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sam_emerson6's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Abandonment
sunfalls's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I mean, it was an okay book. It was a bit hard to follow along with all the different perspectives, where every so often, it'll switch from Addy to Bronwyn to Nate to Cooper. Plus, I couldn't keep track of what date and time it was. In terms of analyzing this book for plot points or for overall story, it doesn't quite hold up, but other than that, it is a fairly enjoyable read. The time I spent on this book was very passably entertaining, and I do not regret the time spent. That is all however; it is not a memorable book or a book that made me feel anything. I do like how everything got resolved, and I do like the fact that everyone had secrets, and there was foreshadowing as well as other elements that made it rather clear where the author was directly things without making it all excessively obvious. I liked Addy's character growth, and I liked the fact that there were realistic elements in this book.
If I were to analyze certain things about the way this book's plot proceeded, I think certain parts were too full of shock factor or unnecessary intrigue, like how Simon's murder ended up being an elaborate suicide plan to shock the school more than the trauma of getting a gun and shooting some kids before shooting himself would or how perfect boy Jake Riordan ended up being pretty heavily involved in the murder plot just to get revenge on Addy . If I look at things like that from a more analytical viewpoint, the whole thing sounds like it would have just fallen apart because there were too many moving factors and pieces for it all to have gone so smoothly to the point where the police would have had no idea who the real killer would have been beyond those four suspects. Like, from where would Simon have gotten the peanut oil, that supposedly had to be gourmet in order to trigger a fatal allergic reaction, in the exact moment that the car accident happened? He could not have had the bottle of oil in his bag or have the cups pre-coated because in preliminary searches, they did not find that the cups had traces, beyond the one Simon drank from. Also, I don't think they found anything incriminating on Simon's person or in his bag. So that begs the question, from where would he have obtained the peanut oil at the perfect moment to put it in his cup while everyone else was distracted, while also hiding the evidence that he slipped the oil into his own cup? Once he drank the oil, he would have been incapacitated enough to not be able to hide the evidence. That's a fairly large plot hole, in my opinion. Everyone thought it had to be one of the four in the room, since no one else would have had access or been in the right position to slip in and out, even with the distraction of the car accident. Therefore, it makes it unlikely that someone else handed the oil to Simon to put in his cup while everyone else was distracted, and then left with the oil before Simon drank it. The other four would likely have noticed this person. Additionally, how would the boys, who were paid to cause the distraction of the car accident, be able to time their accident so perfectly and also not have it be too fatal or cause too much damage? I don't think that kind of thing can be timed so exactly without practice; most people aren't punctual down to the last second. Plus a perpendicular accident like that is hard to control so that it looks and sounds convincing, while also not causing too much damage. I suppose it would have been better than a rear-end or a head-on collision, but if it were me in the situation, I'd probably go too slowly and softly and then it wouldn't have been convincing. How many people know how to cause a car accident in the perfect manner like that? Not to mention, Jake actually added in the fake story about Detective Wheeler eating a whole plate of doughnuts, like he couldn't see through Addy's lie. Maybe he was so self absorbed that he would never dream that Addy was capable of lying to him, but even so, it's such an odd detail and story that surely he would be able to see that it was fake. I'd certainly be skeptical if I heard a story about that while listening to a suspect in a rather high-profile murder case. The timing of everything was super suspect, and maybe these kids were super-human or maybe the police were exceptionally incompetent, but I doubt that the way Jake and Simon had planned for things to go would be the way things would actually go. A lot of their plans relied solely on luck. For that matter, the way the "Murder Club" managed to solve the crime was pure luck as well.
In any case, if you disregard some of the finer points, this was an enjoyable book. The action was pretty fun; I liked the characterization and the character growth. I liked the way that everything got addressed and wrapped up in a neat little bow. I did have a nice time reading this, even if it got a bit slow at certain points.
If I were to analyze certain things about the way this book's plot proceeded, I think certain parts were too full of shock factor or unnecessary intrigue, like how
In any case, if you disregard some of the finer points, this was an enjoyable book. The action was pretty fun; I liked the characterization and the character growth. I liked the way that everything got addressed and wrapped up in a neat little bow. I did have a nice time reading this, even if it got a bit slow at certain points.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Outing and Murder
Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide, and Mass/school shootings
Minor: Self harm
dtierra's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
If you’re a non-white person who cares about reading accurate portrayals of people of color…skip this book. There is one woman of color in this book and it is DEEPLY uncomfortably written. There was clearly no research done besides maybe google translate and one google search. Bronwyn is effectively written as a white character who has 3 lines of spanish in the book with a Colombian father who she says won’t want a drug dealing hs’er (another main character) around bc he’s hyperconscious of the Colombian drug dealer stereotype. Yeah. The Author is a white woman. The only gay character in the book is closeted for most of the book and experiences intense homophobia. Diversity win! Outside of Karen McManus’ atrocious attempt at diverse characters, the book isn’t completely awful. However the book is meant to be high stakes and often fails to deliver. maybe the point of Simon’s death and the Bayview four’s offenses is that it’s so small in the grand scheme of things. I’m not sure. In high school, everything feels bigger than it is. That said, most of the rumors in About That about the Bayview 4 were largely inconsequential. Maybe this is a testament to Simon’s deteriorating mental state. That said, it brings the believability into question The book is fast paced, I got through it in about a day. It does keep you guessing and some of the plot twists were solid. Others were a bit predictable. I honestly think this book could have been miles better with a few well compensated sensitivity writers and a few drafts of edits. Would not recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Outing, Suicide, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Child death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Murder
Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Homophobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Death of parent
Minor: Domestic abuse
shiroofficial's review against another edition
5.0
This book was very interesting and it made me want to keep reading it all the time… the story was amazing and thrilling and the situations felt very real, like it would be something we could expect in the world today and it would feel normal, but feel bad as well. It was a very interesting story to read and many secrets were unravelled in the story and it was awesome! The plot twists were really good and it kept me captivated the whole time i was reading. I absolutely love this book. However i find that the pace is a little slower than i’d have preferred, but it really doesn't bother me much so yeah. Awesome book definitely recommend love it! very thrilling would read again!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Sexual content, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abandonment, Self harm, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Hate crime, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Drug use
bookish_oyster's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Death
Moderate: Self harm, Abandonment, and Addiction
Minor: Mass/school shootings and Homophobia
emmacb16's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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
This was a very good book, and probably the first book where I have actually been interested in every single POV.
In the beginning, I loved how she set it up so that you didn’t know what each of them were trying to hide and no one trusted anyone. This made it interesting when you got to read it from all of the different perspectives.
At the end, Jake make me want to throw the book…but I guess that’s expected.
All of the stories pulled together very nicely, and I like how much the characters developed by the end of the book. Very excited to read the next book!!
In the beginning, I loved how she set it up so that you didn’t know what each of them were trying to hide and no one trusted anyone. This made it interesting when you got to read it from all of the different perspectives.
All of the stories pulled together very nicely, and I like how much the characters developed by the end of the book. Very excited to read the next book!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Drug use, Suicide, Murder, Bullying, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Self harm and Transphobia
booksbyantheia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Como lectura en general, llenó todos los espacios requeridos para ser un libro bueno. Personajes relativamente sólidos, una trama segura, con los espacios de misterio necesarios. Quizás fue esa trama esperable la que la hace un libro bueno, pero no excelente, y no tan memorable. (Sorry, Simon)
Y quizás hasta esos puntos favorables no son tan fuertes. Solo sentí que Bronwyn estaba desarrollada al máximo. Sus pequeñas luchas consigo misma, sus motivaciones, sus secretos. Siento que el menos desarrollado fue Cooper. Si bien su homosexualidad es algo muy importante para todo el "estereotipo" que construyó como máscara, eso no me hizo sentirlo un personaje más profundo que Bronwyn. Addy me parece la peor desarrollada en general.
La trama es predecible. Soy estúpida y conecté todo mal, pero acerté a cada suceso (atribuyéndolo erronéamente, pero aún así).I ncluyendo el plot twist de Jake. No lo adiviné bien, pero sabía que estaba involucrado de alguna manera. Eso muestra que fue una escritura muy cuidada y notable. Las pistas estaban ahí, pero lamento que en cierto punto se haya pasado de foreshadowing a exceso de detalles.
Es una buena lectura, recomendable para meterse en el género de misterio.
Y quizás hasta esos puntos favorables no son tan fuertes. Solo sentí que Bronwyn estaba desarrollada al máximo. Sus pequeñas luchas consigo misma, sus motivaciones, sus secretos. Siento que el menos desarrollado fue Cooper. Si bien su homosexualidad es algo muy importante para todo el "estereotipo" que construyó como máscara, eso no me hizo sentirlo un personaje más profundo que Bronwyn. Addy me parece la peor desarrollada en general.
La trama es predecible. Soy estúpida y conecté todo mal, pero acerté a cada suceso (atribuyéndolo erronéamente, pero aún así).
Es una buena lectura, recomendable para meterse en el género de misterio.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Abandonment, Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Mentions of divorce, body hatred, low self-esteem, non-explicit sexual content.uranaishi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Outing
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Infidelity, Murder, and Suicide
Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Cancer, Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Sexual content
khloereads86's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
3.0
I listened to the audiobook and it was kind of boring 🤷🏼♀️. It didn’t really leave much of an impression, and not much really happened after their ‘big secrets’ were revealed pretty early on. It’s not like they were doing much themselves to figure out what happened either, just stupid relationship drama and getting their lawyers to deal with stuff. If I was actually reading it instead of listening at x2 speed in the car I probably wouldn’t have finished it. Don’t think I really care enough to read the rest of the series, even though it wasn’t necessarily bad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Murder, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Car accident, Mental illness, and Self harm
Minor: Drug use and Grief
adrian_likes_books's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, and Abandonment