A review by beckyyreadss
One of Us is Back by Karen M. McManus

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

I wanted to read this book as I really enjoyed this series so far and was intrigued at which member was going to be back. This book was confusing at times, but I'm glad that it got the ending the guys deserved.  

This book follows the gang from the last two books who are still in Bayview. Some of these characters are Addy, Nate, Phoebe, Maeve and Cooper. Ever since Simon died in detention, life hasn’t been easy for the Bayview Crew. First the Bayview Four had to prove they weren’t killers. Then a new generation had to outwit a vengeful copycat. Now, it’s happening all over again. At first the mysterious billboard seems like a bad joke: Time for a new game, Bayview. But when a member of the crew disappears, it’s clear this “game” just got serious, and no one knows the rules. Everyone is a target and now that someone unexpected has returned to Bayview, things are getting deadly again. The thing is, Simon was right about secrets – they all will come out, eventually. And Bayview has a lot it’s still hiding.  

I love being back in Bayview and seeing how the crew was doing even if there was more stress for them during this book. I love that all my favourite couples are still strong and there was no petty breakups over the situation at hand. My favourite part in any mystery book is when the pieces of the puzzle starts to make sense and the killer is revealed. The chapter where the killer and the motive are revealed is written brilliant and the suspense is nail biting especially because Karen manages to drag it on from several points of view that you are waiting just for the answer and what had just happened. I love the friendships that are in this book and that they all stayed closed. My favourite character will always be Nate, I just wanted to hug him to death during this series as he has not had it easy.  

The thing that stopped it from being five stars was Jake. That boy was such a pain in the ass, and I just wanted to punch him in the face. I was also a tad confused when I started this book because I read the second book in 2021 and I couldn’t remember what happened in the second book and some of the side plots from the characters weren’t in my brain, so I was just playing catch up. I would have loved a recap at the beginning of the book. 

I would have liked an epilogue with all the crew being happy and successful and how Bayview was doing. Maybe that will be a book in the future, but I want Nate and Bronwyn to be parents, Maeve and Luis traveling, Cooper and Kris being happy and parents. Addy and Keely being happy and just everyone getting the hell out of Bayview.  
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