Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - One of Us Is Lying

Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

23 reviews

likeactualsoulmates's review against another edition

mysterious tense 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

4.0

This book would have been so much better if I hadn't gotten the twist spoiled for me. So I will review it like I didn't know the ending at all.

This was freaking enjoyable. Where the clues to the mysteries were very obvious -and I'll go more in-depth on that- how interesting all the characters were stepped up to meet it. I didn't continue reading this book because I wanted to solve this mystery, I read this because I liked all of the characters and was invested in their story. All of the four main characters had something unique and relatable about them, a struggle they were going through. And even the side characters were great. By halfway into this book I was more invested in their lives going well than in the mystery being solved.
The clues weren't that greatly hidden, at least for me. I think maybe they were meant to be obvious, and the characters were so distressed they couldn't easily connect them.

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ghosty_mushroom's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious fast-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

5.0

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abi_ineedtoreadmore's review

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challenging emotional funny 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

4.5

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pagbasa's review

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emotional 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

5.0

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mary_johnston's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense 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? No

4.5

I first heard about this book a few years ago, from one of my classmates. She had brought it to school for English class -we all had to bring a book and kind of talk about it for a while- and the teacher actually asked who the murderer was and she answered, but good thing the memory of her reply is locked somewhere in my brain and cannot be accessed because it would've been such a waste to not discover it on my own.

What I'm trying to say is One of Us Is Lying is such a fun, and yes, tense at times, ride. The characters are all so lovable and feel concrete. The whole piece is just a mood, a vibe. My eyes scanned the last few pages, maybe a little too quickly, as I was asking myself what on Earth was I going to do now that it's over. At least Karen McManus altered the ending in a way that didn't make it sour, as I initially thought it was going to be.

Definitely glad I finally got around to reading it. And I can't stress this enough, I am going to miss The Murder Club so so much! They were all individually and so beautifully developed and interacted with one another in such a realistic manner that made everything even more believable than it already was.

I can't really say that the last chapters wrapped up the novel perfectly, but at the same time they also did?? I have no idea, I liked it a lot and that's final.

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mllewellyn's review

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dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.0

Good plot but under whelming

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syd991's review

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I’m not sure how I feel about this book. The concept is interesting, but the writing didn’t sit right with me. I know there’s lots of people who enjoy this book, and I can understand why, it’s just not my personal cup of tea.

Each of the main 4 characters felt like a typical high-schooler cliche, you have the brains, the jock, the criminal, and the popular one. It’s part of the story, but it almost felt superficial for me.

I enjoyed the mystery aspect, although I feel like I could guess at it from the first few chapters. It almost felt too obvious.

I don’t know if I’ll pick up the sequel just yet, but I’m intrigued enough to watch the TV show adaptation. Overall, it was okay, I just didn’t love it.

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