Reviews

One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

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plusbian's review against another edition

4.0

A whodunnit meets The Breakfast Club. This is the fist thing I thought while on the first chapter. After, I read the summary here and realized it is how it was described.
I guess one point to Slytherin for that. Well, it was a roller coaster with some flat patches along the way but the mystery was worth the wait and trying to figure out who actually done it was so fun.

uranium_92's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

tobydini's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-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

4.25

mariethelibrarian's review against another edition

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4.0

Well I really liked this. I was a bit scared cause it sounded great and murder mysteries are hard to do really well. But I ended up enjoying it a lot. I love the characters and their stories and their secrets! Its a mashup of The breakfast club, How to get away with murder and Pretty little liars. BUT MAN I LOVED SOME OF THESE CHARACTERS SO MUCH.

The ending was a bit predictable, or at least I had a hunch about who dun it. There were however other surprising twists that I loved!
Just read this book if you enjoy secrets, mysteries aaand a dash of romance.

artbysmashley's review against another edition

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5.0

I did not expect to love this as much as I did. The voices were all so distinct and genuine, capturing teens without being overly cliche or too much. The drama was incredibly done. I adored all the characters in their own ways, including the side characters! (Nate Macaulay was everything I could have wanted in the bad boy trope in this setting.) I truly did just thoroughly, wholly enjoy this. I’m eagerly looking forward to the next one!

tuan's review against another edition

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2.0

So, let me just start this off with a classic "It's not you, it's me". I had such high hopes for this book. I mean, I'm all about murder mysteries. I eat them up, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But this one? It turned out to be a salad bowl filled with high school stereotypes and over-the-top drama. It gave me the same vibe as those high school drama shows with the cringe-worthy acting that goes on for too many seasons. This is probably a ridiculous comparison, but picture "Glee," but with murder vibes and none of the humor or musical numbers. Again, I loved "Glee" growing up. Again, I can understand the appeal of this story. But ultimately, it left me disappointed and wanting more.

This book was drenched in predictability and clichés, in its characters and plot points. Usually, when I dive into a whodunit, I don’t put a lot of effort into solving the murder because I wanted to be surprised, you know? But with over a quarter of the book left, I was like, "I think I got it." And the answer? Total cop-out,

Spoiler

especially considering the book's title and its multiple revolving perspectives, which were among the few interesting features it offered

. I had hoped that my hunch would be wrong, but alas, it wasn't. Such wasted potential.

Now, let's give credit where it's due. The story and the writing managed to keep me turning those pages. It wasn't a snooze-fest. I finished the book in two days during summer vacation. But I couldn't connect with any of the characters. Their problems and thoughts did not seem believable or worth getting invested in. I don’t doubt people can relate to these characters and love the plot, but for me, it was a whole lotta eye-rolling and sighs. I had to give myself pep talks just to keep plowing through this one.

So, the bottom line? I can't, in good conscience, stretch it to three stars, which implies I liked the book when, quite frankly, I did not. So 2 stars it is.