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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
bec_9's review against another edition
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse and Death
Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Homophobia, Addiction, Blood, and Cancer
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
luananki's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
this was a perfect ending for the bayview crew, i’m very happy i finally got to read it
although some of the characters felt a little off, i had so much fun with the mystery and the characters’ development and i’m going to miss their little group
although some of the characters felt a little off, i had so much fun with the mystery and the characters’ development and i’m going to miss their little group
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Gun violence, Stalking, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcohol and Infidelity
beckyyreadss's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.0
I wanted to read this book as I really enjoyed this series so far and was intrigued at which member was going to be back. This book was confusing at times, but I'm glad that it got the ending the guys deserved.
This book follows the gang from the last two books who are still in Bayview. Some of these characters are Addy, Nate, Phoebe, Maeve and Cooper. Ever since Simon died in detention, life hasn’t been easy for the Bayview Crew. First the Bayview Four had to prove they weren’t killers. Then a new generation had to outwit a vengeful copycat. Now, it’s happening all over again. At first the mysterious billboard seems like a bad joke: Time for a new game, Bayview. But when a member of the crew disappears, it’s clear this “game” just got serious, and no one knows the rules. Everyone is a target and now that someone unexpected has returned to Bayview, things are getting deadly again. The thing is, Simon was right about secrets – they all will come out, eventually. And Bayview has a lot it’s still hiding.
I love being back in Bayview and seeing how the crew was doing even if there was more stress for them during this book. I love that all my favourite couples are still strong and there was no petty breakups over the situation at hand. My favourite part in any mystery book is when the pieces of the puzzle starts to make sense and the killer is revealed. The chapter where the killer and the motive are revealed is written brilliant and the suspense is nail biting especially because Karen manages to drag it on from several points of view that you are waiting just for the answer and what had just happened. I love the friendships that are in this book and that they all stayed closed. My favourite character will always be Nate, I just wanted to hug him to death during this series as he has not had it easy.
The thing that stopped it from being five stars was Jake. That boy was such a pain in the ass, and I just wanted to punch him in the face. I was also a tad confused when I started this book because I read the second book in 2021 and I couldn’t remember what happened in the second book and some of the side plots from the characters weren’t in my brain, so I was just playing catch up. I would have loved a recap at the beginning of the book.
I would have liked an epilogue with all the crew being happy and successful and how Bayview was doing. Maybe that will be a book in the future, but I want Nate and Bronwyn to be parents, Maeve and Luis traveling, Cooper and Kris being happy and parents. Addy and Keely being happy and just everyone getting the hell out of Bayview.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Kidnapping, and Death
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Gun violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug use, Cancer, Alcohol, and Addiction
jelkebooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
2.0
Honestly, this was such a dissapointing book. I have really enjoyed the first two books in the series, and I do think this book had an interesting set up. However, this book was just so incredibly boring. Nothing happened for most of this book. The mystery was barely present until the very end of the book, and it just was our main characters hanging out, doing nothing. The mystery itself was also just a bit of a letdown to me. The reveals weren't very impactful, and it all just felt a bit anticlimactic.
This was honeslty such a slow paced book it honeslty got painful. It made me think that Karen M McManus didn't really have anything planned for this book, and just wrote it to fulfil her contract, and therefore just stretched out a very thin idea. If I didn't care so much about these characters already this 100% would be a one star, or maybe even a DNF. It just wasn't a good book at all, and my love for these characters is what pushed me through.
That being said though I do think Karen M McManus didn't do a good job juggling the large cast of characters in this book. So many characters just felt left to the wayside, and kind of forgotten about throughout the book, which I thought was a shame. We only get POV's from Addy, Phoebe, and Nate, and that honestly left me a bit sad. I did love Addy's POV. She had the most interesting POV from the three, and great character growth throughout the book. I also understood why we got Phoebe's POV as she played a large part in the story, and she also has great developement throughout the story but I just didn't really like following her that much. I just don't think she was that compelling of a character, and whenever we got to her chapters I was just hoping we would get back to Addy as soon as possible. Nate's POV though could have been scrapped. He didn't play that big of a part in the story, he's on the same line as some of the side characters that didn't have a POV, and he also just doesn't have a personal journey to get through. It kind of felt a bit unnececary besides a few scenes here and there were we get a tiny bit of plot.
So yeah, this just didn't end up working for me at all. However, I do like the place this left our characters in a great place, and I am glad that I read this book just to see these characters happy endings. However, it just wasn't a good book. I can't in good conciousness even think that it is, which is a massive dissapointement as this series has been pretty good before that.
This was honeslty such a slow paced book it honeslty got painful. It made me think that Karen M McManus didn't really have anything planned for this book, and just wrote it to fulfil her contract, and therefore just stretched out a very thin idea. If I didn't care so much about these characters already this 100% would be a one star, or maybe even a DNF. It just wasn't a good book at all, and my love for these characters is what pushed me through.
That being said though I do think Karen M McManus didn't do a good job juggling the large cast of characters in this book. So many characters just felt left to the wayside, and kind of forgotten about throughout the book, which I thought was a shame. We only get POV's from Addy, Phoebe, and Nate, and that honestly left me a bit sad. I did love Addy's POV. She had the most interesting POV from the three, and great character growth throughout the book. I also understood why we got Phoebe's POV as she played a large part in the story, and she also has great developement throughout the story but I just didn't really like following her that much. I just don't think she was that compelling of a character, and whenever we got to her chapters I was just hoping we would get back to Addy as soon as possible. Nate's POV though could have been scrapped. He didn't play that big of a part in the story, he's on the same line as some of the side characters that didn't have a POV, and he also just doesn't have a personal journey to get through. It kind of felt a bit unnececary besides a few scenes here and there were we get a tiny bit of plot.
So yeah, this just didn't end up working for me at all. However, I do like the place this left our characters in a great place, and I am glad that I read this book just to see these characters happy endings. However, it just wasn't a good book. I can't in good conciousness even think that it is, which is a massive dissapointement as this series has been pretty good before that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol and Grief
There is a scene in which a main character gets drugged.greatexpectations77's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.0
I have been really liking this series, and I thought this installment was a particularly strong one. Families are so messy, and it's interesting to look at the effect of having the perfect family can have on your social capital.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, and Infidelity
Moderate: Death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Murder, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Alcohol, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Blood, and Death of parent
klcrabill's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
One of Us is Back was the final book in the One of Us is Lying young adult thriller series. It felt like good ending to this series. While I have enjoyed this entire series, this one might be my least favorite because the story seemed a bit more far fetched than the others. I did like that we got the returning characters of the "Murder Club" as they call themselves, and we got to see some loose ends tied up. I'm not sure that it was entirely necessary, but I did enjoy it. I think Addy's character arc throughout the entire series was my favorite, so I was happy that we ended with her. Overall, a fun read that finished off a great young adult thriller series.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Alcohol
bookishexpat's review against another edition
Lots of filler, too large a cast, and most of the people affected don’t even have POVs which makes everything feel remote and detached.
It reads like what it is, a portion of a story that was already finished but was made into a THING, possibly also to provide more material for the TV adaptation.
My recommendation: read the first book maybe, but skip the rest (including the adaotation).
It reads like what it is, a portion of a story that was already finished but was made into a THING, possibly also to provide more material for the TV adaptation.
My recommendation: read the first book maybe, but skip the rest (including the adaotation).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Confinement and Kidnapping