Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

136 reviews

taylorsevalia's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Child death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, and Terminal illness

Minor: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Confinement, Mass/school shootings, Sexual content, and Vomit

bexthewriter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Death, Violence, Outing, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Suicide

Minor: Addiction, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Cursing

So basically (spoilers ahead like a big one)

Simon, the person dies, commits suicide by triggering his own allergic reaction and then tries to pin it on the four main characters. Nates dad is also an alcoholic and his mom abandoned him bc of drug addiction and she is bipolar as well.

proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Fem elever på Bayview High får kvarsittning, men bara fyra av dem kommer därifrån levande. En nörd, en sportkille, en bad boy och en skoldrottning. Samtliga har hemligheter de inte vill ska komma ut. Hur långt är de beredda att gå för att skydda dem?

Stereotypa karaktärer, som tagna ur en ungdomsfilm från 80-talet - kan det verkligen bli bra? Ja, faktiskt! Vi har plugghästen Bronwyn, basebollstjärnan Cooper, bråkstaken Nate och Addy, en av skolans populäraste tjejer. Sedan har vi mordoffret, Simon. Han är killen som vill passa in, men lyckas aldrig bli del av någon grupp. Istället skapar han en app där han publicerar skvaller om eleverna på skolan. Dessa "rykten" visar sig oftast vara sanna och det finns många som skulle vilja att Simon försvann. Eller åtminstone hans app. När Simon dör under kvarsittningen och det visar sig att han blivit förgiftad så blir förstås de andra fyra misstänkta och deras liv förvandlas till en mardröm. 

Berättarperspektivet skiftar mellan de fyra huvudkaraktärerna och eftersom jag lyssnade på boken (i utmärkt uppläsning av Ella Schartner) så hade jag vissa problem med att hålla reda på vems perspektiv vi följde. Det blev lite lättare när man lärt känna karaktärerna bättre. På ytan må de vara klichéer, men alla har förstås mer än en sida. Jag gillar hur de fyra, som egentligen inte umgåtts tidigare, sakta blir vänner och börjar beskydda varandra. Upplösningen listade jag ut innan den avslöjades, vilket jag egentligen inte gillar, men eftersom slutet var tillfredsställande så accepterar jag det!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Outing, Alcohol, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

laurennicole98's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, Abandonment, Bullying, Death, Suicide, Addiction, and Toxic friendship

adiisbookland91's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.5

CAWPILE: 3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Really enjoyed this story. Fast paced. Would of like to see hardcore secrets. But kept me guessing and didn't want to stop reading. Gav e me Pretty Little Liars vibes. Loved the romance part.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Grief, Homophobia, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Addiction, Bullying, and Abandonment

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

medini_l's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Suicide, Sexism, Bullying, Outing, Misogyny, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Homophobia, and Drug use

Minor: Violence, Alcohol, Cancer, and Abandonment

renyoi's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense 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

4.75

YA fiction that simultaneously does and does not feel like YA fiction. Multiple gasp-out-loud moments and surprising subversions of popular tropes make this book one of the more sophisticated YA titles I’ve ever read. All characters feel well-rounded and representative of real teenagers—who, as the author clearly knows, are agents in their own world and not just victims of or reactions to circumstances. My main complaint? The author doesn’t actually know how Tumblr works. :P

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Homophobia, Outing, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Car accident, Chronic illness, Cancer, Classism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity

junowo's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

This book was just…fun! The plot is a great framing device for both mystery and character growth. I definitely rolled my eyes a bit with the Breakfast Club reference at the beginning, but I was surprised to find that this book played off of the idea of teenage stereotypes in a way that felt new and interesting.
I think the highlights of this book are 1) the roundness of every single character and 2) the agency the teenage characters had. YA books can often contain flat characters, and their protagonists can feel like teenagers that things are happening to, rather than teenagers doing things. This book gave depth and dimension to every one of its characters, as well as giving them a chance to make their own choices and stand their ground. I’m very impressed!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Mass/school shootings, Self harm, Violence, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cancer

james1star's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

4.0

Overall I did enjoy this book quite a lot and found it very easy to read. We follow four character’s POVs in the aftermath of their fellow classmate Simon dying during detention and how they are all suspects. I won’t explain the plot as it’s a mystery sorta book where you need to figure stuff out yourself. I was definitely hooked with the storyline and it made me want to read on and discover more to the characters and outcomes. There were also some plot twists that I did not expect coming too. 

At the beginning I didn’t really like the characters all that much but as it went on you get to know them better, their past and stories and I did end up caring for them. Weirdly, Nate was my favourite despite being kinda the most problematic but then something with Cooper shot him up there too. Bronwyn grew on me the quickest and then certain understandings with Addy made me love her too so Yhh… haha I don’t know where this is going but I did really want the best for them and justice to prevail. 

I wouldn’t say the story/characters was the most realistic but it was definitely enjoyable and certain aspects had their intended impact on the reader. The writing style is easy to follow, not that descriptive or vivid but was good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Grief, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Drug use, Self harm, Death, Mental illness, Outing, Suicide, and Toxic friendship