One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus – Review with Spoilers!

Hello, long time no-see and I’m sorry! I am finally on holidays and I finally have some time to breath. I kind of got One of Us Is Lying for Christmas and I got to read it earlier this month! Here is my review.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.
Pay close attention and you might solve this.
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.
Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon’s dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?
Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.”

Rating: 4/5 stars!

“She’s a princess and you’re a jock,” he says. He thrusts his chin toward Bronwyn, then at Nate. “And you’re a brain. And you’re a criminal. You’re all walking teen-movie stereotypes.”

General review: One of Us Is Lying more like: none of us are lying! If you don’t count Simon as the “us”.  I have been describing the plot to my friends and a lot of them mocked me because the plot sounds pretty cliché. At the beginning it might seem like it;  the characters do look very stereotypical, but here’s where it gets exciting: it allows them to have great character development! I loved each and every single one of them. I could not relate to them in the beginning but turns out that at the end, I was sad to leave them, because I grew attached to them all. I love reading about great groups of friends, who got each other’s backs and seeing them all, becoming just that, a group, was very interesting and heartwarming. The multiple points of views were a little confusing at first, since I couldn’t tell them apart at the beginning, but then I got used to it and enjoyed it.

Plot: I kind of expected a plot twist? But not this one! It kind of made sense from the beginning, only, that’s the thing with suicide: it’s right in front of our eyes and we fall to recognize it. May it be a lesson to never overlook anyone and care deeply about how we interact with others, it might have more impact than we think. Like Bronwyn I think underlined it, no one wants to die and if they could be saved, they would. The book also deals with coming out and how the world perceives you differently. This is a story about growing up and truly becoming you. Everyone shows their true faces. I loved how every character inspired me and pushed me to do and be better.

Bronwyn: She was the character that I could relate to the most throughout the story and her blossoming relationship with Nate made me feel so type of way. The feels, oh my god. I really liked how she held up to her mistakes, how relentless and determined she was. She really stood out, not only was she smart but she was passionate and kind. I really admired her relentlessness through all situations, that’s something I want to work on.

Addy: Now talk about character development! She blew my mind.  I unexpectedly grew attached to her. She is a badass and it was amazing seeing her standing up for herself and growing up. She is strong, she is fearless and she’s bold. I loved her! Her story is one of emancipation, the realisation that she needs to love herself before letting anyone love her;  the way to confidence, which for her, meant cutting her main physical trait; her hair. It was also beautiful to read about her blooming relationship with her sister.

Nate: Oh my. He’s too pure for this world. I loved him, I loved him, I loved him. He really stood out to me, especially when he defended Cooper in the cafeteria. He showed us what a decent human being should do. He truly is a victim of his family situation but he didn’t let it take over the great person he is. And I particularly liked reading about his vulnerability, it was beautiful.

Cooper: Oh, perfect Cooper. I can only imagine how hard it was for him to be forced out of the closet. A common misconception is that being openly gay today is easy because supposedly we’re a modern society; well this book showed us that the path is still long and that we still have a lot of work to do. He shouldn’t be reduced to his sexuality, he is first and foremost a person, with feelings. He was always kind, always helpful and I highly enjoyed reading from his point of view. Also, is relationship with Kris was so so cute. Swoon.

Simon: He is the killer and the victim. How terrible it was to discover his motives. I believe only a person in great pain can be lead to do something like that. Suicide is a hard issue, and it is hard to deal with it, but I think the author did a wonderful job. One of us is lying, yes, Simon was.

Jake: He deserves a spot on my characters list solely for me to tell you how much I loathe him. That’s it. Wait, I loathe him. What great villain and maybe that’s the main plot twist: how he lied and turned out to be really wicked.

That’s all! Have a nice day 🙂

Karla