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A review by mahi_nad
One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
2.75
2.75 stars
REVIEW:
This was a marvelous, delectable read. There was something incredibly addicting about this book; to the point where I read it in one day (granted, I didn't have anything else to do). But that being said, there are a couple of issues that I had with it. Namely the harmful depiction of sexuality and depression.
The rest of this is going to be labeled as "spoilers", since these are major reveals and are crucial to the plot. I personally don't think of these as spoilers, but this is how the book depicts them so this is how I'm writing this review.
As I said before, there are incredibly harmful depictions of sexuality and depression to people in the real world. I would have LOVED to rate this at least 4 stars, but by the end, I felt it shouldn't have been published as it's ignorant and damaging.
All the characters in this book have secrets that eventually come to light, and the first red flag that arose was Cooper's sexuality. It was written as though the author expected us to be scandalized and join right alongside the other students in the book jeering and treating it as a HUGE scandal. The icing on the cake? The twisted reasoning for this is that we were led to believe he had been flirting and going out with girls.
As I'm saying this, I feel it necessary to point out that I'm not gay. I have no experience with this whatsoever, and so you should take my words with a grain of salt. But, the way the author revealed Cooper's sexuality was absolutely mind-blowing. And not in a good way. Cooper's reasoning for wanting to stay closeted is completely valid and realistic, and might even connect with some readers. It's not as though I think that his storyline and character is useless to the story, I just think that the "shocking revelation" of sexuality should be used as a plot twist.
What makes this even worse is that Cooper was FORECFULLY outed. This could DEFINITELY cause anxiety and fear within those who are closeted or have been through the same experiences.
If you feel differently and think this is fine, that's ok. I just wanted to warn people who this MAY harm.
Secondly, depression. The way mental illness is handled in this book is... just not it. There are a couple of characters who are said to be depressed, and Simon, the boy that was killed, was one of them. The finale to this book is the revelation that Simon wasn't murdered, but rather killed himself. Once again, I definitely think Simon's death could be relatable to teenagers, but I had some issues as to how his depression was portrayed. The main problem I had was how depression was essentially villainized in this book. Simon is portrayed as terrorist. His main motivation for his elaborate plan is wanting the infamy of a school shooter and cause the same amount of damage, but wanting to do it more creatively and "better". Heres the problem: depression does not equal terrorist acts. Mental illness being portrayed as evil and the driving "villain" for everything is such a tired depiction. A side character was also depicted to have mental illness. Guess what she did? Helped Simon and framed the Bayview Four. Once again, DEPRESSION IS VILLAINIZED.
I'm not saying that horrible mental health can't lead someone to do these things. But it being the driving motive? It reinforces harmful stereotypes about depression and other mental health issues, implying that they can lead to violent or malicious behavior. And that can lead to REAL LIFE PEOPLE never finding help, burying it inside just because they have the stereotypical thinking running through their head that "Oh! Depression is bad? It's looked down upon? I'll just hide it away and never deal with it cause boy, I sure don't want to end up like Simon".
Also. Stop treating suicide as if it's a mystery that needs to be solved. Don't use it as a basis for your book. It just adds to the harmful and WRONG reputation of mental illness that we have today.
So yeah, there's that.
Also, did anyone else think that they REALLY leaned heavily into the "drug-dealing bad boy" stereotype?And Bronwyn and Nate? It felt so... forced.
BOTTOM LINE:
Horrible portrayals of depression and sexuality, would not recommend unless not affected
AGE RATING:
15+
REVIEW:
This was a marvelous, delectable read. There was something incredibly addicting about this book; to the point where I read it in one day (granted, I didn't have anything else to do). But that being said, there are a couple of issues that I had with it. Namely the harmful depiction of sexuality and depression.
The rest of this is going to be labeled as "spoilers", since these are major reveals and are crucial to the plot. I personally don't think of these as spoilers, but this is how the book depicts them so this is how I'm writing this review.
All the characters in this book have secrets that eventually come to light, and the first red flag that arose was Cooper's sexuality. It was written as though the author expected us to be scandalized and join right alongside the other students in the book jeering and treating it as a HUGE scandal. The icing on the cake? The twisted reasoning for this is that we were led to believe he had been flirting and going out with girls.
As I'm saying this, I feel it necessary to point out that I'm not gay. I have no experience with this whatsoever, and so you should take my words with a grain of salt. But, the way the author revealed Cooper's sexuality was absolutely mind-blowing. And not in a good way. Cooper's reasoning for wanting to stay closeted is completely valid and realistic, and might even connect with some readers. It's not as though I think that his storyline and character is useless to the story, I just think that the "shocking revelation" of sexuality should be used as a plot twist.
What makes this even worse is that Cooper was FORECFULLY outed. This could DEFINITELY cause anxiety and fear within those who are closeted or have been through the same experiences.
If you feel differently and think this is fine, that's ok. I just wanted to warn people who this MAY harm.
I'm not saying that horrible mental health can't lead someone to do these things. But it being the driving motive? It reinforces harmful stereotypes about depression and other mental health issues, implying that they can lead to violent or malicious behavior. And that can lead to REAL LIFE PEOPLE never finding help, burying it inside just because they have the stereotypical thinking running through their head that "Oh! Depression is bad? It's looked down upon? I'll just hide it away and never deal with it cause boy, I sure don't want to end up like Simon".
Also. Stop treating suicide as if it's a mystery that needs to be solved. Don't use it as a basis for your book. It just adds to the harmful and WRONG reputation of mental illness that we have today.
So yeah, there's that.
Also, did anyone else think that they REALLY leaned heavily into the "drug-dealing bad boy" stereotype?
BOTTOM LINE:
Horrible portrayals of depression and sexuality, would not recommend unless not affected
AGE RATING:
15+
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Cancer, Drug use, and Mass/school shootings