The Vanishing Stair audiobook

WOWOWOW I loved this book so much!! A fantastic sequel, possibly even more enjoyable than the first installment, which was tough to beat. CW: anxiety/panic attacks, murder, death, abduction I came away from The Vanishing Stair with such a greater appreciation for this entire series. From the impeccable characterization to the flawlessly constructed plot, The Vanishing Stair is everything one would want from a second installment. It’s not as if anything was lacking in Truly Devious, but the sequel made me fall in more in love with every aspect of this story.The mystery really takes an unexpected turn in this novel, going in a direction I had not expected and leaving me wanting more. It is truly difficult to predict the many twists and turns that make this one of the greatest young adult mysteries I have ever read.I cannot recommend this series enough! If you have yet to start it, you are in for a real treat.This book was sent to me unsolicited and for free by HarperTeen. I had no obligation to review this book and all opinions are my own.

4.5

you know that feeling when you misremember how you felt about a book, potentially romanticising it, because you swear the story was just that good?? i think i did that with ‘truly devious’ because i went into this expecting it to be a five star read. and maybe thats my fault. i should have done a quick reread beforehand because this sequel did nothing to help me remember why i thought i was obsessed with this story. dont get me wrong. its still a pretty solid sequel and a really good book, but it didnt live up to my unfairly high expectations. what i enjoyed most was that i kept wanting to turn the page. MJ has perfected the art of subtle giving - just enough to keep the reader satisfied, while also making them want more. the pacing is really good, there is never a dull moment, and i thought the story did a great job at picking up where the previous book left off.however, there is a pretty big reveal in this book, one that readers have been dying to know since the beginning, and i was very underwhelmed with it. its one of those reveals that the reader would never guess because it kind of comes out of nowhere, with none of the given hints leading to it. so thats a bit of a bummer. but overall this is a fun and exciting book. definitely not as good as the first one (based on how i remember it), but still very much worth my time. im looking forward to seeing how things get wrapped up in the concluding instalment! ↠ 3.5 stars

Four more astonishing and intriguing, TG this time I’m not disappointed stars! This book’s difference from the first one, we don’t need any introductions about Ellingham academy, its history and past kidnapping, murder mysteries. It started where it left and we have some revelations, more informations, finding important pieces of puzzle. This is more fast paced, riveting and entertaining book. I even start to empathize Stevie, her techniques, her obsessions, way of thinking, emotional up and downs. The characters are still so much quirky, emotionally unstable but they’re smart, unique and entertaining in some ways ! I still like Nate and I got used to his antics! Still have big questions about David but as soon as he made a clean slate and told the truths about his f*cked up family history, I started to understand the sources of his mean and douchebag attitudes. This time, there is a real cliffhanger at the end and we finally learned the kidnappers’ identities but it resulted with more unanswered questions! We’re still in the dark about student murders and perpetrators! So looking forward to read the end of the trilogy! This is not the best YA murder mysteries that I’ve ever read! But it’s still brilliant and the way of storytelling, the references of old Doyle and Christie books makes you satisfied and keep your attention! I wish I started to read them after the releasing of final book. Now I have to wait at least six months! That’s the worst thing when you finally get attached to a story, characters and the writing style of the author! Damn!!!

The most disappointing part of the book?! The 'Acknowledgwments' just after the last chapter! I wanted MORE...and yes, I can imagine how vampires must be craving for warm blood to survive.Ok, for Nate's sake, how this book made my life incompletely complete:The second book started with a bang! Each page was so entertaining, except for the David parts, of course. (I still cannot get used to this character nor to the awkward romance. I guess I never will.) I find almost every character really amusing. Each character introduced had a mystery. Things might appear simple and fun but the real fun began when the book was just about to end. One mystery gets solved, three or four mysteries jump up just like that (and we all know how we love to get our lives ruined when the book ends with cliffhangers). There's still some three or more murder mysteries yet to get solved and one very important mystery that had started it all still looming large. The second book is much more fast paced, packed with action and some pulse throbbing case solving adventure! Secrets, hidden answers, trust matters, weird characters.....gave me more than what I had anticipated.I just don't like the awkward romance thing between David and Stevie. It's so awkward. I preferred the chemistry between Vi and Janelle more no matter how small their parts were. In fact, I like all the characters with all their flaws and perfections.Looking past the weakest character and chemistry issue, the book is still a solid 5 star read!I appreciate the Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes and Edgar Allan Poe references!Such a good nerdy read I was craving for!😈 Hey, third book, you cannot do anything but get ready to get stuck with me for the next two hours or so eh?!

4 1/2 starsThis was exactly what I needed at exactly the right time. It basically had everything I wanted from a sequel and, to me, is the perfect second installment in this series. The characters felt more fleshed out and charming, the dialogues felt incredibly realistic and well-written, the suspense was ridiculously well structured and executed and THE REVEALS were quite unpredictable and shocking to me. Once more I cannot wait for the next book. (Also Nate hi I love you.) * * * YOOOO THIS TITLE. (if you know, you know.)

Actual Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 "Where do you look for someone who's never really there?Always on a staircase but never on a stair." DID IT SERIOUSLY JUST END LIKE THAT???!!!Wow.😠Just wow. Someone should seriously congratulate Maureen Johnson with her amazing cliffhangers. WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW FROM BOOK 1!!!! (spoilers from this book are in tags)You have been warned............I thought Truly Devious's ending was bad but no...........this is WAY worse.(view spoiler)[Again, I never thought George Marsh would be the one behind the Truly Devious case. He really did seem like a good friend of Ellingham. But they do say never trust anyone during a case, especially if they're close to you.And I can't believe that two students came up with the Truly Devious letter as a prank and in the end that prank just complicated the investigation 75 years after. Frankie and Edward are actually geniuses, though they obviously didn't think it'd turn so serious. (hide spoiler)]Honestly, I would be such a bad detective.😅 I see Stevie saying that she's figured it all out and I'm just like.......wait who is it???? And then after Stevie figured out that Ellie was the murderer of Hayes and had escaped, I thought that they'd eventually track her down and find Ellie, but no..........it was much deeper than that. (view spoiler)[Ellie hadn't even left Ellingham this whole time and was hiding underground, but when Stevie and David found her body, she was dead.........which makes me wonder.........was she really the one who killed Hayes? I feel like maybe she had something to do with the murder but I don't think she intended for Hayes to die or something? Also, I know she has to be guilty of something because she ran away and I don't believe that she ran away from fear, but I think it wasn't really fear of being put into jail but maybe something bigger than that. She might be working with powerful people who might do something to her if she talked. Haha Idk. Maybe I'm thinking too much into it or completely off. I do wonder tho........🤔 (hide spoiler)]There are SO MANY suspicious people in this book, that I think I've just decided to not trust them all. Everyone's a suspect now (minus the crew cuz I really don't think they have anything to do with this). David is also being really suspicious but I don't think he has anything to do with the murders, though I could be wrong. I mean, I didn't think Ellie was evil, but look at how that turned out😕.(view spoiler)[HUNTER IS DEFINITELY ON MY SUSPECTS LIST. I thought it was Dr. Fenton but she's dead now (or at least that's how the book ended) so she can't be a suspect anymore. Right.....? (hide spoiler)]Honestly, this whole thing is confusing. I'm so not cut out for detective work. I'll leave that to Stevie.😎Oh and every time I see Albert Ellingham talking about how much he loves games, I just picture an mischievous smile on his face—maybe even evil .😨Scary pikachu.......... *shudder*Also, I don't know if it's just me but Edward King reminds me a lot of Donald Trump. I was wondering before why Stevie hated the politician so much, but now......I completely understand your hatred Stevie.😔 "Edward King was the worst man in America.Well, that point could be argued. But Edward King was a powerful man. He was a Pennsylvania senator, based here, out of Pittsburgh. This was the man who wanted to keep “outsiders” and “bad elements” out of America, which largely meant people who weren’t white, weren’t rich. For Edward King, wealth was goodness. There was no climate change in his world—the earth was there to produce more life-affirming dollars. This was a man who wanted to be president." I swear this sounds exactly like Trump🤣 Especially the 'there's no such thing as climate change'.Also, David is still.........well, let's just stay that I still don't like him. He really annoys me. Although, I've gotta say that he is funny, if crazy. “Tell her about the screaming,” Janelle said. “Because I can’t.”“The screaming?” Stevie repeated.“The other morning he started something called ‘screaming meditation,’” Nate said. “Guess what happens in screaming meditation? Did you guess screaming? For fifteen minutes? Because that’s what happens in screaming meditation. Fifteen. Minutes. Outside. At five in the morning. Do you know what happens when someone screams outside for fifteen minutes at five in the morning at a remote location in the mountains, especially after a . . .”The implied dot dot dot was “student dies in a terrible accident or maybe murder and another one goes missing.”“When security got to him he claimed it was his new religion and that it is something he needs to do every morning now as a way to talk to the sun.” Ahhh David was really not okay in this book.🤣 (view spoiler)[And now he's run off and away from Ellingham. RIP David. (hide spoiler)]Nate as always, was awesome. I seriously love this guy so much. He literally just speaks his mind and was even said to be the only smart one in the group. He's almost always with Stevie on her investigations and like Stevie can confide with Nate on the big stuff. He was like the first person to hear from Stevie that she'd figured out the Truly Devious case. Nate🥰 “. . . the last few weeks have been a time of such sadness. What you need to know, what you must know, is that your safety, your health, your emotional well-being is what matters the most. We are going to be here for you. We’re going to have . . .”“Counselors,” Nate mumbled under his breath. “You get a counselor and you get a counselor, and you get . . .” He's so annoyed.😂And Dottie. I love how even though she knew there was something wrong and was super scared, she was still able to think straight and leave a clue in her Sherlock Holmes novel. No way would I have ever thought of that. I would've been way too terrified to move if I knew I was probably about to die. She's got guts. Especially trying to escape afterwards right in front of the murderer (view spoiler)[Curse you George Marsh for killing Dottie. She was a nice girl😥 (hide spoiler)]I'm deciding whether I should just wait for the library copy of The Hand on the Wall or be impatient and read the ebook.😅 I have no idea what to do.🤷‍♀️ |Blog| ["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

This one hit the spot in all the right ways. The first book felt a little unfinished for me, but this one fleshed out the mysteries, gave us answers, and set up the mysteries for the next book. All in all a really great read.

The plot thickens.Now that's what I call a cliff-hanger! So much was revealed in the last 50 pages, and for it to end like that? Bravo, Maureen Johnson.I definitely enjoyed this second novel in the Truly Devious series more than the first. It still carried all the luscious descriptions of crisp Autumn mornings that I so loved in Truly Devious; I'll never tire of reading about fall in New England. The characters felt worn-in, in the best way possible. Nate is my favorite, by far. David's still weird. Stevie's still Stevie. But we were also introduced to a few new characters! Fun, fun. I'm so happy we finally got concrete answers toward the Ellingham case. I won't spoil anything, but I was genuinely perplexed as to who the kidnapper was. The first half of the book felt like nothing was really happening, and that's because nothing was really happening. I did appreciate, however, the recap of the events from the first novel. It was a thorough recap, but never tedious. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how everything wraps up in the third book!

HOLY SH*T WHAT THE HELL. OMG. I NEED THE NEXT BOOK NOWWWW

4.9/5 :)OMG OMG OMG EVEN MORE THINGS HAPPENED WTF-me after reading this book:a thought that nobody asked for~ when Stevie was describing Edward King it really really really reminded me of Trump (trump supporters don’t attack me :))

I WAS RIGHT FROM THE FIRST BOOK. I can’t believe that damn first book made me question my theory and I was right, smh. That ending reveal was wild