Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - One of Us Is Lying

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

64 reviews

angelo_vossen's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

Karen M. McManus’ „One of Us Is Lying“ is a mix of mystery and young adult drama, offering a modern take on the classic “whodunit” style. The story revolves around five high school students—Bronwyn, Addy, Nate, Cooper, and Simon—who all end up in detention together. However, things take a dark turn when Simon, the creator of a notorious gossip app, suddenly dies during their detention, leaving the remaining four students as prime suspects. Each character has a secret they desperately want to keep hidden, and Simon was about to expose them all.

The novel is told through multiple points of view, which gives readers insight into each character’s mindset and backstory, allowing for an engaging, character-driven plot. McManus does an excellent job of weaving together these different perspectives while maintaining suspense. Each student is a well-rounded character with their own motivations and flaws, which makes it harder to pinpoint who could be responsible for Simon’s death.

At its core, „One of Us Is Lying“ explores themes like high school cliques, social pressures, identity, and the lengths to which people will go to protect their reputations. The writing is accessible and keeps you hooked with its fast pace and twists, although seasoned readers of the genre might find some of the plot points predictable. Nonetheless, the novel keeps its energy high and delivers some genuine surprises along the way.

While the central mystery is the book’s driving force, the character development is what gives it staying power. Each of the suspects undergoes significant growth, and the ending is both satisfying and thought-provoking, offering a commentary on the impact of gossip, rumors, and hidden lives in the digital age.

Overall, „One of Us Is Lying“ is a fun, engaging read for fans of young adult fiction and mystery. It combines the tension of a murder mystery with relatable teen struggles, making it a solid choice for anyone looking for a suspenseful and entertaining story.

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.

Content Warnings

mikathereviewer's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

2.0

This review is in two languages at the same time as I read it in German, highlighted scenes that were translated into German, added English notes and have an English audience and due to the length I decided not to translate it it in two different languages and kept it in it's original form.

I know that most like this book and that's totally fine for me. I just think honestly I might shouldn't have read it as I usually don't read teenage thrillers and tend to stay in thrillers were the characters are already adults. So one could say the book was out of my comfort zone.
My opinions down below aren't intended to insult or hurt anyone, they are just my personal opinion and my experience while reading.

How to summaries the book perfectly based on Sam's words: "»Addy ist das Prinzesschen und du bist die Sportskanone«, sagt Simon zu mir. Er deutet mit dem Kinn auf Bronwyn und danach auf Nate. »Du die Intelligenzbestie und du der Outlaw. Ihr seid allesamt wandelnde Teenie-Film-Stereotypen.«"

Liked

• Even though the plot twists were obvious I liked that 1 of them was show than tell (all the others were tell only)

• Like how the 4 people not know eachother. Is more realistic if they have their own friend group and barely or just a few know eachother.

• Addy has a great character development. From being obedient to being independent.

• Even though I hate how cliché everything is, the whole bullying and teenage phase think is actually realistic.

Disliked

• Don't know about you, but if I would be the people in the book I wouldn't bully the people who are suspects about a murder case.
In the end they kill ME 🤷
(also the whole 'In the end I never really had any friends' thing is too often used now)

• Also not sure if you really can call anything of this a plot twist as these aren't secrets that are revealed but actual personal and privat stuff that is totally normal not to tell everyone.

• Way too many clichés and the whole puberty thing was so annoying (especially when Addy cut her hair and didn't like it in the end, and built her personality and connections only based on Jake)

• I don't know if it's my translation as I read it in German but I saw it so often now. Not knowing the difference between 'outing' and 'coming out'.
The word 'Zwangsouting' (forced outing) makes no sense as outing means:
"Outing," a term used for making the sexual orientation and/or gender identity of another public, when they would prefer to keep this information secret.
And 'coming out' means:
Coming out refers to the process that people who are LGBTQ go through as they work to accept their sexual orientation or gender identity and share that identity openly with other people.
So using outing and forced in front of it just makes it have a double meaning.

• The whole happy ending. In reality at least one thing wouldn't turn out like one would like it to be. That is what life is. Unrealistic.

• All flat characters. Sam was the closest of being three-dimensional, but all the others? Except what we know of the blurb about them we barely get to know about them anything else. Yes maybe a few 'secrets' or rather private information, but nothing like quirks, favourite something, more backstory that isn't based on their profession and more. We barely know them. Yes, Addy had a character development but it was still all about her relationship, how she was some kind of beauty princess and not queen (which is so bad, not) and that she had her 'I cut my hair to show that I'm independent now' phase (which she by the way regretted as soon as she saw Jake)

• The whole 'you aren't borinf 'cause you drink, do drugs, sex, etc..' thing is so damaging to say and even this book said it. I get it they are teens, they want to have fun and stuff, but please never tell someone that in real life. You just put pressure on someone and everyone can be interesting without doing such stuff.

• From my point of view, every female character was having the hots for lots of boys and I also disliked how some (even though irrelevant characters) just touched one of our male protagonists.
Here is the scene where Mallory touched Nate without allowance: "Sie kichert noch lauter und streicht mir über den Bauch."
And: "Mallory fummelt weiter an mir herum und ich trete einen Schritt zurück."

• We get once again the muscules and just being extraordinary hot cliché.
Oh and one apparently can ONLY like sporty people
Reference: "Ehrlich gesagt weiß ich nicht, was Simon sich dabei gedacht hat. Keely steht nur auf Sportler. Bei jemandem wie Bronwyn hätte er vielleicht mehr Chancen gehabt."

• Everyone flirts with everyone or even becomes a h0e
Reference: "Gott, meine Mutter. Die Frau hat tatsächlich den Nerv, mit Officer Budapest zu flirten"
Reference 2: "Und auf einmal habe ich ihn geküsst und vorgeschlagen, zu ihm nach Hause zu gehen.
Nichts von dem, was passiert ist, ist also seine Schuld." (The scandal scene)
Example 3: "»Dann hattest du gleichzeitig was mit mir und mit Nate?«
»Würde dir das was ausmachen?«"
Example 4: "Sie hat sich übrigens SOFORT Luis geangelt, nachdem Cooper mit ihr Schluss gemacht hatte. Wenn sie den Pitcher nicht haben kann, reicht ihr wohl auch sein Catcher. Luis hat Olivia für sie sitzen gelassen"

• THIS
"»Typisch Mann. Du hast keinen Schimmer, wie schwer es ist, ein Kostüm zu finden, in dem man sexy aussieht, aber nicht wie eine Nutte.«
Luis wackelt vielsagend mit den Brauen. »Dann geh doch einfach gleich als Nutte«,"
Ist so
wieso sexy aussehen wollen wenn Halloween eigentlich eh für Kinder ist und sexy man nur für bf oder gf sein sollte und nicht für alle Welt

• No research done what a sociopath is
"»Wer weiß, vielleicht bin ich ja ein Soziopath. Die sollen wahre Meister darin sein, ihre Umgebung zu täuschen.«"
Nein, das sind Psychopathen, sie wissen ganz genau wie sie charmant zu sein haben während Soziopathen noch empathie besitzen und auch impulsiver handeln

• Here is the example why I said earlier that Addy's whole personality and persona is based on Jake:
"Wenn ich nicht Jakes Freundin bin, wer bin ich dann?"
Eine Individuelle Person? kannst mir nicht sagen, sie denkt sonst sie existiert nicht nur weil sie mit Jake nicht mehr zusammen ist
Reference 2: "»Fällt dir wirklich nichts ein, was du gerne machst und was nichts mit Jake zu tun hat?«"

• Sexistic
"»Er hat kein Recht, dich aus der Welt zu radieren. Gott, du hast einen dummen Fehler gemacht. Aber es ist schließlich nicht so, als hättest du jemanden umgebracht.«"
Ach wirklich aber wenn ein Typ es macht heißt es wieder aLlE mÄnNeR sInD sChLImM
Example 2: "»Jemanden zu betrügen ist kein Fehler. Man entscheidet sich dafür«, gibt Jake aufgebracht zurück und klingt einen kurzen Moment vollkommen nüchtern."
Hat er vollkommen recht. man entscheidet sich. man kontrolliert auch sein eigen Körper und dementsprechend auch Entscheidungen

• It makes NO sense
Erst so 'Ich will nie wieder mit dir reden' auch Jake:
"»Wie geht es dir so?«, fragt er.
Ich muss beinahe lachen. »Oh, na ja, du weißt schon. Nicht so gut.«"

• No talking, just expecting others to solve your issues??
"»Tja, dann … man sieht sich.«"
So translated you do the usual girl move by not talking and expecting him to solve it himself even though its a US issue

• "Geht die Polizei zu weit, wenn private Informationen preisgegeben werden, um in einem Fall weiterzukommen?"
Ja, dürfen die in real life nicht mal
Genauso wie die Polizei weiß wenn eine Datei geschnitten wurde egal wie sehr man rumtrickst

• Addy's mum. Don't know if I need to explain but just her move that one NEEDS to have a bf to be happy. And pressuring her to get a new one.

• Cringe
"Addy dreht sich so schnell zu mir um, dass ihre blonde Mähne wie in einer Shampoo-Werbung um ihre Schultern schwingt."

• That haircut thing
"Ich habe mich an den Schnitt gewöhnt und MANCHMAL mag ich ihn sogar, aber es ist unmöglich, meine Haare über Nacht fünfundvierzig Zentimeter wachsen zu lassen, und es gibt nichts, was ich tun kann, damit sie in Jakes Augen besser aussehen."

Wrote the review: 26. July 2024

Content Warnings

mnasr's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

It's an incredibly fast paced, edge-of-the-seat thriller. So 5/5 for that. But since it is centered around teens often I felt that cerya aspects felt slightly unrealistic for that age group. But I think that's quite subjective tha every might not resonate with. I enjoyed the book masive despite that. So 4.5/5.

Content Warnings

kirstencholewa's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

This story draws you in and keeps your attention to the last page!
At times it did feel a bit forced from a diversity perspective.

Content Warnings

azileotulp's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious 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

4.75

I'm gonna say right now that this was soooooo close to being a 5-star read for me. In all honesty, it probably should be because I only had one minor issue that is totally petty and that no one else probably cares about, but I personally can't overlook it. (I'll be discussing that under the spoiler tag later though.)

I do have to say that this was such an engaging mystery. Sadly, I did have part of the ending spoiled for me because one of the reviewers here doesn't know how to use spoiler warnings, but even with that spoiler, I was still able to enjoy it. It was just as much fun to try to figure out why the person responsible did what they did.

I also loved the characters so much. Usually in books with multiple perspectives, there's always that one character's POV that I'm just trying to get through before I can get back to the more interesting characters. This book wasn't like that at all. Even the characters I originally didn't like at first (who I did grow to love throughout the story, by the way) had such compelling perspectives that I was always excited to read them. And I have to say, I am such a Bronwyn and Nate fan...

Which brings me to my only problem with this book. Like I said... it's petty, but I don't even care. Yes, Bronwyn and Nate do end up together in the end, which I'm so happy about, don't get me wrong. But that little period of time at the end when it seemed like they went their separate ways? That hurt. Especially when I started reading the epilogue set 3 months later and saw that Bronwyn was dating Evan??? I actually bursted into tears. That period of uncertainty just went on too long for me, especially after having read another mystery novel where the protagonist and her love interest do actually go their separate ways. I won't say which book that was, but it genuinely made me sick, and I was so scared it was going to happen again. So, like I said, petty reason for not giving the book 5 stars, but amazing author should have thought about that before scaring me like that.

I do also want to talk a bit about my baby boy Cooper.

I had no idea this book had a prominent LGBTQ+ character, but now I'm happy I decided to read it during Pride Month. Y'all, I feel so connected to Cooper and I'm going to be thinking about him for months. We're both southern gays with homophobic fathers, and we have such similar queer experiences. What really got me was that ride home with his father before he came out to his family. When I came out to my mother, I was also fretting over it while in the car with her, and as soon as we parked, I told her. His story just resonated so deeply with me, and I'm so sorry I was hating on him at the beginning for being a cheater. (Yes, he did still cheat, but I favor gay people and his ex seemed to forgive him by the end. Leave me alone.) I love you, Cooper, and I'm sorry I ever doubted your good nature.

All in all, I truly adored this book. I was captivated the entire time I was reading, but especially those last seventy or so pages. I was gasping, shrieking, throwing up (okay, slightly exaggerated on that last one, but I did gag once). I can't recommend it more.

Content Warnings

thequiltyreader's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

It was OK. Typical YA high school book and it felt a little immature at times - using language and sexual references that didn't add to the overall story, or at least I didn't feel like it did.

It had the stereotypical characters and in a stereotypical manner they are thrust together into a situation they have to work through. I did however find myself playing along with the story and trying to unpick what had happened as the story developed.

Content Warnings

sare1125's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

4.75

Content Warnings

add_a_little_spook's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious 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

3.5

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