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foldsea's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Child death, Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit
luverofbooks's review against another edition
challenging
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-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? Yes
4.0
I loved it !! It was hard to get into at first, but after a while I couldn't put it down. It was predictable at all, in my opinion, and had me shocked the entire time. I'm mad it ended on a cliffhanger:(( ... but i cant wait for the new one, if theres going to be one. 4/5, recommend
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Child death
Moderate: Bullying and Sexual assault
Minor: Suicide, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Lesbophobia
thecourtofreading's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, and Cancer
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, and Alcoholism
Minor: Vomit, Death of parent, and Suicide
shaunaxx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, and Sexual assault
b_readss's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Cancer
lilythebibliophile's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I am noticing more and more that Karen M. McManus' books, especially the ones she published in 2020 (The Cousins and One of Us is Next) rely heavily on mundane details as filler for the story. The amount of times a character will "fill a glass half full" before drinking it or turn the light switch on or tap a few buttons on their phone is truly astonishing. Some monotonous tasks can be necessary for the story, but I felt like I was reading about these pointless details because McManus couldn't find anything else to put into the story to get the readers from Point A (the crime) to Point B (the culprit/unmasking). McManus comes up with these amazing plot ideas, and then readers are left floundering around, watching the characters talk about nothing and do nothing until the climax of the book. I did think the solution to the mystery was satisfying and not too predictable, and the same goes for all of her other works (except One of Us is Lying, ironically). Yet I can't remember anything important that occurred after the inciting incident and before the climax, except maybe two bread crumbs for who the mastermind behind the game and the murder is.
Also, I wholeheartedly feel that representation is important, but reading about Maeve's culture and knowing the book was written by a white woman made me feel weird. I hope she used sensitivity readers.
I never go into a McManus book looking for character development, but The Cousins showed slightly more development than her other works, so I was hopeful for this one. I shouldn't have been. None of the characters developed at all, except maybe Knox, but it was such cookie-cutter and one-dimensional development that I don't think it should count.
The romances in all of McManus' books are also so generic that at points I literally thought Maeve was dating Knox and Phoebe was dating Luis instead of the other way around. I feel like McManus pairs up her characters for no reason other than "kids like reading romance, right?" I didn't ship any of the relationships, and that's coming from me, one of those kids who likes reading romance. It sounds strange to say the characters had no chemistry when I'm talking about a book, but they didn't. I couldn't understand why the characters were supposed to be good romantic counterparts to each other.
One last thing: aside from a few minor crossover characters (the Bayview Four appear in the book occasionally) and Maeve, there didn't seem to be a reason for making this a sequel to One of Us is Lying. Maeve could have been any other teen and the new gossip game had nothing concrete to do with Simon except for one throwaway line. If Simon got attention simply because of his app and not because of him, the high school doesn't need to have a history with Simon's gossip app in order for teens to pay attention to the new game. It felt like McManus took an unrelated plot idea and decided to write a sequel to profit off of her previous success. Which I get. Go get it, girl.
Did I enjoy this book? Sometimes. Are there better mysteries, even better books by Karen M. McManus, out there? Absolutely.
Also, I wholeheartedly feel that representation is important, but reading about Maeve's culture and knowing the book was written by a white woman made me feel weird. I hope she used sensitivity readers.
I never go into a McManus book looking for character development, but The Cousins showed slightly more development than her other works, so I was hopeful for this one. I shouldn't have been. None of the characters developed at all, except maybe Knox, but it was such cookie-cutter and one-dimensional development that I don't think it should count.
The romances in all of McManus' books are also so generic that at points I literally thought Maeve was dating Knox and Phoebe was dating Luis instead of the other way around. I feel like McManus pairs up her characters for no reason other than "kids like reading romance, right?" I didn't ship any of the relationships, and that's coming from me, one of those kids who likes reading romance. It sounds strange to say the characters had no chemistry when I'm talking about a book, but they didn't. I couldn't understand why the characters were supposed to be good romantic counterparts to each other.
One last thing: aside from a few minor crossover characters (the Bayview Four appear in the book occasionally) and Maeve, there didn't seem to be a reason for making this a sequel to One of Us is Lying. Maeve could have been any other teen and the new gossip game had nothing concrete to do with Simon except for one throwaway line. If Simon got attention simply because of his app and not because of him, the high school doesn't need to have a history with Simon's gossip app in order for teens to pay attention to the new game. It felt like McManus took an unrelated plot idea and decided to write a sequel to profit off of her previous success. Which I get. Go get it, girl.
Did I enjoy this book? Sometimes. Are there better mysteries, even better books by Karen M. McManus, out there? Absolutely.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Suicide
booksiread_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I was pretty disappointed by One of us is lying, but this book was so much better! It had multiple plot twist and I also liked the main characters more. It really is a good mysterious read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Cancer
readwithsuzanna's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Child death, and Sexual assault
Minor: Mass/school shootings
typedtruths's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
#1) One of Us Is Next ★★☆☆☆
read this because i'm determined to read all of the gr choice award nominees for the ya categories this year ✌🏻
➸ Trigger warnings for
▷ Representation: Bronwyn (sc) & Maeve (mc) Colombian-American; Cooper (sc) & Kris (sc) are mlm/gay.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Twitter • Instagram
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Cancer and Child death
Minor: Alcoholism, Vomit, and Toxic relationship
sorcha's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, and Sexual assault
Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Suicide, and Vomit