you can find their reviews on this blog by using the search bar).

Until next time!

5 star, YA

Review: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

August 2, 2021August 2, 2021 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #1

For readers of Kara Thomas and Karen McManus, an addictive, twisty crime thriller with shades of Serial and Making a Murderer about a closed local murder case that doesn’t add up, and a girl who’s determined to find the real killer–but not everyone wants her meddling in the past.

Everyone in Fairview knows the story.

Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.

But she can’t shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer?

Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn’t want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.

This is the story of an investigation turned obsession, full of twists and turns and with an ending you’ll never expect.

This debut had me on the edge of my seat. Hold onto your hats because this was a wild ride that really hit the hype surrounding it.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder follows Pip, an amateur sleuth with a slight personal connection to a case that was considered solved in her small town. Under the guise of a school project to look at social media impact on a high profile case, in reality, Pip was going to conduct an investigation to see if Sal Singh, a boy she knew growing up, could really be a cold-blooded killer at heart like everyone thought he was.

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