Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

28 reviews

violetbentbackwards1036's review against another edition

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

citrus_tart's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

It was a well written book with a good plot. I didn’t personally enjoy the book but that’s only because I was not the target demographic. This would be a lovely book for teens who love mystery and high school love.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Medical content

cara_nm's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying and Infidelity

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, Outing, and Alcohol

classicpseudonym's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.75

again, writing this immediately after finishing the book so i don't forget anything so i'm still sort of in shock. i read two can keep a secret by mcmanus a few  years ago so i've had this on my to read ever since (but never particularly wanted to read it until i didn't have time to find another option at the library). but woah that was definitely something.

i feel like i was more hooked than i'm willing to admit because this was a typical ya book about high school and murder (except by peanut oil i guess), but i still wanted to read on even though this doesn't exactly align with my book tastes. and the build-up of everything was pretty well executed, so props to mcmanus on a thrilling debut.

on the other hand, i'm looking back immediately after and i feel like i didn't really get anything out of it? if that makes sense. i wasn't a big fan of the hold that romance and relationships had on the plot and the book overall, but that's just how high school is portrayed in general, and i'm not a big romance person so i'm probably just biased. me saying "i didn't get anything out of it" isn't to say that the psychological themes and the perspectives/narration of each of the characters wasn't interesting, but i just feel like i wouldn't want to read this book again. like the case with two can keep a secret (which i don't remember anything about, then again its been years) i don't think i'd remember anything about the book besides the ending (which will haunt me even though i felt it coming) in a few months.

now that i'm thinking about it, simon's character is going to haunt me for the rest of my life. from the reference to the omniscent narrator at the beginning of the book, to the way he planned on dictating "his story" even from the grave... chilling. god.

so if you want fast paced, thrilling, and haunting in a ya sort of way read, i'd recommend. there are a lot a lot of trigger warnings though, so i'd recommend that people keep that in mind if they read. if you tend to stay away from ya thriller/mystery books like i do, maybe still give it a read if you're bored because i feel like it's decently well done, but it wasn't my favorite book personally and it might not be yours either. then again, i think it's just because i think too much and i gravitate towards books that are really deep and get my mind all jumbled on the issues of society. but that's a me problem. pretty good book overall though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Outing, and Alcohol

Minor: Death of parent

booksbyantheia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

 Como lectura en general, llenó todos los espacios requeridos para ser un libro bueno. Personajes relativamente sólidos, una trama segura, con los espacios de misterio necesarios. Quizás fue esa trama esperable la que la hace un libro bueno, pero no excelente, y no tan memorable. (Sorry, Simon)

Y quizás hasta esos puntos favorables no son tan fuertes. Solo sentí que Bronwyn estaba desarrollada al máximo. Sus pequeñas luchas consigo misma, sus motivaciones, sus secretos. Siento que el menos desarrollado fue Cooper. 

Si bien su homosexualidad es algo muy importante para todo el "estereotipo" que construyó como máscara, eso no me hizo sentirlo un personaje más profundo que Bronwyn.

  Addy me parece la peor desarrollada en general.

La trama es predecible. Soy estúpida y conecté todo mal, pero acerté a cada suceso (atribuyéndolo erronéamente, pero aún así). 

Incluyendo el plot twist de Jake. No lo adiviné bien, pero sabía que estaba involucrado de alguna manera.

Eso muestra que fue una escritura muy cuidada y notable. Las pistas estaban ahí, pero lamento que en cierto punto se haya pasado de foreshadowing a exceso de detalles.

Es una buena lectura, recomendable para meterse en el género de misterio. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Mentions of divorce, body hatred, low self-esteem, non-explicit sexual content.

abi_ineedtoreadmore's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny mysterious sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mxdegroot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

First of all, I did not see the reveal coming. It was one of the most original plot twists I've read in a murder mystery so far.

However, the story went a bit too slow for me to rate it any higher than I have. It was very good, but it took me about half the book to really get pulled into the mystery. Still very much a recommendation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Violence and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Medical content

gailsage_thomps's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Sexism, Medical content, Car accident, and Sexual harassment

mllewellyn's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Good plot but under whelming 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

miakeough's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, and Car accident