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A review by lover97
One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
4.0
One of us is lying
This isn't exactly an unheard of storyline. A bunch of kids from different cliques forced together around a mystery. Now let me say I have read the book before and seen the first season of the show, so I already knew the twist. This means I can't really comment on its predictability, but other people certainly have.
What I do want to talk about is the characters.
Bronwyn, who's the resident super nerd and winds up falling for the bad boy. Not a shocker, but her relationship with her sister is a strong plot point and maeve honestly, is much more entertaining.
Nate, the criminal. He has the most fleshed out backstory, and you can't help but feel bad for him once you learn about his childhood.
The two of them are sweet, and I enjoyed the way they got to know each other over the phone. It feels like a genuine connection, plus there's Stan the lizard, and I love that.
Then we have Cooper, the star baseball player. I know Nate draws the short straw in terms of the mystery, but Cooper is forced to tell people he's gay before he's ready, and it's definitely my least favourite twist in the book. Not because he's gay but because we as readers get his POV and are unaware of this until everyone else knows. We already knew he was cheating. There was no reason not to say who with. It robbed us of scenes between him and Kris that would have helped flesh out the relationship more.
My favourite of the four is Addy. The princess. Except she's not really, her mams horrible to her, and her boyfriend is a piece of shit. She has the best development of the four. You get to see her go from controlled to doing what she wants, and you can tell from her POV that she feels lighter as the book goes on despite the situation. I also really liked her relationship with her sister and how they reconnect.
The plot was interesting. I had forgotten that there's never really a point in time when they suspect the others of actually killing him. It certainly makes for an interesting whodunit when they don't have any suspects they just know it wasn't them. The scene in detention was really well done. With all the POVs and emotional reactions, it felt very real.
In a surprising turn of events, I may actually prefer the ending in the show. Spoilers if you've not seen it
.
.
.
.
Rather than Simon killing himself, the plan, if I remember correctly, is to frame them for attempted murder but jake takes all the epipens, and Simon dies.
This allowed the show to stick to the rough ending but eliminate the issues people have with the way the ending can be interpreted as villianising mental health. It certainly doesn't paint suicidal individuals in a great light if you just look at simon, but I do think it shows the importance of having people and offering help, even if it's just asking how someone is doing.
Janae, who's also struggling with her mental health, finds a friend in Addy and then in the rest of the four. I liked their friendship. It shows a compassionate side to addy as well as introducing a way to see Simon as something other than a gossip.
But also Addy had her sister, and I think there's a decent representation of what it's like to be in and then get out of a controlling relationship.
All in all, the mystery made more of an impact in the first read, but I think I appreciated the development of Addy and Nate more this time around. While the plot isn't the most intense mystery, you have to be somewhat impressed by the planning Simon put into his grand scheme.
This isn't exactly an unheard of storyline. A bunch of kids from different cliques forced together around a mystery. Now let me say I have read the book before and seen the first season of the show, so I already knew the twist. This means I can't really comment on its predictability, but other people certainly have.
What I do want to talk about is the characters.
Bronwyn, who's the resident super nerd and winds up falling for the bad boy. Not a shocker, but her relationship with her sister is a strong plot point and maeve honestly, is much more entertaining.
Nate, the criminal. He has the most fleshed out backstory, and you can't help but feel bad for him once you learn about his childhood.
The two of them are sweet, and I enjoyed the way they got to know each other over the phone. It feels like a genuine connection, plus there's Stan the lizard, and I love that.
Then we have Cooper, the star baseball player. I know Nate draws the short straw in terms of the mystery, but Cooper is forced to tell people he's gay before he's ready, and it's definitely my least favourite twist in the book. Not because he's gay but because we as readers get his POV and are unaware of this until everyone else knows. We already knew he was cheating. There was no reason not to say who with. It robbed us of scenes between him and Kris that would have helped flesh out the relationship more.
My favourite of the four is Addy. The princess. Except she's not really, her mams horrible to her, and her boyfriend is a piece of shit. She has the best development of the four. You get to see her go from controlled to doing what she wants, and you can tell from her POV that she feels lighter as the book goes on despite the situation. I also really liked her relationship with her sister and how they reconnect.
The plot was interesting. I had forgotten that there's never really a point in time when they suspect the others of actually killing him. It certainly makes for an interesting whodunit when they don't have any suspects they just know it wasn't them. The scene in detention was really well done. With all the POVs and emotional reactions, it felt very real.
In a surprising turn of events, I may actually prefer the ending in the show. Spoilers if you've not seen it
.
.
.
.
Rather than Simon killing himself, the plan, if I remember correctly, is to frame them for attempted murder but jake takes all the epipens, and Simon dies.
This allowed the show to stick to the rough ending but eliminate the issues people have with the way the ending can be interpreted as villianising mental health. It certainly doesn't paint suicidal individuals in a great light if you just look at simon, but I do think it shows the importance of having people and offering help, even if it's just asking how someone is doing.
Janae, who's also struggling with her mental health, finds a friend in Addy and then in the rest of the four. I liked their friendship. It shows a compassionate side to addy as well as introducing a way to see Simon as something other than a gossip.
But also Addy had her sister, and I think there's a decent representation of what it's like to be in and then get out of a controlling relationship.
All in all, the mystery made more of an impact in the first read, but I think I appreciated the development of Addy and Nate more this time around. While the plot isn't the most intense mystery, you have to be somewhat impressed by the planning Simon put into his grand scheme.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Suicide