Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

138 reviews

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

serendipity421's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Chronic illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Cursing

mganallirt's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Outing, Hate crime, and Gaslighting

Minor: Alcoholism and Drug use

tbs250's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Outing, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexism, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Addiction

chloesweeney's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Alcoholism

gurnoor's review against another edition

mysterious 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

Graphic: Suicide, Death, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Mass/school shootings

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

claire_3lyse's review against another edition

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Outing, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Cursing, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

shiroofficial's review against another edition

5.0

This book was very interesting and it made me want to keep reading it all the time… the story was amazing and thrilling and the situations felt very real, like it would be something we could expect in the world today and it would feel normal, but feel bad as well. It was a very interesting story to read and many secrets were unravelled in the story and it was awesome! The plot twists were really good and it kept me captivated the whole time i was reading. I absolutely love this book. However i find that the pace is a little slower than i’d have preferred, but it really doesn't bother me much so yeah. Awesome book definitely recommend love it! very thrilling would read again! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Sexual content, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Self harm, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Hate crime, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Drug use