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sabrina002's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I found this to be the least enjoyable book of the series. It’s still good, but the plot felt like more of a reach and it felt like the characters just kept putting themselves in bad situations.
i did like getting background on simon and jake, that was interesting. Also, Phoebe deserved better. I don’t think the crew were good friends to her and her issues felt glossed over
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping and Murder
nadsbrn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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? No
4.75
I think I love this one the most out of the three.
This book got me wondering about the plot up until 70%, then gave me the ending I need. Love the heartwarming conclusion for all of the characters, They've had enough drama from the last 3 books 🥲
This book got me wondering about the plot up until 70%, then gave me the ending I need. Love the heartwarming conclusion for all of the characters, They've had enough drama from the last 3 books 🥲
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Stalking
annamwallace66's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Homophobia, Infidelity, Murder, Violence, Blood, Gun violence, Medical content, Outing, Abandonment, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, and Alcoholism
moonfromearth's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Coming off of You'll Be the Death of Me my expectations were really low for One of Us is Back. However, due to loyalty to the One of us series I vowed to read its finally installment and was... Actually pretty surprised to enjoy it a lot! Blasted through it in two days and can say that it was a good book.
It contains pretty much all of McManus's usual tropes that you're likely to recognize if you've read her books before, but this one felt less tied down to the teen drama cheesiness because many of the characters are now halfway through college or about to graduate high school. I found that made the characters seem to have a lot more depth in this installment, and I think that McManus's writing could benefit from writing some more of these older perspective characters. It was very cool to see what characters were chosen to be the perspective characters since the cast has grown so much since the first book, and I was really glad to see more of Addie since she was one of my favorites in the first two books.
Overall, One of Us is Back isn't the most thrilling of mystery novels, as it serves more as an extended epilogue to the stories of the characters in One of Us is Lying and One of Us is Next. It takes on a much slower pace, once in a while remembering that there's a mystery going on between moments that work towards wrapping up the crew's plotlines. Despite that, I still enjoyed the book, and would recommend the series as a whole. The One of Us is Lying series is a guilty pleasure for me. I've been following it for around seven years now and, despite its flaws, was a reading experience I'll always hold dear.
It contains pretty much all of McManus's usual tropes that you're likely to recognize if you've read her books before, but this one felt less tied down to the teen drama cheesiness because many of the characters are now halfway through college or about to graduate high school. I found that made the characters seem to have a lot more depth in this installment, and I think that McManus's writing could benefit from writing some more of these older perspective characters. It was very cool to see what characters were chosen to be the perspective characters since the cast has grown so much since the first book, and I was really glad to see more of Addie since she was one of my favorites in the first two books.
Overall, One of Us is Back isn't the most thrilling of mystery novels, as it serves more as an extended epilogue to the stories of the characters in One of Us is Lying and One of Us is Next. It takes on a much slower pace, once in a while remembering that there's a mystery going on between moments that work towards wrapping up the crew's plotlines. Despite that, I still enjoyed the book, and would recommend the series as a whole. The One of Us is Lying series is a guilty pleasure for me. I've been following it for around seven years now and, despite its flaws, was a reading experience I'll always hold dear.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Addiction, and Alcohol
margaretwaltemath09's review against another edition
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Murder, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Death, and Pregnancy
Minor: Toxic relationship, Child death, Death of parent, Car accident, and Toxic friendship
lotecider's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I found this to be a satisfactory conclusion to the trilogy. Like most of her books, this one took a while before it became a page turner (I think I was about 52% in) but that doesn't mean it was boring.
It wasn't as intense as the previous books, but I think that made it a lot more satisfying. A lot of the characters have grown since the pervious books and the interactions between them felt organic and real. You truly care for the characters.
With murder mystery books there's always the "trying to figure out whilst your reading it" thing that you do as a reader, but this book truly baffled me at the revelation.that being said, there was a moment where the plot tried hinting that Sana may br a perpetrator but she wasnt and that was never addressed
The reason why it didn't get 4 stars or higher for me is that it's split across multiple points of views. I think that McManus did an okay job at making sure it didn't get confusing but it definitely got really overwhelming reading from multiple points of views. At some points as well, the characters started blending into each other and lost their individuality so it only added to that frustration.
I hope the bayview crew gets a break though and that the next book, if there is one, that involves them is one that talks about how successful and peaceful their lives are!
It wasn't as intense as the previous books, but I think that made it a lot more satisfying. A lot of the characters have grown since the pervious books and the interactions between them felt organic and real. You truly care for the characters.
With murder mystery books there's always the "trying to figure out whilst your reading it" thing that you do as a reader, but this book truly baffled me at the revelation.
The reason why it didn't get 4 stars or higher for me is that it's split across multiple points of views. I think that McManus did an okay job at making sure it didn't get confusing but it definitely got really overwhelming reading from multiple points of views. At some points as well, the characters started blending into each other and lost their individuality so it only added to that frustration.
I hope the bayview crew gets a break though and that the next book, if there is one, that involves them is one that talks about how successful and peaceful their lives are!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
adrianaslibrary's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Murder
burnourhistory's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Stalking, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer
tesorae's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
It’s part of a trilogy but it’s not required to read the first two before this one which is nice. It’s a standalone with callbacks to the previous books but with explanations of the callbacks when they occur.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
saretta02's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Gun violence
Minor: Rape, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Drug use