Reviews tagging 'Blood'

One of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus

21 reviews

abicaro17's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Once again a fun read! As a sequel, this book was fighting any preconceived notions from One of Us is Lying. I can say that this book, although not as good as the first, is a solid sequel. One of Us is Next brings in Brownyn's sister Maeve, a computer genius, Maeve's ex boyfriend and current best friend Knox, a law intern, and Phoebe, a waitress at the restaurant that everyone hangs out in. As a new gossip fueled game, Truth or Dare, starts up 18 months after Simon's death and creates drama and danger. I really enjoyed the new characters in Phoebe, Knox, Maeve and Luis. I think this is a true strong point in this story. I appreciate how this story keeps the basis of the first story while changing almost everything else. The original characters are involved but it's not about them, the location is the same but there are new ones too, and the mystery is entirely different as well. My problem is that I didn't care as much. The beauty of the first book is that Simon dies in front of the original four and its pretty much the first chapter. This means that the mysterious death is the forefront and the game is more secondary. It is the reverse in the sequel. I feel like this means the story is harder to get into and is less of a meaningful twist. I think the first was hard to follow and although this book stops short it is a fantastic mystery either way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Blood, Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Bullying, Cursing, Alcoholism, Cancer, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Alcohol, Racism, Sexual assault, and Stalking

matidareads's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? N/A

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cancer, Violence, Sexual assault, Medical content, Grief, Blood, and Alcohol

leila_reads_too_much's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, and Murder

rae42's review

dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Cancer, Medical content, Suicide, Death, Murder, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Cancer, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Medical content, Terminal illness, Violence, and Murder

kshertz's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is such an interesting sequel. It was nice to see previous characters and learn more about precious side characters. I love the twists and turns and when everything gets explained. An excellent sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Misogyny, Violence, Child death, Murder, Death, Gaslighting, Body horror, Blood, and Chronic illness

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

This book is very slow for the first 60%. There is a lot of focus on drama unrelated to the underlying mystery and characters that don't matter past the initial burst of drama. There is somehow not enough focus on any of these characters to pull off a red herring maneuver. You can basically figure out the plot by the 70% mark aside from a few details that were mishandled, in my opinion. There is also a romance between a 17 year old and someone who is old enough to have graduated college.

There is a character blatantly introduced at the 90% mark. He is mentioned two to four times throughout the book but only in passing as the "intense guy." To no one's surprise he is one of the three culprits and not at all a red herring. There are three culprits: Emma, Owen, Jared Jackson. Jared Jackson made a deal with Emma in a revenge board. Emma did this through the use of her sister's phone as she had conveniently lost hers. Emma admits this all from the hospital bed where she is suffering from the effects of alcohol poisoning. When Emma backs out by ghosting on Jared, Owen (the little brother) steps in, steals the pseudonym, and pursues revenge against Brandon for the death of his father. Emma and Phoebe agree to act like Jared fabricated Owen's messages to protect him.

The reveal right at the end of the book is a very cheap gimmick and though it was executed properly, it feels unrealistic to how someone of that age demographic would respond to the info they'd acquired.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Bullying, Violence, Blood, Sexual assault, Death, Alcoholism, Murder, Vomit, Child death, Chronic illness, and Cancer

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Child death, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, and Stalking

Minor: Suicide, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Homophobia, and Racism

There is a subplot of a bomb but only one person is injured and they survive but will have scars. There was also a subplot of a corrupt police officer who framed and blackmailed someone for drugs.

dominic_t's review

adventurous dark 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

This was a really great book. The twists were great--they were unexpected, but still believable. I love books where the twist ending is well supported by the rest of the book, and this one really was. This was just as good as the first book in the series. The new characters in this book were great and very likable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Blood, and Murder

franticfreya's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer

Moderate: Alcoholism, Stalking, Sexual assault, Grief, Bullying, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Medical content, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Toxic friendship

literallyliterature's review

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, and Cancer

Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Death, Toxic friendship, Murder, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Violence, Death of parent, and Sexual content

Minor: Vomit and Homophobia

carrie_gray24's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Blood