Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

49 reviews

lauren_ward's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

what the hell

i’m so mad, why did it turn like that!!?? how- who- 
DIVERGENT REALLY?? They could have chosen a better film franchise please…
I- i don’t have words, i was a scared freaked out, on my toes the whole way and then that happens!? 
The character development was amateur at best and the only ones i truly liked were Connor and Kris. There were too many people, too many dramatic story lines and that might sound stupid and naïve to say but imo it’s too much. 
i can’t believe i’m giving this rating and yet i still want to try the sequel…

yeah- that’s all i have to say.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Racism and Death of parent

thebookshelfofmaggie's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

Very cliché, but still good. Pretty predictable from the beginning but still enough drama to keep you reading. Definitely young adult style

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent and Drug use

hafsa08's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Drug abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Car accident

classicpseudonym's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

again, writing this immediately after finishing the book so i don't forget anything so i'm still sort of in shock. i read two can keep a secret by mcmanus a few  years ago so i've had this on my to read ever since (but never particularly wanted to read it until i didn't have time to find another option at the library). but woah that was definitely something.

i feel like i was more hooked than i'm willing to admit because this was a typical ya book about high school and murder (except by peanut oil i guess), but i still wanted to read on even though this doesn't exactly align with my book tastes. and the build-up of everything was pretty well executed, so props to mcmanus on a thrilling debut.

on the other hand, i'm looking back immediately after and i feel like i didn't really get anything out of it? if that makes sense. i wasn't a big fan of the hold that romance and relationships had on the plot and the book overall, but that's just how high school is portrayed in general, and i'm not a big romance person so i'm probably just biased. me saying "i didn't get anything out of it" isn't to say that the psychological themes and the perspectives/narration of each of the characters wasn't interesting, but i just feel like i wouldn't want to read this book again. like the case with two can keep a secret (which i don't remember anything about, then again its been years) i don't think i'd remember anything about the book besides the ending (which will haunt me even though i felt it coming) in a few months.

now that i'm thinking about it, simon's character is going to haunt me for the rest of my life. from the reference to the omniscent narrator at the beginning of the book, to the way he planned on dictating "his story" even from the grave... chilling. god.

so if you want fast paced, thrilling, and haunting in a ya sort of way read, i'd recommend. there are a lot a lot of trigger warnings though, so i'd recommend that people keep that in mind if they read. if you tend to stay away from ya thriller/mystery books like i do, maybe still give it a read if you're bored because i feel like it's decently well done, but it wasn't my favorite book personally and it might not be yours either. then again, i think it's just because i think too much and i gravitate towards books that are really deep and get my mind all jumbled on the issues of society. but that's a me problem. pretty good book overall though.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, and Self harm

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Outing, Alcoholism, Cursing, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Death of parent

abbyycadabbyy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

4.5

    This book... when I first started it, I thought it was going to be good, I never thought it would be as good as it was. Once I started the book, I didn't want to put it down.

       The author does an amazing job at making each person look as guilty as whoever the actual murderer is. Each person has their own reason for why they would have killed Simon. Throughout the book I kept changing who I suspected might be the killer, yet I was never on the dot. Currently this is one of my favorite authors. I love her ability to make you second guess everything you thought you knew. 
  
       The author does a really good job at making all the characters relatable and loveable. Out of the main four Nate has to be my favorite. The way his family life is reminds me of my own. The relationship that blossoms between him and the other three shows a lot of character growth from him. 

     This book had me lying in bed screaming "WHAT!" so many times. Exited for the second one!

     I gave this book 5 stars when I read it, it was one of the first books I had ever read. I really think it is a good book but I don’t think it is as good as my other 5 star books. Therefore, I will be bumping it down to a 4.5 stars.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Homophobia, and Outing

Moderate: Abandonment, Mass/school shootings, and Suicide

Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent

tbs250's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Outing, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexism, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Addiction

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

jasminsc16's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, and Homophobia

Minor: Death of parent, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, and Mass/school shootings

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

ecn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

3.5

Not bad - very dramatic but overall whatever. Something to read to pass the time. If you like PLL or Gossip Girl, I think you’d like this bc of its theme.

Hated the way the characters talked/interacted, but maybe I’m just removed from what high schoolers sound like now? Which would explain why I hated the dialogue so much.

Overall not bad if you want mindless and overly white/cishet, but not something you can really engage with.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Outing, and Murder