Reviews tagging 'Grief'

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

115 reviews

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

After reading The Cousins recently, I was inspired to go through the authors backlist of books. 

This was such a great story that had so many layers! I will admit, I was a little nervous getting around to this very hyped book, but it was definitely worth it.

I never expected who would be the culprit in the 'whodunit' plot and I think it was executed really well.

The characters were fully dimensional and I was invested in all of their stories. 

Nate really irked me in the last few chapters! I felt so disappointed by his decisions, it was just mean.

I think my favourite character was Bronwyn. They all had some really problems in there life but for some reason the internal and external pressures of being the perfect everything really hit me. 

This was exciting, immersive, thrilling and had  lot of depth to reflect on the consequences of spiteful rumours and extremism and radicalisation within education.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

itsjadenbaby's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

The epilogue was so pointless. Other than that, this wasn’t a super memorable book for me. It definitely wasn’t bad, I just wasn’t super impressed. I’m glad that so many other people liked it though!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content

morenareads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Mass/school shootings

siennaflynn's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Outing, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexism, Transphobia, Car accident, and Death of parent

savreads28's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

robinie142's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Outing

Minor: Drug use and Mass/school shootings

ashleysager's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide

pink_princess_24's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

I loved this book it took me 2 months to read even with being busy. The book seems really long but it's not. I liked how the book would change in different perspectives.  The book kind of gives it away on how Simon died in the middle of the book and then you end up just reading the rest of the book for the romance. It also leaves you on a cliff hanger. I liked the book so much I got the second one so i'm not left wondering what else happens.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

prairieraven's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

confessionsofabibliophile's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.0

🔴Might contain spoilers.🔴

Upon reading the first few chapters of this book, I was sucked in. It gave me Pretty Little Liars vibes with a splash of The Breakfast Club thrown in. Unsure if in the future when the "Bayview Four" are named the Murder Club if this was McManus paying homage to the 80s classic, even if it wasn't a little Easter Egg it made me laugh. 

The book takes place in an area of California, I know all too well. Which gave me the ability to immerse myself more into the read. We follow in the first few chapters 5 students: Bronwyn Rojas; very girl next door, top of the class and squeaky clean or so we think, she reminded me of Molly Ringwalds character in The Breakfast Club. Adelaide "Addy" Prentiss; miss popularity dating star athlete the perfect pair, everyone knows who she is by name and by who she is dating but not who ADDY is which let me tell you at the start I really didn't care too much for her she seemed like filler until her story and personal development begins to unfold. She gave me a mix of Hannah from PLL. Cooper Clay; all American golden boy, with the perfect life, grades, MLB scouts pick and the perfect girl, but Coop is hiding a secret that he is worried might end his perfect facade. He is the male counterpart to Emily from PLL. Next, we have Nathaniel "Nate"' Macauley; is the bad boy, down on his luck, guy from the other side of the tracks the only one without a squeaky clean past. He screams a hybrid of Caleb Rivers (PLL) and John Bender (TBC)! Lastly we have Simon Kelleher, he is the school gossip app specialist, secret digger and lie detector. The homecoming court prince that no one seems to think much of. Simon screams A from PLL!!! We start with 5 then someone dies and then the Bayview Four is born and our Murder Club strangers become the unlikely friends that solve the mystery behind the murder.

The characters were well written and I felt connected to them. I think Addy was one of the best character development progressions I have seen for a character set up like Addy. The plot flowed well with no holes that I could find. The story had a good pace, it felt smooth and effortless as it progressed and you begin to unravel the truth about the murder and the Bayview Four. With that being said the ending that was supposed to be a twist and shock, it was to an extent but I had thought about the possibility earlier on in the story, though it didn't change my Oh My God moment. 

All in all it was a great quick read that took about a day. Definitely going to read her other books in the series and absolutely will watch the tv show! I totally recommend this YA murder mystery/thriller with a slice of life setting!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism