Book: The Velvet Knife by Maureen Johnson
Reviewed by Anonymous
Rating: 4/5
I had been waiting for years to return to the world of Steve Bell. I find cults fascinating, and this very Manson-esque cult did not disappoint. Having Stevie and Nate hit New York for winter holiday break was a nice follow-up to them in London.
The Good:
The "past" chapters dealing with the cult were fascinating. And you really wanted to yell at characters to get themselves out of there
The new supporting cast of characters living on the same floor that Stevie and Nate were staying on
Pacing
Stevie's personal growth in connection to her family
The Ok
The present day mystery itself. We didn't really have Stevie start investigating anything or noticing a mystery until almost halfway through the book
Nate's spiral. It was important to his character, but parts of it seemed a bit too drastic a departure from how we have seen him act
Stevie's constant negative thoughts about David. On the one hand, she's barely 18, so I get it, but I wanted to shake her and tell her to snap out of it at times
The Eh
I didn't love how Stevie's story with David ended with a potential "will they mentality"
Overall, I did enjoy the story, but I didn't absolutely love it. That said, if the ending is setting up for another or final book, then I will definitely look forward to reading it, because this particular ending left me slightly unsatisfied.