Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Karen McManus One Of Us Is Lying Paperback - 1 June 2017 by Karen M. McManus, Karen M. McManus

67 reviews

daphneereads's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Outing, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Drug use and Cancer

Minor: Mass/school shootings

dhutton1997's review against another edition

dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Outing, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Bullying, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Classism, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse

laheath's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this book which others have compared to a dark twist on The Breakfast Club (I'm of that generation that can relate to and appreciate that reference). When a strict teacher sends 5 students to detention and 1 of them dies shortly after it begins, all are suspects. The characters represent several issues that teens are actually facing, some better than others. The story is somewhat predictable, but still enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Outing, Bullying, Sexual content, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Drug abuse

dtierra's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.25

If you’re a non-white person who cares about reading accurate portrayals of people of color…skip this book. There is one woman of color in this book and it is DEEPLY uncomfortably written. There was clearly no research done besides maybe google translate and one google search. Bronwyn is effectively written as a white character who has 3 lines of spanish in the book with a Colombian father who she says won’t want a drug dealing hs’er (another main character) around bc he’s hyperconscious of the Colombian drug dealer stereotype. Yeah. The Author is a white woman. The only gay character in the book is closeted for most of the book and experiences intense homophobia. Diversity win! Outside of Karen McManus’ atrocious attempt at diverse characters, the book isn’t completely awful. However the book is meant to be high stakes and often fails to deliver.

maybe the point of Simon’s death and the Bayview four’s offenses is that it’s so small in the grand scheme of things. I’m not sure. In high school, everything feels bigger than it is. That said, most of the rumors in About That about the Bayview 4 were largely inconsequential. Maybe this is a testament to Simon’s deteriorating mental state. That said, it brings the believability into question

The book is fast paced, I got through it in about a day. It does keep you guessing and some of the plot twists were solid. Others were a bit predictable. I honestly think this book could have been miles better with a few well compensated sensitivity writers and a few drafts of edits. Would not recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Suicide, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Child death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Homophobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

Minor: Domestic abuse

josieeeeec's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

This book starts off with such a two cliché premises (both of which I tend to like): a murder mystery with multiple unlikely yet all equally likely suspects and Breakfast Club-esque character archetypes. As you read you realize that beyond surface level introductions, these characters are so multidimensional with deeply relatable insecurities, experiences, and fears. Their stories made my heart ache. I absolutely loved every last second of it, down to the end I couldn’t fully predict no matter how much I mulled it over. It’s one of those books you start and finish in under a few days, if not in one sitting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use, Cancer, and Physical abuse

Minor: Mass/school shootings

jasminsc16's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, and Homophobia

Minor: Death of parent, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, and Mass/school shootings

booksbyantheia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

 Como lectura en general, llenó todos los espacios requeridos para ser un libro bueno. Personajes relativamente sólidos, una trama segura, con los espacios de misterio necesarios. Quizás fue esa trama esperable la que la hace un libro bueno, pero no excelente, y no tan memorable. (Sorry, Simon)

Y quizás hasta esos puntos favorables no son tan fuertes. Solo sentí que Bronwyn estaba desarrollada al máximo. Sus pequeñas luchas consigo misma, sus motivaciones, sus secretos. Siento que el menos desarrollado fue Cooper. 

Si bien su homosexualidad es algo muy importante para todo el "estereotipo" que construyó como máscara, eso no me hizo sentirlo un personaje más profundo que Bronwyn.

  Addy me parece la peor desarrollada en general.

La trama es predecible. Soy estúpida y conecté todo mal, pero acerté a cada suceso (atribuyéndolo erronéamente, pero aún así). 

Incluyendo el plot twist de Jake. No lo adiviné bien, pero sabía que estaba involucrado de alguna manera.

Eso muestra que fue una escritura muy cuidada y notable. Las pistas estaban ahí, pero lamento que en cierto punto se haya pasado de foreshadowing a exceso de detalles.

Es una buena lectura, recomendable para meterse en el género de misterio. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Abandonment, Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Mentions of divorce, body hatred, low self-esteem, non-explicit sexual content.

kjm_x's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Outing, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Suicide, Grief, and Homophobia

Minor: Mental illness and Mass/school shootings

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Violence, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Death, Alcohol, and Bullying

Moderate: Terminal illness, Cancer, Cursing, Mass/school shootings, Outing, Physical abuse, and Addiction

Minor: Homophobia, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Mass/school shootings

nurel's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse and Death