Thursday 28 September 2017

Review: One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
Publisher:  Delacorte Press
Publication date: May 30th 2017
My rating: 5 Stars
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | TBD

 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33199875-the-good-daughter
One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.

Pay close attention and you might solve this.

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.

Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.

Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.

Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.

Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.

And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

My Thoughts:
One of Us Is Lying was a page turner! A splendid YA mystery where five teenagers end up in detention together and only four come out alive.  This story is told from four different POVs, the students who lived: Bronwyn “the brain”, Addy “the beauty”, Nate “the criminal”, and Cooper “the athlete”.  This is an unlikely bunch that are bound together after the murder of Simon, the much feared and hated high school gossip blogger, changes their lives forever. 

These four student’s lives were already in flux; each of them holding a secret weighing heavily upon them, maybe about to change their lives.  A secret that gossip-monger-Simon had access to and was about to expose. But was is bad enough that they'd murder him? Each come under more and more suspicion as the story progresses.

I loved how each of these characters grew in a positive way after they each had their darkest secret exposed.  Man, Addy went through a lot, but she came out the other side realizing she could have a meaningful life without always having a boyfriend define and dictate to her.  I really did despise her boyfriend!

I adored Bronwyn and Nate!  A romance that I completely cheered throughout! Bronwyn was the perfectionist, overachieving student driven by family issues deeply personal to her. Nate, a smart, enterprising guy, was struggling just to get by with two parents who checked out for all intents and purposes. They became confidants and comforters to each other as the murder investigation makes their lives a mess. They had a bit of history that made their connection even more special.

I will say I was surprised by the murderer’s identity.  Not so much by some of the side characters involvement, though.  The story and mystery were riveting, a big accomplishment for a debut writer!  I can’t wait to read what Ms. McManus comes up with next!


10 comments:

Lauren said...

Yay, I'm so glad to hear you loved this one. It's a book that I really want to read soon. It sounds fantastic.

-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net

Lily B said...

gah everytime I read a review for this I feel more and more like a black sheep because I did not enjoy it. But, I saw the appeal of why it was liked - if that makes sense? Glad you loved it tho :D

Grace @ RebelMommyBookBlog said...

I recently won this and am so excited to get to it. Sounds awesome with the mystery and very Breakfast Club-esque. Great review!

Anonymous said...

I like when everything is reveals and you still find yourself surprised. Great review. I will be keeping an eye out for this one.

Kindlemom said...

I've thought about grabbing this a few times and it looks like now, after reading your review I really need to!

Blodeuedd said...

I have only heard good things and the library has it :D

Carina Olsen said...

Ohh, yay for enjoying this book so much Rachel :D You have made me curious about this book. I do think it sounds pretty exciting. Just not fully sure if I would love it or not, lol. Thank you for sharing :)

Greg said...

I felt the same way, this is a premise that could have gone bad in so many ways lol but she pulled it off. And Addy was awesome! I liked Bron and Nate too.

Mystica said...

A new one for me. Thanks for the review. So many positives on this one.

Nick said...

Page-turner is definitely the best way to describe this book. I've struggled with YA mysteries in the past because of how predictable they can be, but this was just a blast! Glad you enjoyed it as much as I did, Rachel! :)

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