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book_dummy's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
rinasleclerc's review against another edition
4.0
would've been better if I didn't guess the ending :/
loriecrisp93's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
jessica_reading_writing's review against another edition
3.0
I've been looking forward to reading this book for a while, but unfortunately it was a slight let down for me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it and the ending was a surprise but it just didn't...grab me and not let me go. I didn't really find a lot happened although the start did start with a bang and got the story moving quickly. I didn't really like many of the characters though. A couple were okay but nothing special. I have all books written by thos author so I am going to continue with them.
abenteuerlichesoul's review
mysterious
slow-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
3.0
aylamasaki's review against another edition
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? Yes
3.0
kristenbooks's review against another edition
2.0
7.28.20 update: rating changed to 2.5/5. This book was alright/ok/meh.
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7/28/17: I enjoyed this book. It was really easy to binge read, and that's exactly what I did. It kept me constantly on my toes and guessing about what was going to happen next. BUT, as I mentioned several times throughout reading, I thought that this book leaned into cliches and stereotypes rather than playing with them. I went into more detail below in my post-reading thoughts. I thought the ending wasn't super satisfying as well. Overall, like I said, I did thoroughly enjoy reading this book. But I thought that its faults made it so that it couldn't quite get 4/5 despite my enjoyment. More detail is below in my post-reading thoughts!
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So, OF COURSE, all of my killer predictions were wrong because I got way too cocky.
Anyway, it'll take me a little while before I choose a rating because I'm super torn here. I really enjoyed this book. It kept me guessing and trying to figure out what was going on and I changed my theory so many mind-boggling times. BUT it's also sooooooo cliche. I'm starting to realize that a book's cliche factor doesn't really affect my enjoyment of the book, but it IS something that I'm acutely aware of, like to complain about, and know others are easily bothered by. So if that's something that's a big turn off for you in books, definitely avoid this one. It's sprinkled in cheesy scenes, stereotypical characters, predictable secrets, and over-done plot twists. For me, it wasn't totally overbearing with these cliche things, but they were completely transparently present, if that makes any sense at all. And, I have to say that while a lot of the things were pretty predictable, the eventual killer was not. Like I said in an update, it was one of the theories stored at the back of my mind that I never believed enough to actually name them as the killer in any of my predictions, but I could say that about almost all of the characters, except one ().
TL;DR: really enjoyed this despite the cliches. It'll probs get either 3 or 4 stars but I haven't decided.
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Killer prediction updates while reading:
7/18/2017: As I said in an update yesterday @ pg 20 (haven't read since then), I have a way-too-early prediction for who the killer is. I'm putting it here in spoiler text just so that I can potentially pull an "I CALLED IT" if I'm right & have this backing me up ;D. I'm probably a bit over-confident here (and I kinda hope I'm wrong bc that'll make it less predictable-- I won't be looking for validation of my theory) but oh well. Here's my prediction-- please don't spoil me on whether I'm right or wrong!
7/22/2017: So I just finished Part 1 and I'm starting to suspect another person. Not sure if I suspect them more or less than the person I mentioned a few days ago, but I'm getting suspicious. Honestly, I was a bit suspicious the second I saw the different stereotypes, but I figured it was too obviously cliche. Now that I've read quite a bit of it and realize how much it's leaning into the cliches, my new killer prediction is:
7/23/2017: Hi, me again with another dumb killer prediction update @ pg 239. The further I get into this book, the more I get suspicious about another character. At this point, I think they're the most likely person to have done it. I've been suspecting them since mid-part 2 and my suspicions just keep piling up and piling up. This'll probably be my last prediction, so we'll see if I'm right. Given that this is my THIRD prediction, I'll only feel successful if I'm correct on this one. And TBH, I really think I am.
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7/28/17: I enjoyed this book. It was really easy to binge read, and that's exactly what I did. It kept me constantly on my toes and guessing about what was going to happen next. BUT, as I mentioned several times throughout reading, I thought that this book leaned into cliches and stereotypes rather than playing with them. I went into more detail below in my post-reading thoughts. I thought the ending wasn't super satisfying as well. Overall, like I said, I did thoroughly enjoy reading this book. But I thought that its faults made it so that it couldn't quite get 4/5 despite my enjoyment. More detail is below in my post-reading thoughts!
----------------------------
So, OF COURSE, all of my killer predictions were wrong because I got way too cocky.
Anyway, it'll take me a little while before I choose a rating because I'm super torn here. I really enjoyed this book. It kept me guessing and trying to figure out what was going on and I changed my theory so many mind-boggling times. BUT it's also sooooooo cliche. I'm starting to realize that a book's cliche factor doesn't really affect my enjoyment of the book, but it IS something that I'm acutely aware of, like to complain about, and know others are easily bothered by. So if that's something that's a big turn off for you in books, definitely avoid this one. It's sprinkled in cheesy scenes, stereotypical characters, predictable secrets, and over-done plot twists. For me, it wasn't totally overbearing with these cliche things, but they were completely transparently present, if that makes any sense at all. And, I have to say that while a lot of the things were pretty predictable, the eventual killer was not. Like I said in an update, it was one of the theories stored at the back of my mind that I never believed enough to actually name them as the killer in any of my predictions, but I could say that about almost all of the characters, except one (
Spoiler
Nate. I was never suspicious of him in the slightest.TL;DR: really enjoyed this despite the cliches. It'll probs get either 3 or 4 stars but I haven't decided.
---------------------------------
Killer prediction updates while reading:
7/18/2017: As I said in an update yesterday @ pg 20 (haven't read since then), I have a way-too-early prediction for who the killer is. I'm putting it here in spoiler text just so that I can potentially pull an "I CALLED IT" if I'm right & have this backing me up ;D. I'm probably a bit over-confident here (and I kinda hope I'm wrong bc that'll make it less predictable-- I won't be looking for validation of my theory) but oh well. Here's my prediction-- please don't spoil me on whether I'm right or wrong!
Spoiler
My prediction is that Addy is whodunit. She was a bit too teary-eyed for my liking.7/22/2017: So I just finished Part 1 and I'm starting to suspect another person. Not sure if I suspect them more or less than the person I mentioned a few days ago, but I'm getting suspicious. Honestly, I was a bit suspicious the second I saw the different stereotypes, but I figured it was too obviously cliche. Now that I've read quite a bit of it and realize how much it's leaning into the cliches, my new killer prediction is:
Spoiler
Bronwyn. Because you'd NEVER suspect the perfect student to be the one who did it... wink wink, nudge nudge. I'm honestly going to be really annoyed if Bronwyn is the killer because at this point the "perfect student" being the killer is ten times more obvious and over-done than the "obvious bad boy" being the killer is.7/23/2017: Hi, me again with another dumb killer prediction update @ pg 239. The further I get into this book, the more I get suspicious about another character. At this point, I think they're the most likely person to have done it. I've been suspecting them since mid-part 2 and my suspicions just keep piling up and piling up. This'll probably be my last prediction, so we'll see if I'm right. Given that this is my THIRD prediction, I'll only feel successful if I'm correct on this one. And TBH, I really think I am.
Spoiler
I think it was Maeve. Yes, part of me reeeeally badly wants it to be someone other than the main 4, but the evidence points directly to her. They just discovered a post about her on Simon's site, and she's ADMITTED that she knew how to hack into the site before he died. Plus she keeps harping on how toxic he was to the school and how many people hated him and she gets real aggressive about it.vacantbones's review against another edition
3.0
I want to start this review by saying that I really, really wanted to love this book. So much so that I requested it as a gift and received it soon after it was published. Unfortunately, my first attempt to read it didn't go so well and it sat on my bookshelf until last month. This should also prove how much I believed in the premise - I refused to let it go despite being unable to get into the story.
Now that I've finally made my way through One of Us Is Lying, I have some thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of the book (most of which have remained steady since my first attempt).
Strengths
-I love a dark YA book! Initially, I felt as though this book's death was a bit PG but I was pleasantly surprised by how dark of a turn the deceased character's personality took. Major props to McManus for writing about some of the things the character was into.
-The story was easy to follow and presented a clear, logical sequence of events for the mystery to unfold along. The way the truth spilled out was very well done.
-Our cast of characters was interesting enough to keep me reading, and I thought their secrets were very realistic. Worth killing over, though? I'll let you be the judge of that.
Weaknesses
-The main thing that turned me off from this one during my first attempt at reading it was the writing style. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but it felt like very little distinguished one narrator's voice from the next, each just sounding like what an adult would imagine a teenager to sound like.
-At times the main characters started to lean toward caricature-like drawings of themselves. For example, Bronwyn's race and her parent's cultural backgrounds sometimes felt unnaturally dropped into the text. Diversity is crucial to art, but this sometimes felt less like diversity and more like meeting a quota.
Overall, this was a very middle of the road read for me. As far as debuts go, this was a solid outing and I'm very interested in seeing where the author goes next. It could've gone so much further with the material presented, but maybe I'm just aging out of the target demographic!
Now that I've finally made my way through One of Us Is Lying, I have some thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of the book (most of which have remained steady since my first attempt).
Strengths
-I love a dark YA book! Initially, I felt as though this book's death was a bit PG but I was pleasantly surprised by how dark of a turn the deceased character's personality took. Major props to McManus for writing about some of the things the character was into.
-The story was easy to follow and presented a clear, logical sequence of events for the mystery to unfold along. The way the truth spilled out was very well done.
-Our cast of characters was interesting enough to keep me reading, and I thought their secrets were very realistic. Worth killing over, though? I'll let you be the judge of that.
Weaknesses
-The main thing that turned me off from this one during my first attempt at reading it was the writing style. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but it felt like very little distinguished one narrator's voice from the next, each just sounding like what an adult would imagine a teenager to sound like.
-At times the main characters started to lean toward caricature-like drawings of themselves. For example, Bronwyn's race and her parent's cultural backgrounds sometimes felt unnaturally dropped into the text. Diversity is crucial to art, but this sometimes felt less like diversity and more like meeting a quota.
Overall, this was a very middle of the road read for me. As far as debuts go, this was a solid outing and I'm very interested in seeing where the author goes next. It could've gone so much further with the material presented, but maybe I'm just aging out of the target demographic!