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A review by gorgi
One By One by Freida McFadden
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
wow. wow. wow. what a shocking book. i went into the book expecting it to be a nice chill mystery book, but NO. One by one is a thriller for sure. i was scared. this book made my spin shiver and made me feel fear and i was genially scared. of course the book is still a mystery one but combined with thriller, the book was over the top good. i loved every second of reading this book and i was so immersed in what was happening and trying to figure out who had done what, that the book was over before i knew it. i smashed this book out in three hours straight. i could not put it down. i was loving every second. i did end up solving the mystery pretty quick on in the book, but that's only because i look at and think of everything possible. the mystery was well written as, when you got further into the book things started to make more sense if you were looking at the clues but if you were not, it was so well written that things just keep getting more and more complicated. Who was doing what? and Who is telling the truth and therefore i can trust? they were the biggest questions i asked myself, because there were times when i doubted myself, like when a character would reveal information and then say something and i was like, hang on that makes sense, but then i would feel doubt. like do i trust them or not? so, i would have to go over all the evidence in my head to finally come to a conclusion for myself. but besides that, i loved how this book was written and the journey it takes you on. honestly usually when reading a book if i hate the characters than i hate the book, but no not in this case. i hated all the characters, they made me so made. at first i was like, mmmm, i like you, then 30 pages later i would be screaming at the book yelling at that character to die. it was so funny how quickly i changed my emotions to the characters. i loved hating them. it made the book so much more fun and entertaining, because instead of being scared for their life, i was giggling to myself wondering who was going to die next. it was so fun! i know that sounds weird but it was the best thing ever. By the end of the book there are six characters and i ended up only being able to tolerate one. not like, tolerate, and they were definitely not the person i thought i would end up tolerating, not even close. so at the start of the book, the only person i liked was Lindsay. even though i had a guess that she was the murderer/ anonymous person from the start i kinda still liked her. she was the only decent person. then as the book went on and i was reading the anonymous person's pov. i started to really hate her. because at this point, I'm convinced it's her (even though she is supposably dead) so the stuff she said and did in the anonymous pov creeped me out. it was disgusting, so therefore, bye, bye my love for her and i started to hate her. and i also from the moment i met Jack and Michelle, i knew i hated them. Michelle was just bleh, shut up girl where Jack was all, I'm the leader and in charge vibes and i hated that. so, bye bye to both of them. i hated them throughout the whole book. now Warner, so at first i was like, okay he is chill but as the book when on i despised him. OMG, why was he like that, honestly another Oliver from five survive, um hello, NO, stay away from me. and Claire, maybe purely because she was the main character or something but i just got this vibe and i hated her. no real reason but still, after finishing the book. still hate her. so that just leaves Noah, at first probably like everyone i hated him. but as the book went on, he gradually got better and i started to have room in my heart for him. he wasn't bad as such but because of all his actions at the start of the book i couldn't like him so therefore only tolerate. and there you go. now i do have small bits of criticism, therefore that's why i only gave it what i did. i was reading the book and pretty much up until the last 90 or so pages it was a 5-star read. i loved one by one but i think the ending of the book let me down a lot. my star rating dropped to a 4.75 when i found out a vital piece of information. Warner was alive, ewww. hated that then by the end of the book dropped to a 4.25 because i didn't like how all the information was revealed. like it was meant to be a big wow. OMG moment but no. and then something else stupid happened but i can't say due to spoilers. on the blurb and literally at the start of the book it says only one of the six will make it back alive from the trip. i would have loved it if that was the truth and the book actually did what it says. but NOOO. 3 had to make it out alive. bro that's 2 more than 1, and if I'm counting correctly half of 6. half of the group made it out alive. what is that. only 1 was meant to survive. so, i HATED THAT. but what can i do. so that severely brought my rating down. but apart from those things i loved the book. i also loved how it ended, kinda like verity on the sense that there is an unfinished question that is left with you to ponder and think about. what do you believe? i love those questions and figuring out what i think. but the book was amazing. Now i do want to say how i solved it. firstly, the first anonymous chapter is at the very start of the book so due to that chapter i could easily work out that the anonymous person was one of the 6 going on the trip and not someone different. then a few chapters later we read the next anonymous chapter and after reading it, I'm convinced it's a girl, due to a few clues i think in that chapter. so that narrows it down to three people. i also don't think its Claire as she is the main character, so if it was her that would be very stupid and i would have hated the book. so therefore, narrows it down to two people, Michelle and Lindsay. then the next anonymous chapter comes around and i solve the puzzle. the person talks about blueberries and literally the chapter right before was Lindsay eating blueberries (or that's what she thought) due to the fact she was hungry and was positive they were not poisonous. Clarie right now is with Lindsay so boom. as the anonymous person being the right next chapter talks about how she knows the difference between blueberries and poisonous berries i know that Lindsay is the anonymous person. and i stuck with my gut the entire time even after she supposably died and guess what, i was right. easy. that was one of the easiest mysteries i have ever solved. so please read this book. it's so good and very easy to read. quick and enjoyable. the perfect thing.