lauriesbookshelf
Written on Jul 21, 2018
The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide. Pay close attention and you might solve this.On Thursday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention. Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing. Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher. And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app. Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom alive. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. He died on a Thursday. But that Friday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates. Now, all four of them are suspects in his murder. Are they guilty? Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose? They all have a motive. They all have something to hide. They all have a history with Simon. And one of them is definitely lying.
- ISBN10 1524756881
- ISBN13 9781524756888
- Publish Date 30 May 2017
- Publish Status Cancelled
- Imprint Listening Library (Audio)
- Format Audiobook (CD)
- Duration 10 hours
- Language English
Reviews
Jo
Written on Sep 19, 2017
I wasn't entirely sure about One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus before I read it. I thought it sounded interesting, but murder, and these four students lying... I was worried I wouldn't like it, wouldn't like cold-hearted teens lying about someone's death - because they would all be lying, right? Even if they didn't do it, they would have witnessed it, and for there to be a story, they would ll have to be lying, or three of them just would have said who did it from the very beginning. But One of Us is Lying is not the story I was expecting. In actual fact, it was amazing!
Addy, Bronwyn, Cooper, Nate and Simon are all in detention because mobile phones were found in their bags by a teacher who won't have phones in his classroom. When Simon has a drink of water and collapses, the four other students do what they can to save him. He's had an allergic reaction and needs his Epipen. But his Epipen isn't on him, nor are there any in the nurse's office. Sadly, Simon dies, and a police investigation is started to find out what happened. Turns out, Simon was going to share secrets of each of the four other teens on his gossip app, About That, the very next day, and now all four of them are suspects in his murder. What secrets was Simon about to reveal? And who would kill to keep their secret safe?
One of Us is Lying is told from the perspective of all four of the suspects; Bronwyn, a straight A student who is bound for Yale; Addy, popular, pretty Homecoming Princess; Cooper, the school's star baseball jock; and Nate, who is on probation for drug dealing. What I loved about this book is, when you read about the type of people they are like that, as I've listed them, you're already making certain assumptions about who they are. Yes, Bronwyn is highly intelligent, but she's also under a lot of pressure to be the daughter her parents expect her to be - and to keep clear of the stereotypes of latinx people her father hates. Yes, Addy is pretty and popular, but she is plagued by insecurities and self-doubt. Yes, Cooper is a star athlete, but he's not stupid, and he's struggling to be who he really is. Yes, Nate was a drug dealer, but with an alcoholic father and a dead mother, he has to make a lot of money quickly in order to keep his debilitated roof over his and his father's heads. None of their lives are easy, and all of their lives as they know them would be ruined if Simon revealed their secrets. Which of them is desperate enough to kill Simon to stop their world crumbling around them?
I actually genuinely liked all of them. They were such great characters, and all so individual. I really think it can be difficult, when you have multiple narrators, to keep each character's voice separate, to keep their personalities intact and stop them all blending into one. McManus manages this perfectly, and never once did I confuse who's section I was reading. I loved the mystery aspect of the story, trying to work out who killed Simon and why, but at the same time, liking all the characters, I was really worried about the big reveal. I didn't want any of them to have been the one to have killed Simon, it would have meant i trusted the wrong person, that I fell for their lies. So while, individually, I thought that each of them was innocent, I was also wondering, "are they?" I did have a theory, or rather., half a theory, involving more the what than the who (I know that may not make much sense, but I can't explain without spoiling the story), and I was right, which I was so happy about. I had this half of a theory in my head by the end of chapter three, but I was never really positive about it. With a mystery like this, it really messes with your emotions, because while I was thinking, "I'm sure XYZ is going to be the case... but will it?" I was constantly questioning myself, questioning the characters, and feeling guilty for doing so. I trusted them all, and yet I didn't trust any of them. I never stopped liking them, but I did wonder if perhaps one of them was a very good liar, and I had been duped.
As well as a mystery, One of Us is Lying is also about each of the suspects individual stories. They were such great characters and I worried for and cared about all of them in regards to their own problems. But, of course, it's their own stories that add to the mystery, because they do all have their own things going on, and would they think those things are enough to kill for? What I loved is that there is a bond that is formed between all four of them; only they understand what the rest are going through - how they are treated by others, the media focus, etc - and it's the most unlikely of friendships, but I loved seeing them together, seeing them suffer together, and support each other, and then try to work things out for themselves, because the police are determined to pin it on one of them if not all of them.
God, I absolutely loved this book! And it's reminded me how much I love a mystery! Such a fantastic story full of intrigue, but also heart, and four suspects you can't help but love and feel for! A brilliant debut novel, and I'm so excited to read what McManus writes next!
Thank you to Penguin via NetGalley for the eProof.
writehollydavis
Written on Aug 29, 2017
Bianca
Written on Aug 26, 2017
Stephanie
Written on Aug 20, 2017
liz089
Written on Jul 1, 2017
I really like trying to figure out what is going on, who is the guilty one and why did he/she do it.
In this one I was really puzzled at the beginning, it could have been all four of them, or only one, or maybe someone else we had not taken into account ? It made me very curious and the further I got, the less I really knew who to blame. I liked them all and none of them seemed like a killer..
At the end I kind of guessed what happened, and though it was a nice twist :)
So yeah, a solid 4 star. Very intriguing plot and a good set of characters.
shannonmiz
Written on Jun 10, 2017
Chelsea
Written on May 25, 2017
All the characters were great (props for having a diverse cast of characters) and I loved how they each interacted with each other. Plus they were all SO different from each other yet they all had some things in common. Even without the mystery it would have been fun to read about them.
HOWEVER.
That ending ruined the whole book. 1. It felt forced and weird. 2. It didn't feel appropriate to use suicide and school shootings in that way. It almost glorifies them both which was a little shocking at first because I was not expecting the ending to go in that direction. There were also a few other characters with mental illnesses and EVERY SINGLE one of them was portrayed as a "bad guy" or considered a bad person. That didn't feel right to me.
That's why I lowered my rating. Without that ending it could have been a solid 4 star read. With it, I don't think I'd even recommend it.
Leah
Written on Apr 4, 2017
OH YOU GUYS. I had so much to say about this book and then Karen McManus kind of killed it dead. I had IDEAS. I had A THEORY. I was convinced I had the most bizarre idea known to man as to what had happened in that detention room AND NOW I CAN’T TELL YOU ABOUT IT BECAUSE I WAS BLOODY WELL RIGHT. There is immense satisfaction in guessing a plot twist less than 10% into a book. So may say it’s frustrating, but in this case I never, ever thought it would pan out in a million years so it was actually like WOAH, YOU WHAT. I felt like I was being Punk’d. That Karen McManus had a direct line into my thoughts and re-wrote the whole book just to screw with me. Maybe she did!
But this book though! It’s so incredibly compelling. I love stories like this, where something happens and you have to read the novel to figure it out, ESPECIALLY when the synopsis dares you to figure it out. “Pay close attention and you’ll solve this.” OH YAH. YOU DID NOT JUST GO THERE. But it had me worried that it would all go over my head (ha, not in the slightest), and I was just determined to BEAT THE BOOK. I loved the plot, that Bronwyn, Nate, Cooper and Addy were the most unlikely four people to be in detention, that they were determined it was some kind of mix-up/prank and then Simon goes and dies and you’re just like WHAT and WHO DID IT and WTF? So you’re reading and reading and reading because you just have to know what happened! You have to know who did it!
I loved the Pretty Little Liars/Gossip Girl aspect, where there’s this app that goes around spilling secrets (and I kinda agree with Addy’s boyfriend Jake in that if you don’t do secret stuff, that stuff won’t then get discovered and spread but that kinda also feels like victim shaming? So not really but it IS a valid point, imo) and I LOVED the fact it seemed like the murder group were being trolled, after Simon’s death, and it just seemed to cast more doubt and more suspicion. Surprisingly, I trusted Nate. Of all four, I trusted him the most. Bronwyn, too. It was Addy and Cooper I was iffy about - not for any particular reason, but it was clear Cooper was hiding something and Addy just seemed a bit off? Ha that’s so weird to say, because I don’t have solid proof, it was just a hunch.
I genuinely felt unsettled while I was reading One Of Us Is Lying. The clue is in the title! SOMEONE IS LYING. And it’s really weird to not know who. It’s not like Criminal Minds where you get to see the unsub, you suspect everyone and as more truths come out and new things emerge, you don’t know who you can trust any more. However, I liked that throughout it all, the murder group kinda became closer - they started out as strangers, who knew each other but not really, and through all the pressure and infamy and home truths dropped on them, they didn’t just turn on each other, and that is what made this book for me. It would have been so easy for one of them to turn, to save themselves, and I think it spoke about Bronwyn, Nate, Addy and Cooper as people that they didn’t do that, even right from the start, when they were strangers and this thing had happened that upended their lives, it really reminds you there is faith in humanity. What a ride, man!
Sam@WLABB
Written on Apr 2, 2017
I love it when I'm right!
**UPDATED FULL REVIEW**
"One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide."
This blurb from GoodReads really encapsulates the essence of this book into a nice, concise statement.
When the four main characters are each found with a cell phone in their bag, they earn an afternoon detention. Oddly, the cell phones didn't belong to them, and while they are serving their time, one of the attendees, Simon, dies. It all appears to be a tragic accident, until the police begin investigating them for murder. The investigation uncovers some incriminating evidence. It seems Simon was planning to publish each of their darkest secrets under the guise of juicy gossip. This reveal turns them from witnesses into suspects.
This was such a great reading experience for me. The story pulled me in from page one, and I just wanted to keep reading and collecting clues. I did develop a hypothesis, which ended up being correct, (*pats self on back*) but that's half the fun when I read a mystery. I have seen that this was pitched as "Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars" and I have to say, that is a great description for this book.
"'She's a princess and you're a jock,' he says. He thrusts his chin toward Bronwyn, then at Nate. 'And you're a brain. And you're a criminal. You're all walking teen-movie stereotypes."
Each of the four main characters do fall into one of those typical high school cliques, but as the story plays on, we find out that there is a lot more beneath the surface of each character. They were all quite layered and well constructed. They all had such depth, and I thought McManus did a great job developing them throughout the book. I really enjoyed getting to know each of the characters as they dealt with the investigation and their secrets being revealed.
I know having your deepest, darkest secrets unveiled publicly is not a positive thing, but the outcome for these characters was. Each of them was forced to admit the truth ,and face the consequences of the fallout once others learned of it. One character found her inner strength and independence, while another was able to feel more comfortable in his own skin. Two found love, while most of them found acceptance on some level. Some developed a reinforcement or renewal of family ties, but all of them experienced growth, and it was a positive growth. All four characters were a better version of themselves at the end of this book, and I always find that the mark of great YA story.
Another great outcome, was that the four bonded together. This group of disparate teens became "the Bayview Four", and they were there for each other. In their quest to clear their names, they found friendship and more.
And yes, there is a romance. *heart-eyes* Sorry, not sorry, but I always want a little romance. I don't care what kind of book I am reading, a little romance is always a good thing. This was a wonderful and meaningful romance, and by no means took away from the overall plot. It was well integrated, and a ship worth shipping. Seriously, at one point, about 63% through the story, the heroine goes on this rant about why she wants to try dating the hero, and it is the cutest, most adorable thing ever. I liked her already, but I loved her after that outburst.
Overall: A riveting mystery filled with twists and turns, which had me hooked from page one.
**I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.
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