Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

One of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus

104 reviews

auntstacey's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Bullying

notlikethebeer's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Grief, Bullying, Death, and Infidelity

creativeworld's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Grief, Murder, Violence, Medical content, Death, and Death of parent

jana_mn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Cancer, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual assault, Addiction, Deadnaming, Death, Vomit, Medical content, Stalking, Bullying, and Death of parent

lily1304's review against another edition

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Bullying, Child death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Cancer, and Medical trauma

Minor: Suicide

Describes a bombing

kccool12255's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, and Infidelity

Minor: Grief, Cursing, and Sexual content

julierambaeck's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

This was fine, enjoyable, crazy. The romances were great

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Bullying

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Suicide and Stalking

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.0

This is a great, albeit slightly far-fetched, second part of a fun series. I am realising that I really enjoy YA thrillers; there's often more of a funny streak running through them than in an adult thriller, which seems to make me plough through them so quickly. Here we see the next group of high school students after the original Bayview Four (who still have peripheral roles) have moved on.

It's hard not to compare this to the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series. Both have plucky, intelligent groups of students solving complex mysteries at an age where I could barely choose an outfit or hair colour. They also both contain enough characters that reading the second book took a bit of flicking back and forth through pages before I could really remember how everyone was connected. And both seem to invite an inordinate amount of death and drama to one small community.

But this is where I'm happy to suspend my disbelief. The plot of One Of Us Is Next is fun, cleverly connected and intriguing, so I can overlook how implausible it is that so much happens in one high school. The way so many sub-plots connect is really interesting, and I was a little blindsided (and upset) by the ending, which I didn't see coming at all.

I've just heard there's a third installment on the way, so I'm looking forward to where things go from here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide

violetbentbackwards1036's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Vomit, Medical content, Cancer, Sexual assault, Death, Alcohol, Cursing, Murder, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Violence, Misogyny, Bullying, Addiction, and Death of parent

_christinadevin's review against another edition

funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Bullying, and Sexual harassment