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gabbyjay17 's review for:
One of Us Is Lying
by Karen M. McManus
“One of Us is Lying” by Karen M. McManus
Let me start by saying that I love this book and its author. I discovered this book back in January and it’s actually the book that got me back into reading, after 2-3 years off. It reminded me what reading is about why I loved it so much. The suspense, the story line, the details and even semi-predictable characters. I was hooked from chapter one! If you had asked me back I’m January to rate this book I would have for sure given it five stars. But, upon my reread and going over your reviews, a lot of great points have been brought to my attention. I just feel like those points can’t go undiscussed.
SPOILER SECTION: The resolution to this story is derivative of another characters mental illness, yet it is never fully addressed. Since the story can be so gripping, the scenario was well glossed over. This was an excellent opportunity to discuss mental illness and educate young audiences. While it is extremely unfortunate that the author used mental illness to portray a villain, it could have been used as a moment to take a negative and turn it into an educational opportunity. I wish the characters remaining had empathized with this villainized character, tried to understand, forgive and explain. That he wasn’t bad. He was just not getting the help he needed. But, it is almost as if we reach our resolution and there is a collective sigh from all the characters that says, “ohh, that makes sense.” And it shouldn’t, because we shouldn’t normalize mental illness pushing people to a point of ill judgement leading to a horrible tragedy. This is exactly the thing we should be rewriting in our society.
Overall the books story in itself was fantastic. I enjoyed every bit of it upon the first read, and can honestly push passed the lack of education and missed opportunities regarding this topic upon the reread. If you feel that you can enjoy it as well, now knowing what you know, I truly and highly recommend this read. Even more so, I recommend “Two Can Keep a Secret”!
Let me start by saying that I love this book and its author. I discovered this book back in January and it’s actually the book that got me back into reading, after 2-3 years off. It reminded me what reading is about why I loved it so much. The suspense, the story line, the details and even semi-predictable characters. I was hooked from chapter one! If you had asked me back I’m January to rate this book I would have for sure given it five stars. But, upon my reread and going over your reviews, a lot of great points have been brought to my attention. I just feel like those points can’t go undiscussed.
SPOILER SECTION: The resolution to this story is derivative of another characters mental illness, yet it is never fully addressed. Since the story can be so gripping, the scenario was well glossed over. This was an excellent opportunity to discuss mental illness and educate young audiences. While it is extremely unfortunate that the author used mental illness to portray a villain, it could have been used as a moment to take a negative and turn it into an educational opportunity. I wish the characters remaining had empathized with this villainized character, tried to understand, forgive and explain. That he wasn’t bad. He was just not getting the help he needed. But, it is almost as if we reach our resolution and there is a collective sigh from all the characters that says, “ohh, that makes sense.” And it shouldn’t, because we shouldn’t normalize mental illness pushing people to a point of ill judgement leading to a horrible tragedy. This is exactly the thing we should be rewriting in our society.
Overall the books story in itself was fantastic. I enjoyed every bit of it upon the first read, and can honestly push passed the lack of education and missed opportunities regarding this topic upon the reread. If you feel that you can enjoy it as well, now knowing what you know, I truly and highly recommend this read. Even more so, I recommend “Two Can Keep a Secret”!