Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

147 reviews

s3ag0at's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

danilo_syrtis's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Outing, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

faerynthecat's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

I bought this on a whim to make up the total in an online order so I qualified for a discount, but of all the books I bought it was the one I read first in the end because the premise sounded fun! Breakfast Club murder mystery, what's not to love.

I liked all the characters way more than I expected to, especially Bronwyn, and even though I had an inkling of the ending before it happened I wasn't disappointed that I'd guessed correctly because it was so much fun to read! 

I look forward to reading all the other books in the series! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Outing, and Alcohol

Moderate: Self harm, Toxic relationship, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicide and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

pam_simpson06's review against another edition

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Mass/school shootings, and Classism

Minor: Car accident, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

oceanbluetay's review against another edition

dark emotional 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, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Grief, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

alalalal's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Self harm, Violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Outing, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug use, and Death of parent

alice_in_bookland9's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Homophobia, and Self harm

hamsterreader03's review against another edition

funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

The book heavily plays on teenage stereotypes and stereotypical drama ... exept it cranks it up to 100 by involving a murder mystery.

I really loved reading this as all the new revelations came to light, and you could really feel the characters reacting to them (seriously, even the second read-through was sincerely awesome for me)
More than anything, I liked all the details of the characters' personalities and lives and how each of them were written to be lovable. I truly felt myself rooting for them each time I started a new chapter (or read-through for that matter), and I can not recommend this book enough to anyone who is even slightly interested in this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Self harm, Suicide, and Murder

Minor: Pregnancy

nenah_elizabeth's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Gun violence, Self harm, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Classism

catiecat2_5's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis