A review by hollymaynisbet
One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

4.0

Second book for my book a day for a week!

If this got turned into a tv series, I would binge watch it in a day.

I had seen this book all around Youtube and TikTok, so I bought it a while back. It was described to me as "Pretty Little Liars meets Breakfast Club" and I knew then that I had to read it. However, only yesterday did I actually read it and I so understand the hype. The writing was so detailed and thorough that it felt as though I was the one trying to figure out who killed Simon.

The different 'secrets' that each person was trying to conceal was so fitting for their character (I won't reveal said secrets, go read it yourself). I loved the different perspectives we have through each chapter and how each point of view ends with a hint towards what that person is hiding or their own thoughts during a situation. This really helped 'Karen M. McManus' carry this mysterious tone throughout the entire book.

The book was split into 3 parts, which I found to be quite smart. Part 1: Simon Says, is the death and revealing of secrets. Part 2: Hide and seek, the aftermath of the secrets and how they're dealing with the investigation. And finally, Part 3: Truth or dare, the resolution of the entire event. Being split not only gave the book this really simple yet effective structure, it also helped the audience feel as though it was an investigation that we were apart of.

The bond that the characters made because of this event was really sweet and the conclusion just made me feel very happy, I didn't stop smiling for a while.

The only reason I didn't give it the 5/5 was because towards the end, I could see where it was going. But it was still a tremendous read and I recommend this to anyone. If Netflix ever saw this review (I highly doubt it), please make this a movie or tv show!

Happy reading!