One of Us is Lying - Book Review
Genre: Fiction | Young Adult | Murder mystery
Author: Karen M. McManus
Year: 2017
Pages: 360
One of Us Is Lying is a brilliant and engrossing murder mystery filled with secrets and intrigue. This book is ideal if you’re after an entertaining and intriguing story.
I hit a bit of a reading slump last month after working my way through a difficult read. I picked up this book in the hopes that it could lift my reading spirits and it certainly did. This debut novel has all the elements of a good book – a well paced plot and nuanced characters.
Gossip Girl meets The Breakfast Club in this compulsively readable murder mystery. Five students walk into detention one September afternoon and only four make it out alive. Bronwyn is hoping to follow in her family’s footsteps and attend Yale, Cooper’s itching to make something of himself on the baseball field, prom queen Addy seems to have the perfect life with her perfect boyfriend and Nate is one misstep away from prison.
The geek, the jock, the princess and the criminal. All of them have secrets that are threatened to be exposed by Simon’s gossip app, All That. But now, Simon is dead, just hours before he was about to post their darkest secrets online. So, who killed Simon?
Wow, this was such a good book! I really enjoyed the character development – while the mystery of Simon’s murder is at the forefront of this story, it’s the character progression that I think makes this such an exceptional book. It may take some inspiration from The Breakfast Club in regard to the typical stereotypes of the main characters, but McManus makes the characters completely her own.
One of Us Is Lying is full of twists and turns that make it hard to put down. Just when you think you know where the story is going, it takes you completely by surprise.
If you’re in need of a fun murder mystery to read during the holiday break, look no further than One of Us Is Lying. I’m very excited to check out the sequel to this book, One of Us Is Next, which I had no idea about until I saw it pop up on Instagram. Keep your eyes peeled for that review in the future, as soon as I get my hands on the book!
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★.5