Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Um de nós está mentindo by Karen M. McManus

43 reviews

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

andie_jk's review against another edition

dark lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, and Suicide

Minor: Homophobia, Outing, and Transphobia

maggieed's review against another edition

dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Suicide

Minor: Car accident

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Probably 3.5
Enjoyable but like incredibly predictable
Literally nothing was a surprise

<SPOILERS>


Also it does feel like cheating that none of them were lying about that but ok
Also fuck u simon
Also really? Everyone is that pressed that she cheated on some tests? Im sorry did her teacher rly not notice that she went from a d to getting 100%?? Thats on him

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

pennycurt's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Domestic abuse

readastorywithtory's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Murder, and Domestic abuse

sharlapeggy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Mental illness

mackennary1's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

good read, I enjoyed it!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

elysh_kaye's review against another edition

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

4.0

 Fun and fast paced read. I found that the four main characters were explored equally and their personalities and character drawn out and improved. However there were still some shallow aspects to them which is typically expected for this sort of YA genre. I didn't predict the big reveal, which was a nice surprise as I expected it to be predictable. I think McManus did a good job throwing the reader off with adding different suspicions and aspects to the mystery. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Abandonment, Murder, Outing, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Domestic abuse

amayagirtman's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide and Domestic abuse