Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Nothing More to Tell

Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Nothing More to Tell by Karen M. McManus

65 reviews

carloscapy's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

It was a bit confusing and took a while to get to the point, but it was good in the end.

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chloek608's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

5.0

I recommend this book if you like:
-YA mystery
-high school setting
-whodunnit

I am a big fan of Karen M. McManus books which all started with One of Us is Lying. I have enjoyed all her books and they are so easy to read yet have a lot of mystery and intrigue packed into them. The covers and sprayed book edges also make a beautiful addition to my collection.

Brynn is returning her hometown and her old school for senior year. She has also landed a cool internship with a crime tv show where she pitched the idea of looking into a cold case which is right on her doorstep. Her old teacher was murdered in the woods and three of her classmates found him. Were they involved in the murder or just in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Brynn reunites with her ex-best friend Tripp. He was one of the classmates involved but is he guilty of anything?

This whodunnit kept me guessing until the end and I didn’t see it coming!

Brynn had to quit her job at Motive to prove loyalty to her friends, although it didn’t stop her investigation. She uncovered that the teacher Mr Larkin had changed his name and was looking to reconnect with his younger brother who studied at the school. This turned out to be Mason. Somehow Charlotte had overheard a conversation which led her to believe that Mr Larkin’s brother was actually Shane, her boyfriend. Mr Larkin posed a threat to his brother by telling their abusive father where he could find Mason. Charlotte would do anything to protect her boyfriend so she did the ultimate crazy girlfriend move and killed their teacher.

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greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? No

3.5

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abbeyroad1410's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? Yes

3.75

This book, like One of Us Is Lying, a book I read a few years back, is a compelling teen mystery. Karen McManus has a gift of writing teenage characters with depth and complexity that empathizes with their problems but still has them act on teenage impulses. Brynn can see that her ambition gets in the way of her friendships, but she's a teenager and continues to act on this desire to achieve.
Additionally, the gun you see in Act 1 always comes back in Act 3. Charlotte being unnecessarily mean and defensive through the majority of the book is going to be given an explanation by the end of the novel. That being said, sometimes there are too many tidbits that need to be wrapped up. In this case, because so much needed to be given a meaning, the ending seemed a bit rushed which left me with a lackluster feeling. Even some parts in the middle of the book were wrapped up a bit too quickly (aka how did one character recover from alcoholic tendencies in a week).
One thing this book does extremely well is show the sometimes exploitive nature of the true crime industry. The show Motive has good intentions, but commercializing it causes it to take more capitalistic approaches and shy away from stories that may need attention. The rival show it is contrasted with is worse, paying people to alter stories to their benefit. This underlying and not always obvious critique of true crime was an interesting addition to the novel.

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archiveofrasa's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

4.0

I don't necessarily bog a book down if I can predict the murderer (a lot of the twists were fun though). while this may not be my favourite Karen M McManus book, I had one hell of a ride as usual and will probably still read whatever she has coming out lolz

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libraryghost'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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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esmewasreading's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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ashylibrarian's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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? No

3.75

A teacher was murdered. Five years later, a former student proposes this case at her internship at a true-crime podcast show. When old stories are brought back up, the group of students who found the dead Mr. Larkins start to panic...though all for seemingly different reasons.

This was a fine mystery novel that was quick-paced and will definitely draw in readers. I was invested in the story and was curious to find out more of what happened with each chapter.

That being said, I didn't find the the plot to be very in-depth, it primarily stayed at surface-level, which is totally fine, but to make it a stellar book, it would have been nice to see the plot dive a little deeper in certain parts of the story.

The same can be said for the characters. I thought Brynn was fun and she was ambitious, curious, and daring. Tripp was a bit mysterious and unhinged but overall a likeable character.

Overall, I think that YA readers will enjoy the journey this story takes on and will be draw in to the fast-paced writing of Karen McManus.

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lucyrudd's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.0

I wanted to read this book because I absolutely love Karen M. McManus. I love her work; I love her stories and I’ve been hoping that this book goes back to her old days because I've struggled with the last two books, I've read being The Cousins and You’ll Be the Death of Me. This book was so good.

This book has two points of view. The first is Brynn Gallagher. Five years ago, she quit Saint Ambrose School following the murder of her favourite teacher. The case was never solved, but Brynn’s sure that the three kids who found Mr. Larkin’s body on school grounds knows more than they’re telling the police. The second point of view is one of those children and her ex-best friend Noah “Tripp” Talbot. Thanks to Tripp’s testimony none of the kids were found guilty of the murder and now, five years later, the trio are at the top of the school’s social ladder. However, when Brynn gets the internship of a lifetime working on a new true crime show, she decides to investigate what really happened that day in the woods for herself. But the further she dives into the past, the more secrets she uncovers – about Saint Ambrose School, about Mr. Larkin, and even about her ex-best friend.

She has done it again. The angst. The mystery. The high school petty drama. The secrets. I loved it. I liked how she manages to write a good murder mystery every time. I enjoyed the aspect of the small town and the tv shows trying to do a “cold case” sort of thing. I love the romance part of this story with Tripp and Brynn. I just love the fact that Tripp kept this a secret for 7 years and then instantly came apart when Brynn asked him to be honest with her. My favourite part in any mystery book is when the piece of the puzzle starts to make sense and the killer is revealed and . . . it didn’t really happen in this book. There was no dramatic “I did it” or “we caught you” moment. I like the suspense when the MCs have figured it out. And not to ruin it, but there wasn’t really any of that, it was more of a lesson of telling the truth and not to meddle in things that you shouldn’t.

I have struggled with some of Karen’s work in recent years, but I think that’s because I'm so excited for One of Us is Back. But this book was a nice little filler whilst I’m sat here patiently waiting for One of Us is Back to be released.

P.S. I loved the little cameos and mentioned of her other MCs from other books.

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