Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - One of Us Is Lying

Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

161 reviews

danilo_syrtis'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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

[Fair warning: This review contains some (major) spoilers that I will tag as such.]

Everything starts when Simon – admin of the Gossip Girl-esque app About That – dies during detention due to anaphylactic shock. The only people there with him are straight A student Bronwyn, popular girl Addy, baseball protegé Cooper, and bad boy Nate. Soon after, a tumblr emerges whose user claims to be the murderer. And as if that is not bad enough, police uncover an About That post that would have been published a day after Simon’s death, revealing secrets the four of them would not have wanted to come out …

There are so many things I really enjoy about this book!

I bought the UK paperback and I am so happy with it – not only has the spine no visible breaks even after I read the book (admittedly carefully) twice, I also love the minimalistic cover and the sprayed edges.

The story captivated me both times I read it! When I started my reread, I was a little afraid that I would be bored, since I had vague memories of the plot and the ending. But there were so many plot points and details I forgot about, so I enjoyed it just as much as the first time! I especially love how cleverly some details are set up that turn out to be important in the end.

For example, it feels natural for Addy to think about her ringtone and how she would have to change it one of these days after Jake broke up with her, but I never would have guessed that it would become as important as it did right at the end of the story.

I also like how the switching POV allowed me to get to know all four main characters. They are fleshed out very well, and it was especially nice to see them not only interact with each other, but also spend a significant amount of time with other characters who are (more or less) important to them.

For example, Bronwyn spends much of her free time with her sister Maeve, which does not only lead to some very sweet moments, but also shows how tight-knit the family is. Obviously, these scenes serve a purpose, e.g. giving important background information on other characters, but to me, they do not feel like a pretense to get that done.

An interesting thing to see is the difference between the main characters regarding dysfunctional family dynamics. They range from almost non-existent (

for example, Bronwyn’s family is very supportive, although it is clear that her parents’ hope for her to get into Yale feels more like an expectation/pressure to her

) to pretty severe (

the obvious example is Nate, whose mother is presumedly dead and whose alcoholic father does not seem to care about his son at all

). These dynamics are not only there to give them a little depth, but they actively shape their experiences during the investigation.

For example, while Bronwyn’s family gets an expensive lawyer who is very involved, Nate is basically on his own – and he is, coincidentally, the only one of them to actually get arested and spend time in jail.

When it comes to the ending, I think that the twist is very well prepared – yet, it managed to surprise me the first time I read the book. (Although I am notoriously bad at guessing the ending of stories, so that may not say too much.) The ending is satisfying to me (

especially since the main characters seem to be in a much better place than at the beginning of the story, without their problems being solved over night in an unrealistic way

Besides the aspects I enjoyed very much, there are some details that I do not like.

A minor annoyance is the division into three parts. It seems a bit unnecessary to me, since there are no big scene changes/time jumps associated with them. Also, not all of the titles work for me.

For example, »Truth or Dare« sounds like the students should have to choose between telling their secrets and doing something/suffering a consequence, e.g. staying a murder suspect. But Addy, for example, already told her secret at the end of »Simon Says«.

Although most details are – as I said above – handled very cleverly in how they are set up and then revealed as important, there is at least one that gets mentioned and then disappears until turning out to be super important, which feels a bit awkward.

I am talking about how Kris’ calls to Cooper are marked as significant, with his girlfriend Keely being confused and him clearly being uncomfortable. Yet, Kris does not really get mentioned after, not even to say that Cooper texted him after school or anything – up until it is revealed that he is Cooper’s boyfriend(?). I understand why this had to stay a secret, even from the reader, for some time – but it just feels awkward.

Lastly, the characters – although, as I said, fleshed out very well – sadly seem stereotypical in some aspects. It only annoyed me in one case

– when Cooper turned out to be the secretly gay high school athlete who hides his sexuality from his homophobic father and teammates. I would have loved for his father to behave more like his grandmother, or for his friends to turn out more supportive. In fact, maybe it would not have annoyed me as much if there was no Homophobic Cafeteria Scene after his forced outing, obviously instigated by his popular former athlete/mean girl friends. I hope this would not happen in real life (anymore?), but I feel like I have read several dozen of these scenes in books and fanfictions already – it just feels very cliché at this point

. Other than that, I think it is fine.

All in all, I think the book is highly enjoyable (although the content warnings should be taken seriously). So, definitely a recommendation from me!

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partly_stars's review against another edition

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3.25

What a trashy teenage drama, but like pretty decent trashy drama. Everything is so dramatic but made a pretty decent listen as an audiobook as I was zoning out doing chores. Might have been too much of ehhhhh overdramatic teenage media m, if I were to sit down to read it with full attention but worked well enough as an audiobook
Could have work better for me if I was more of a teenager liking dramatic media bout teenagers. I think in that genre it's a pretty decent mix of drama and murder thriller with some solid romance scenes and clichés that can be fun (fucking Nate being a famaged bad boy that is sad inside. Someone get this kid therapy)

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