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A review by jelkebooks
One of Us Is Back by Karen M. McManus
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
2.0
Honestly, this was such a dissapointing book. I have really enjoyed the first two books in the series, and I do think this book had an interesting set up. However, this book was just so incredibly boring. Nothing happened for most of this book. The mystery was barely present until the very end of the book, and it just was our main characters hanging out, doing nothing. The mystery itself was also just a bit of a letdown to me. The reveals weren't very impactful, and it all just felt a bit anticlimactic.
This was honeslty such a slow paced book it honeslty got painful. It made me think that Karen M McManus didn't really have anything planned for this book, and just wrote it to fulfil her contract, and therefore just stretched out a very thin idea. If I didn't care so much about these characters already this 100% would be a one star, or maybe even a DNF. It just wasn't a good book at all, and my love for these characters is what pushed me through.
That being said though I do think Karen M McManus didn't do a good job juggling the large cast of characters in this book. So many characters just felt left to the wayside, and kind of forgotten about throughout the book, which I thought was a shame. We only get POV's from Addy, Phoebe, and Nate, and that honestly left me a bit sad. I did love Addy's POV. She had the most interesting POV from the three, and great character growth throughout the book. I also understood why we got Phoebe's POV as she played a large part in the story, and she also has great developement throughout the story but I just didn't really like following her that much. I just don't think she was that compelling of a character, and whenever we got to her chapters I was just hoping we would get back to Addy as soon as possible. Nate's POV though could have been scrapped. He didn't play that big of a part in the story, he's on the same line as some of the side characters that didn't have a POV, and he also just doesn't have a personal journey to get through. It kind of felt a bit unnececary besides a few scenes here and there were we get a tiny bit of plot.
So yeah, this just didn't end up working for me at all. However, I do like the place this left our characters in a great place, and I am glad that I read this book just to see these characters happy endings. However, it just wasn't a good book. I can't in good conciousness even think that it is, which is a massive dissapointement as this series has been pretty good before that.
This was honeslty such a slow paced book it honeslty got painful. It made me think that Karen M McManus didn't really have anything planned for this book, and just wrote it to fulfil her contract, and therefore just stretched out a very thin idea. If I didn't care so much about these characters already this 100% would be a one star, or maybe even a DNF. It just wasn't a good book at all, and my love for these characters is what pushed me through.
That being said though I do think Karen M McManus didn't do a good job juggling the large cast of characters in this book. So many characters just felt left to the wayside, and kind of forgotten about throughout the book, which I thought was a shame. We only get POV's from Addy, Phoebe, and Nate, and that honestly left me a bit sad. I did love Addy's POV. She had the most interesting POV from the three, and great character growth throughout the book. I also understood why we got Phoebe's POV as she played a large part in the story, and she also has great developement throughout the story but I just didn't really like following her that much. I just don't think she was that compelling of a character, and whenever we got to her chapters I was just hoping we would get back to Addy as soon as possible. Nate's POV though could have been scrapped. He didn't play that big of a part in the story, he's on the same line as some of the side characters that didn't have a POV, and he also just doesn't have a personal journey to get through. It kind of felt a bit unnececary besides a few scenes here and there were we get a tiny bit of plot.
So yeah, this just didn't end up working for me at all. However, I do like the place this left our characters in a great place, and I am glad that I read this book just to see these characters happy endings. However, it just wasn't a good book. I can't in good conciousness even think that it is, which is a massive dissapointement as this series has been pretty good before that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol and Grief
There is a scene in which a main character gets drugged.