Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - One of Us Is Lying

I will start this off by saying I am not the target audience for this book and that is a big reason for my rating. Even though I personally didn't like it, I do see the appeal, especially for younger people. I know this book often gets read in school classes and I understand why.

Now for my personal opinion:
I thought the book was fine, but I was bored for big parts of it. I don't even have really strong opinions about it either way. The characters were interesting but I didn't feel connected to any of them. The story wasn't very captivating, even though it's about secrets being revealed and a murder being solved.

I didn't like that it turned out to not have been a murder at all (even though it was the only thing that makes sense). That Jake was involved too was fine..? I really disliked him from the start and I kind of thought his character felt very exaggerated towards the end. Bronwyn and Nate were cute and it's a trope I will always fall for but like everything else it didn't really capture me.

I love multiple POVs in books but I think for this one it was its downfall. Because off all the different stories and perspectives I was just overwhelmed with all of it and that kept me from caring much either way.

So my final opinion is that the book was fine but not great. I don't think I will read the next books in the series because the story felt finished enough for me and I don't need more.

Content Warnings

danilo_syrtis's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

[Fair warning: This review contains some (major) spoilers that I will tag as such.]

Everything starts when Simon – admin of the Gossip Girl-esque app About That – dies during detention due to anaphylactic shock. The only people there with him are straight A student Bronwyn, popular girl Addy, baseball protegé Cooper, and bad boy Nate. Soon after, a tumblr emerges whose user claims to be the murderer. And as if that is not bad enough, police uncover an About That post that would have been published a day after Simon’s death, revealing secrets the four of them would not have wanted to come out …

There are so many things I really enjoy about this book!

I bought the UK paperback and I am so happy with it – not only has the spine no visible breaks even after I read the book (admittedly carefully) twice, I also love the minimalistic cover and the sprayed edges.

The story captivated me both times I read it! When I started my reread, I was a little afraid that I would be bored, since I had vague memories of the plot and the ending. But there were so many plot points and details I forgot about, so I enjoyed it just as much as the first time! I especially love how cleverly some details are set up that turn out to be important in the end.

For example, it feels natural for Addy to think about her ringtone and how she would have to change it one of these days after Jake broke up with her, but I never would have guessed that it would become as important as it did right at the end of the story.

I also like how the switching POV allowed me to get to know all four main characters. They are fleshed out very well, and it was especially nice to see them not only interact with each other, but also spend a significant amount of time with other characters who are (more or less) important to them.

For example, Bronwyn spends much of her free time with her sister Maeve, which does not only lead to some very sweet moments, but also shows how tight-knit the family is. Obviously, these scenes serve a purpose, e.g. giving important background information on other characters, but to me, they do not feel like a pretense to get that done.

An interesting thing to see is the difference between the main characters regarding dysfunctional family dynamics. They range from almost non-existent (

for example, Bronwyn’s family is very supportive, although it is clear that her parents’ hope for her to get into Yale feels more like an expectation/pressure to her

) to pretty severe (

the obvious example is Nate, whose mother is presumedly dead and whose alcoholic father does not seem to care about his son at all

). These dynamics are not only there to give them a little depth, but they actively shape their experiences during the investigation.

For example, while Bronwyn’s family gets an expensive lawyer who is very involved, Nate is basically on his own – and he is, coincidentally, the only one of them to actually get arested and spend time in jail.

When it comes to the ending, I think that the twist is very well prepared – yet, it managed to surprise me the first time I read the book. (Although I am notoriously bad at guessing the ending of stories, so that may not say too much.) The ending is satisfying to me (

especially since the main characters seem to be in a much better place than at the beginning of the story, without their problems being solved over night in an unrealistic way

Besides the aspects I enjoyed very much, there are some details that I do not like.

A minor annoyance is the division into three parts. It seems a bit unnecessary to me, since there are no big scene changes/time jumps associated with them. Also, not all of the titles work for me.

For example, »Truth or Dare« sounds like the students should have to choose between telling their secrets and doing something/suffering a consequence, e.g. staying a murder suspect. But Addy, for example, already told her secret at the end of »Simon Says«.

Although most details are – as I said above – handled very cleverly in how they are set up and then revealed as important, there is at least one that gets mentioned and then disappears until turning out to be super important, which feels a bit awkward.

I am talking about how Kris’ calls to Cooper are marked as significant, with his girlfriend Keely being confused and him clearly being uncomfortable. Yet, Kris does not really get mentioned after, not even to say that Cooper texted him after school or anything – up until it is revealed that he is Cooper’s boyfriend(?). I understand why this had to stay a secret, even from the reader, for some time – but it just feels awkward.

Lastly, the characters – although, as I said, fleshed out very well – sadly seem stereotypical in some aspects. It only annoyed me in one case

– when Cooper turned out to be the secretly gay high school athlete who hides his sexuality from his homophobic father and teammates. I would have loved for his father to behave more like his grandmother, or for his friends to turn out more supportive. In fact, maybe it would not have annoyed me as much if there was no Homophobic Cafeteria Scene after his forced outing, obviously instigated by his popular former athlete/mean girl friends. I hope this would not happen in real life (anymore?), but I feel like I have read several dozen of these scenes in books and fanfictions already – it just feels very cliché at this point

. Other than that, I think it is fine.

All in all, I think the book is highly enjoyable (although the content warnings should be taken seriously). So, definitely a recommendation from me!

Content Warnings

ajg022's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

An enjoyable page-turner, with enough variance of character perspectives to keep me hooked. The plot itself is a little predictable, but isn't necessarily the focus of the story as much as the characters and their relations to others.

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oceanbluetay's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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dxnatelli's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I chose to read One of Us is Lying because “13 year old me would have loved it,” but I quickly realized that was actually 10 years ago and I don’t have exactly the same interests anymore 💀 As for the characters: I loved Addy; I liked Cooper; I audibly groaned every time I got to a Nate section- he’s a tired cliché and really dragged down Bronwyn’s character. Moral of the story:

teenage boys’ internet usage is a public health emergency.

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mitchell_1's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

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jessanicolesingh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I would describe this thriller as a breakfast club turned murder mystery, centering on a modge podge of stereotypes in detention; a brain, beauty, criminal, athlete and an outcast who ends up dead! The victim had plenty of enemies, as he ran the school’s infamous gossip blog, and was prepared to out the aforementioned classmates on some pretty juicy stuff before his untimely death.

The book was written in multiple POVs, giving you a glimpse into each of the main characters' high school lives throughout the investigation. I actually kept notes on all suspects, determined to figure it out. I had to put the book down and tell my husband my guess at who the killer was around the 75% mark, and I was right!!! That's not to say the book wasn't good enough to surprise me, I'm just really proud of myself for figuring it out AND not skipping to the end to spoil it for myself (I have admittedly very little self control sometimes).

Albeit this book is about murder, be warned there are some additionally heavy triggers with some warnings at the expense of ruining the ending, so keep that in mind if you decide to pick this one up!

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catiecat2_5's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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