Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

42 reviews

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. 

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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

egoertzen's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

One Of Us is Lying is a fast paced novel that focuses on the lives of 4 high school students who all have secrets they don’t want their school to know. But are those secrets worth killing to keep hidden? We follow along as these teens wrestle with the consequences of keeping secrets. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Outing

Minor: Suicide

briona's review

mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.25

I predicted the answer to this murder mystery very early into the book, so that made it rather anticlimactic. The characters were great but the plot could use some work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Outing

leanneymu's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

4.0

A good, solid YA novel with likeable characters and a decent mystery. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Suicide

britttobegorey94's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Bullying, Murder, and Mental illness

Moderate: Homophobia, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, and Domestic abuse

olivia_elise_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Outing, Sexual content, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Bullying, Chronic illness, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Cancer, and Cursing

baesicalyssa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Suicide and Alcoholism

adrielle96'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Outing

discountrl'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Suicide

allyhoo811's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

3.0

From a pure reading enjoyment factor One of Us Is Lying should have been given a 4 star rating, but because of my background in mental health counseling/education I felt like I had to lower it to a 3 because of the handling of a couple of issues which I'll list at the end of this review.

Overall, I found this to an engaging YA mystery. The characters and their secrets/motives were pretty cliche and easily guessed, but the overall character development (especially with Addy) was wonderful and I would definitely recommend this one to most people. It gave me huge Breakfast Club vibes and I think fans of 80s/90s teen movies would especially enjoy the nostalgia factor even though it has a contemporary setting. 

I did not love the ending/epilogue,

it was just too cheesy teen rom-com for me and I don't think it really fit with the rest of the book. But I understand that it probably is what was expected in a YA novel.

My 2 Big Issues (contain major spoilers):

1. Simon killing himself was a really interesting (if somewhat predictable) twist, but the portrayal of Simon as someone suffering from depression was unfortunate. Many people (teens included) suffer from depression, but they don't create elaborate, evil revenge plots to take out everyone who ever looked at them funny. Most people with depression have a hard time getting out of bed. And Simon had been destroying people's lives for years, portraying him as someone who was depressed and felt like an outsider when he was actually probably suffering from some severe personality disorders puts a bad light on depression, especially in a YA book.

2. Jake's character arc. This is a thriller trope I hate, and I hate it even more in a YA mystery. Jake the "perfect" boyfriend with some controlling tendances turns into a psycho killer at the end of the novel. This is just so overdone and not logical. Yes, people who attempt to control their partners are more likely to engage in emotional and physical abuse. But Jake had gone months without the slightest indication that he was escalating after he found out about the cheating (and kept it to himself). His mask didn't even slip once. And by the end we have a crazy action sequence where he is trying to kill two people without any hesitation. It felt forced, and I think Addy's character arc would have been better served without the killer boyfriend trope.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Outing, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Classism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, and Sexual content

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Stalking, and Transphobia