Reviews

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

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kaylajcj's review against another edition

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mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.25

hyunc456's review against another edition

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1.0

Five teens are sent to detention, but only four make it out alive, quickly becoming suspects for the murder of the other, Simon. Out of these four are the highschool cliches: the brains, the jock, the beauty, and the criminal. So, who did it?

This story revolves around the perspective of Bronwyn, the brains; Connor, the jock; Addy, the beauty; and Nate, the criminal. It would be accurate to describe this as being similar to Pretty Little Liars or the Breakfast Club, both of which I enjoyed to some extent.

But I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. 13 year olds, maybe, but it felt way too immature for older audiences.

The first thing I noticed about this book was that these characters lacked individual voices. They sounded identical to each other--to the point where their personalities felt forced rather than natural. I also felt that the novel failed to "show" rather than tell. Bronwyn--the yale-bound, high achieving student, but there was nothing of that sort going on, rather than short, quick descriptions of the mathlete or the Model UN.

Next, the writing was too painfully simplistic. This probably piggybacks off the fact that characters failed to have an "individual voice", as I explained in the previous paragraph. The idea was there, though, and I kept feeling that this story would be better off as a film rather than a movie. I get that this book is meant to be for a YA audience, but its absolutely devoid of any sort of "mindfuck" moment expected in murder thrillers and the prose was too lacking for the portrayal of strong emotion.

Lastly, if I even have to point this out, the entire book was overly cliche. It was to the point where it became painful to read. Yes, there is some awareness of how cliche its cast of characters is, but this awareness cannot override the fact that the characters were too flat. It seemed like they were created to fit that very mould of "cliche" and were not given alternate dimensions. The problems that the jock is facing? He's queer, and hes been secretly meeting a guy behind his girlfriend and his family's back. The beauty? She absolutely couldn't look out of herself before it became convenient to do so (at the end of the story)...and so on. You get the point. It was just too rigid.

It was a quick read though.