Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

78 reviews

yasneaker's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

When I first started reading this book, I did not have high expectations but it proved me wrong. I expected to give this book 3 stars at most but now I think it’s worth a 4.

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hannnahk's review

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dark 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

4.5


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dancing_on_ur_muml0l's review

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adventurous dark 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? No

4.5

kinda feel bad for janae ngl

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vickeyreads's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

I LOVED this book!!! You would not be able to guess twist in this story! I loved every character in the book (hated a few however). 
I loved reading each of the varied perspectives. The beginning reminded me of The Breakfast Club which I enjoyed. As both relate to  people from different cliches coming together. That is all I have to say about the book that is spoiler free. If you haven’t read it I 100% recommend that you should read it (even if you do get spoiled but I recommend staying away from spoilers still).

SPOILERS BELOW:

one criticism I had was when Addy cheated on Jake and reflects about it I wish they depict her to show more remorse and moral guilt about her actions I feel as tho, that those character moments of agony are crucial to making her a more well rounded character. Instead her cheating was brushed off because of Jake’s rage and his actions. That he almost kills her and freaks out on her when she admits to him. 
Another criticism I had was Mr. Avery wasn’t questioned enough or suspected enough for Simon’s murder imo. Being the only teacher in the room at the time of Simon’s Death, wouldn’t that make him more suspicious. Though I do not feel as strongly about this criticism.


I will point out another part of the book I did not enjoy was the epilogue because I felt it was very boring and didn’t really add much to the story. 
The book is overall very well done and compelling for anyone to read. Those are my thoughts.

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taelights's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I feel like this is the only book I've ever read where the adaptation is better. 

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classicpseudonym's review

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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.

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taylorsevalia's review

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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

3.0


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bexthewriter's review

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adventurous 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? Yes

5.0


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renyoi's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

YA fiction that simultaneously does and does not feel like YA fiction. Multiple gasp-out-loud moments and surprising subversions of popular tropes make this book one of the more sophisticated YA titles I’ve ever read. All characters feel well-rounded and representative of real teenagers—who, as the author clearly knows, are agents in their own world and not just victims of or reactions to circumstances. My main complaint? The author doesn’t actually know how Tumblr works. :P

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serendipity421's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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