Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

119 reviews

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

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

Minor: Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Car accident

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

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

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

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

Minor: Homophobia, Cursing, and Self harm

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: Bullying, Addiction, Homophobia, Outing, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Grief, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

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

mjscooke's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed this multi-PoV mystery more than I expected to given it’s not a genre I’m usually drawn to in the written form. It is very pacy and I particularly enjoyed the character development. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

abbyreadsbigbooks123's review against another edition

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Outing, Murder, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Medical content

clover_ways's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Suicide

azileotulp's review against another edition

dark funny 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

I'm gonna say right now that this was soooooo close to being a 5-star read for me. In all honesty, it probably should be because I only had one minor issue that is totally petty and that no one else probably cares about, but I personally can't overlook it. (I'll be discussing that under the spoiler tag later though.)

I do have to say that this was such an engaging mystery. Sadly, I did have part of the ending spoiled for me because one of the reviewers here doesn't know how to use spoiler warnings, but even with that spoiler, I was still able to enjoy it. It was just as much fun to try to figure out why the person responsible did what they did.

I also loved the characters so much. Usually in books with multiple perspectives, there's always that one character's POV that I'm just trying to get through before I can get back to the more interesting characters. This book wasn't like that at all. Even the characters I originally didn't like at first (who I did grow to love throughout the story, by the way) had such compelling perspectives that I was always excited to read them. And I have to say, I am such a Bronwyn and Nate fan...

Which brings me to my only problem with this book. Like I said... it's petty, but I don't even care. Yes, Bronwyn and Nate do end up together in the end, which I'm so happy about, don't get me wrong. But that little period of time at the end when it seemed like they went their separate ways? That hurt. Especially when I started reading the epilogue set 3 months later and saw that Bronwyn was dating Evan??? I actually bursted into tears. That period of uncertainty just went on too long for me, especially after having read another mystery novel where the protagonist and her love interest do actually go their separate ways. I won't say which book that was, but it genuinely made me sick, and I was so scared it was going to happen again. So, like I said, petty reason for not giving the book 5 stars, but amazing author should have thought about that before scaring me like that.

I do also want to talk a bit about my baby boy Cooper.

I had no idea this book had a prominent LGBTQ+ character, but now I'm happy I decided to read it during Pride Month. Y'all, I feel so connected to Cooper and I'm going to be thinking about him for months. We're both southern gays with homophobic fathers, and we have such similar queer experiences. What really got me was that ride home with his father before he came out to his family. When I came out to my mother, I was also fretting over it while in the car with her, and as soon as we parked, I told her. His story just resonated so deeply with me, and I'm so sorry I was hating on him at the beginning for being a cheater. (Yes, he did still cheat, but I favor gay people and his ex seemed to forgive him by the end. Leave me alone.) I love you, Cooper, and I'm sorry I ever doubted your good nature.

All in all, I truly adored this book. I was captivated the entire time I was reading, but especially those last seventy or so pages. I was gasping, shrieking, throwing up (okay, slightly exaggerated on that last one, but I did gag once). I can't recommend it more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Outing, Death, Bullying, Cursing, and Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Cancer, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcoholism

Minor: Medical content, Sexual content, Violence, Car accident, Racial slurs, Confinement, Gun violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, and Racism

While I didn't add "eating disorder" as a content warning, one character is described multiple times as becoming much skinnier and seems to lose about 10 pounds in a short period of time. This is most likely due to stress rather than body issues.

lilareads5678's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

liked the book but not super memorable.

it didn’t end how i wanted it too like wdym it was suicide

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Grief, Self harm, and Murder

Minor: Alcohol and Mass/school shootings

cararowen's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Outing

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Classism, Eating disorder, Child death, Sexism, Misogyny, Addiction, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Medical trauma, Hate crime, Abandonment, Alcohol, Self harm, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Eating disorder, Chronic illness, Confinement, Alcoholism, Suicide, Cancer, Ableism, Vomit, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Racism, and Mental illness