Reviews with content warning for Grief - One of Us Is Next

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

One of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus

37 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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aseel_reads's review

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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? It's complicated

3.0

A solid ya mystery. Definitely felt that the ending was somehow super slow (I got the twist just before it was revealed and hated having to wait for it) and also rushed at the same time

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vivisms_82's review against another edition

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dark mysterious

3.25

It was ok. Not as good as the first one but still fine. I was hoping for more Cooper, Nate, Addy and Bronwyn. But instead we got a rather vanilla bunch. Ok Maeve had some highlights and Knox was a sweetheart but that don't make them interesting. Very weak plotline where the students do not tell an adult/the police about the nasty chat forums or truth or dare rubbish because they didn't want their phones taken away?? WTF? After what happened in the first book the teens wouldn't tell someone? Really? Oh well, I did read on I guess.

I did guess that Emma was involved but I did not think Owen had anything to do with it - that was a surprise! As a girl with a much younger brother, I could completely empathise with Emma and Phoebe not exposing Owen's part to the detective and their mother. After all, Emma was heavily to blame for what happened. Brandon was a brat

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bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.5

In the sequel to One of Us is Lying, we get a new-ish cast of characters, Maeve is the only one we saw in the last book but this time we get her POV. We also get POVs from two more characters, Knox and Phoebe. Interesting concept of a dangerous game of Truth or Dare! I also kind of liked getting new characters, while also still getting peeks at characters from book 1.

It’s a little slower than book 1, with most of the drama being in the first and last thirds; the pacing is slightly off as the middle drags a bit. Compared to book 1 which had a slow build up throughout.

The twists were unexpected and I didn’t see them coming-and no cop out this time! The execution worked so well, and was so much better than OoUiL. I did guess the person involved but I didn’t correctly guess the motivation or the other twists!

For once, the sequel was better than the first 😍 The ending was also well done with a bit of suspense and leaving it perfectly open for book 3, which now I actually can’t wait to read!

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kkuecker218's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad medium-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

5.0

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saarahkaatharina's review

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adventurous 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

4.5

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notlikethebeer's review

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

It's been a long while since I read One of Us Is Lying, but I've read everything else Karen M. McManus has written, so it felt about time to continue with the trilogy. This was a fun read - it wasn't groundbreaking or especially memorable, and honestly, I don't think it's among McManus's best! But it was enjoyable, and kept me engrossed. I had my theories about what happened, and it kept me reading to see whether I was right (I was, in part!). That's all I can ask for from a mystery to be honest! As a self-proclaimed anti-fan of series, I'm pleased to report that having a rusty memory of the first book doesn't cloud enjoying this one too much either - although I got a bit confused about some of the characters (there were a LOT of characters) that wasn't too detrimental to following and enjoying this book in itself!

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creativeworld's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Not as good as the first one but still an enjoyable read. The second half was more fast paced than the first half

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kccool12255's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

What. The. Actual. Heck. It has been a while since I was so completely mystified by a book’s ending, but this one managed that. I’d maybe even dare to say this ending is better than the first, because everything’s up in the air. I do mostly prefer Bronwyn and Nate to Luis and Maeve, but I think that’s majorly because I love enemies to lovers (and bad boy x nerdy girl). Maeve and Knox’s friendship was AWESOME, I love friendships like that. I didn’t see ANY of the plot twists coming. The point is, we got our ships, and that is what matters. I LOVE this series, and the author is a genius.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the first book, and murder mysteries.

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violetbentbackwards1036's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.75

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