An unexpected, favourable review

I had very low expectations of this book. American High school; amateur sleuths and written for young adults. As a grumpy retiree sitting by a pool in Portugal I wondered what I was doing apparently wasting my time even lifting my kindle. Furthermore after 30 pages I remained convinced that I was going to hate the story. It seemed to be a cross between Scooby-Doo and Buffy the Vampire Slayer – remember that?

Five students at Bayview High have been given detention for something each strongly denies having done. They know each other vaguely but have no close previous association. All life is there – the jock, the prom queen, the delinquent, the brainy one and the nerd. Within a few minutes one of them is dead.

Whodunnit?

After ordering a beer and turning the sun lounger I persevered for a further 30 pages and was hooked.

Although the target market is young adult the writing and the plot is sophisticated and finely wrought. It didn’t actually matter that I had correctly (as it transpired) guessed the name of the perpetrator within a few more pages as I was enjoying the ride. There was plenty of humour and genuine emotion in the storyline and a feeling of reality which is missing in so many books of this genre. Here was an author who understands people of whatever age and how they react in given situations.

The characters were excellently portrayed and were not just two dimensional cardboard cut-outs. Admittedly a few of the second level characters such as the parents were none too well fleshed out and often behaved like jerks but that’s a reflection of real life too.

More to the point the story covered very real issues which teens have to face during the developing process of life and none was swept under the carpet. Ms MacManus is not coy about exploring any subject and they are all there – sex, drugs, poor parenting, lgbt, teen relationships………and murder!

So. 5 stars in the end and worth every one. Do read this book if you get the chance and recommend it to any youngsters you know. There is something for everyone and it just might help quite a few people realise that their problems have already been experienced by others and they are not alone. Quite apart from that, it’s well written and an enjoyable read.

mr zorg

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Plot

The plot was good, I did kind of guess the ending, but that didn't matter. But like I saw throughout this review, it didn't matter because I loved the story.

My biggest criticism for this book was the beginning, I think this is personal though and not a detriment to the story.

I struggled to follow and keep up with the characters especially at the start because the story is told from four different characters POVs. One of the names (Addy) to my limited knowledge is unisex, that confused me, I thought it was a boy, it wasn't. It was a girl. I think there is a trend in YA to avoid too many characters POVs because we millennials have limited attention spans! Or so they say.

Nonetheless, once I got the characters, I flew through the book. It was a quick guilty pleasure type read and one of those easily demolishable in a night ones, something I love doing.

Overall, this is an awesome high school whodunit with loads of teenage angst thrown in. What more could a YA-loving girl ask for?

Characters

The characters are a little cliched in their social group archetypes but it's okay, because once you get to know them you end up loving each of them and their floors. Well played to the author because their floors were central to the plot and I LOVED that. Their floors made them suspects in the murder, so not only did we watch the characters grow through their arcs, we watch them get hung by the police for them too.

There was a love story between two characters which given the characters was also kind of borderline between cliché and trope, but you know what? I freaking loved it anyway. I loved how it developed. I loved how it ended. I loved the arc of it, and the cute first love-ness of it (that's totes a word). Not Guna lie, I swooned and sighed a little bit over their love story.

Ending

The ending was awesome for so many reasons. I did see the murderer coming a little way out. But that didn't matter because the explanation and how it came to bear was really well done, so I loved the ending anyway. I also did not see the side characters involvement till much later, right before it happened in fact so kudos to the author, it's hard to pull the wool over my eyes these days so I am impressed.

There was a point at the start of the epilogue where I thought I wasn't going to get the ending I wanted, I was terrified after a great book that she had ruined it by not giving me what I wanted. BUT, I did!! Right at the final hour and my god was it satisfying. I won't say anymore detail wise because it would spoil the plot.

Overall

This is a super awesome high school whodunit, full of drama, angst and a little bit of love thrown in. The characters are well developed, I liked all bar one of them. The author has a lovely smooth voice that you slip into and before you know it, hundreds of pages have disappeared. Four stars overall, just because the beginning confused me. But I highly recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for my advanced copy

Review live on blog on 9th May: http://wp.me/p8a9GB-2R

I really enjoyed this suspense fillied and twisting novel. Great characterisation and a killer plot (no pun intended.) The best way to describe this would be 'the breakfast club meets Cracker'. A really good read.

This is a really strong debut from Karen McManus. The tension slowly and steadily builds throughout the book as you try to unpick the threads and work out whodunnit. The reveal was a surprised, but also felt slightly rushed given the brilliant work that went into the buildup in the first 85-90% of the book. That niggle aside, this is a cracking read - would throughly recommend.

This book fooled me completely.

When I first started reading it, I thought it was an interesting twist on The Breakfast Club (a seminal movie that I have to admit I don't particularly like). But I wasn't so sure about the characters. They seemed purposefully stereotypical and annoying, and I honestly believed I wouldn't get to care for them. I was more interested in the mystery. But the more I read, the more I realized my first impression was wrong.

The plot focuses on four high school students: Bronwyn, the smart, studious girl (The Brain); Nate, the juvenile delinquent with a couldn't care less attitude but a difficult family life (The Criminal); Cooper, the all american boy and start athlete (The Jock) and Addy, the boyfriend obsessed popular girl (The Princess). They end up all together in detention along with Simon Kelleher, a Gossip Girl/Perez Hilton type who enjoys revealing the secrets of his classmates through social media. After a confusing incident, Simon ends up dead and the remaining of the Breakfast Club (dubbed here Murder Club) end up being prime persons of interest. Because they all had secrets that they didn't want in the public.

So that premise is fairly intriguing, right? Each chapter is told through the perspective of one of the four suspects, and like I said, at first I thought they were just the typical teenagers we read about in YA novels that are so hard to like. They seemed to struggle with the usual, parent and peer pressure, their social image, etc. But the deeper the story goes, the more interesting the characters became, the more layered and at the end, you can't help but root for them. The author really takes her time to develop them and take them on a journey, and things that seemed annoying about them at first, end up being understandable and part of the reason why they become likable. Even in their more cliched moments, they felt like real people with unique voices, and that's one of the keys to the success of this story. The cast is also nicely diverse, as it should be, but none of it feels like tokenism. It's all pretty organic and normal, and the parts in which ethnicity or sexuality are dwelled on, they are essential to the story.

Something else I must praise is how well developed the mystery is. You see, I read a lot of mystery books and like most people who do that, I'm usually able to guess the twists and revelations before they happen. Usually it's because authors tend to use the formula of "it's the person you least expect!" but here, guessing right it's actually satisfactory because the clues are all there. If you pay attention, you should get it. It's a very well built story, that won't trick the reader to surprise it with a twist, even if there's one aspect of the twist that caught me off guard (even better!). There's a tiny bit of questioning motives, but in the end I thought it was a brilliant way to tackle a very present issue in today's society. I can't really say more without giving spoilers, but you'll see what I mean.

It doesn't hurt that the book is fast paced and hard to put down. Kudos to Karen M. McManus on an excellent debut.

A real page-turner that had me gripped from the moment the five students went into detention and only four left alive.
Though the mystery element was at the fore, I felt this was really character-driven and we saw beyond the stereotypes that were set up at the start. A topical read in terms of teenage mental health and support offered by schools, along with all manner of other issues, but - more than anything - a cracking story.

There’s always a lot of pressure that can come along with a Breakfast Club reference. It’s literally right there on the cover: ‘a geek, a jock, a criminal, a princess’. And although the characters from the 80s classic were way more than their cliched labels suggested, I wondered if Bronwyn, Cooper, Nate and Addy would prove that there is no box to be put in. I couldn’t be more pleased to say that the characters are what make this book amazing and you all know I love a good murder mystery, so that’s saying something.

PLOT AND PACING
Simon Keheller is the school most hated student. He runs a gossip app that spills the beans on everyone’s darkest secrets. He’s also deathly allergic to peanuts. Bronwyn, Cooper, Nate and Addy are all given detention with Simon for using their phones in class, and ten minutes in, Simon’s dead on the floor. The logical step is to believe that one of the four main characters killed him, and that’s the line the police pursue, so it’s up to the new Murder Club (oh wow, they needed a better name) to figure out who really killed Simon and clear their names…while also having their secrets revealed. And it’s not just about taping some guy’s butt together, that’s for sure.

One of Us Is Lying is told with a rotating perspective, giving each character a chance to tell you what’s going on. The pacing was excellently managed, and I always felt the story was moving forward as new evidence came to light, rather than following the Pretty Little Liars tact of giving them a clue and taking it away in the next scene.

But, the murder itself? All I can say is amazing. I really tried to figure it out, and was so off base. The fact that I was surprised at the end earns this book a star on its own because the book achieved what it set out to do: baffle me.

CHARACTERS
Okay, now let me rave about how awesome everybody was. Even the side characters were fully fleshed out and I was practically crying with joy over the diversity and general 3-D-ness.

Bronwyn – The ‘nerdy’ girl, but not in the cliched ‘she’s-never-had-a-social-life’ kind of way, thank goodness. (“Neo-maxi-zoom-dweebie”? I think not.) Bronwyn, with her intelligent reasoning skills, and the help of her adorable computer-hacking sister Maeve (probably my fave character, ever) is the one to really question the evidence and drive the investigation forward. She took charge, and worked as the glue that kept the Murder Club together and I really appreciated that even though she didn’t really know these people, she wanted to help them and foster friendship out of the worst circumstance. Seriously, what’s worse than murder? Honest, loyal, a general All-Around-Great girl. Loved her.

Nate – Oh, Nate, characters like you always grab my heart. The bad boy with a heart of gold buried someone deep down (like, really deep down, but whatever.) Probably the most Judd Nelson type around, Nate was pretty awesome. He was dealing with a really crappy home situation (“A pack of cigaretttes! Smoke up, Johnny!”) and has a criminal record (can you really call yourself a criminal without one?) So, although he was potentially the most generic of the high school types, I loved how he and Bronwyn worked together. Yes, that is romance you smell, and it’s delicious.

Cooper – If I had to pick a favourite of the Murder Club, it would definitely be Cooper. I loved what he was doing to defy stereotypes, and I loved that the situation was a catalyst for him to think about his life and whether he was playing baseball because he enjoyed it, or because his dad did. (“Win! Win! Win!”) He also had a sweet grandma and a secret that you can probably all guess if he’s breaking the beefy-jock mould. I won’t spoil anything, but he’s the character I’m happiest for.

Addy – The girl I thought I’d hate, but really proved herself to be more than an accessory girlfriend to the most popular boy in school, and definitely not an accessory to murder. After the reveal of her secret ruins her social status, Addy gives herself a radical haircut and becomes the girl of action, with so much agency, it’s unreal. With another great sister relationship, it’s hard to choose which girl came out on top.

VERDICT
You know what? In writing this review, I’ve decided that four stars doesn’t do the story justice. I was trash from Bronwyn and Nate’s relationship. Every character came out of their shell. I was completely shook by the ending and it kept me guessing all the way through. The storylines gelled when, and so did the friendship. It’s a full 5 stars from me. If you’re looking for something you won’t be able to put down and that will astound you with its character development, look no further than One of Us Is Lying.

A YA thriller/contemporary. 5 students enter detention, only 4 make it out alive. Though there is a mystery at the heart of this story, [book:One Of Us Is Lying|32887579] mostly focuses on the growth of the 4 kids who witnessed Simon's demise (and may have been guilty of it). Well executed and full of likeable characters.

(Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy!)

One of us is lying by karen mcmanus.

Five students go to detention. Only four leave alive.

On Thursday 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 bad boy, is already on probation for dealing. Cooper, the jock, 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 Thursday, he died. But on Friday, 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 just 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.
Very good read with good characters. Little slow in places. It wasn't who I thought it was. 4*. Netgalley and penguin random house UK children's.

4,5 stars

I finished this book today “readwalking” home as I could not put it down. I just had to know!!!
It was like Agatha Christies happening in high school with a Gossip Girl feel. I was deeply invested in this first work by Karen M. McManus.

“It’s a great story: four good-looking, high-profile students all being investigated for murder. And nobody’s what they seem. The pressure’s on now, Bayview Police. Maybe you should be looking a little closer at Simon’s old entries. You might find some interesting hints about the Bayview Four.”

It all begins in a classroom with five teenagers serving detention. They’ve been set up. Someone planted phones in their backpacks and the teacher had a strong no phone policy. By the end of detention only four will still be alive. Simon the creator of a gossip app dies poisoned.

Soon enough investigations begin revolving around the four students. Who is the murderer?

Is it Cooper the good ol’boy and rising baseball star? Is it Addy the shiny blonde Barbie? Is it Nate the school drugs dealer? Or is it valedictorian and goody two shoes Bronwyn?
One by one they’re questioned.
One by one we uncover their secrets…

They were not perfect, far from it. Unexpected alliance and quasi friendships are forged. They would never have been close before but now they’re the Murderers Gang. Framed they’re shunned by their former “so called” friends.

Told with multiple POV (something usually very difficult to execute properly when writing) Karen M McManus sucked me in this mystery novel.

Of course solving the murder is the main topic but not the only one far from it.
The author developed themes like:
- cheating to reach one’s goal;
- being your own person and daring to stand out among the high school clique;
-daring to be different and go against your family’s beliefs and expectations;
-prejudice framing someone as the perfect scapegoat;
-bullying and how our modern society feeds on gossip and scandals like some reality TV porn (media circus);
-police incompetency and court system’s injustice
-…
all this with an omniscient narrator as background foddering little tidbits to keep rumors going strong. Gossip Girl vibes 

All along I was wondering: do I KNOW my kids? I mean really know them? Could I discover similar secrets or double lives? It was a somewhat unsettling but the right kind of unsettling. The one that gives you thrills because you love being a little bit frightened.

I also loved the characters development.
In the beginning I couldn’t stand Addy. I found her shallow and brainless. She was a “airhead homecoming princess”. She was never able to survive without being superglued to her boyfriend Jake. Luckily for me after what happened to her she did grew-up. She unexpectedly became one of my favorite characters and ended as a kind of super ninja. Who would have guessed she would grow a backbone? Not me that’s for sure!

Nate has always been this kinda charming school badboy every girl secretly dreams of. From aloof and “I don’t give a f@ck what you’re thinking” attitude he morphed into this loyal and protective guy. The one that’s been beaten by life and doing his best to pay the bills.

I guessed Cooper’s secret pretty early on. He remained the good old boy all along.

Bronwyn was my second favorite character. She progressively let loose and we discovered a very smart and very determined girl. She would battle teeth and claws to protect her loved ones. She was the driving force of the gang. Thanks to her brilliant mind the mystery will be solved and not thanks to the police!

Truly I can’t recommend this book enough.

I had high hopes for this because it was supposed to be thrilling high school whodunnit where I could keep guessing who was lying and who the murderer was among the students in the detention. However, the story was so full of one dimensional stereotypes and the pacing of the story was all over the place so I didn't end up enjoying it much. The last third of the story was quite exciting and I grew to like few of the characters but that doesn't save the two thirds when the characters had nothing special or interesting in them.

The beginning was quite great: fast paced detention where the outcast Simon dies and basically everyone panics. There's Bronwyn, the good girl who doesn't know what to do in real life situation; there's the beautiful Addy who panics; there's Cooper who's a jock; and there's the criminal, Nate, who surprisingly knows what to do in the situation. The setting of these stereotypical characters was forgivable and in some way exciting because there was a promise that everything's not what it seems. But the problem was that there was never any development in their characters or their home situations that would have made them something more than stereotypical. Let's round it up: the characters lived up to their stereotypes because a) their secrets matched the stereotypes (for example, the smart girl who cheated), b) their parents and home situation were stereotypical (for example, the criminal with addicted and uncaring parents), and c) well, all the revelations and plot twists basically continued to add to these stereotypes (I'm not giving anything away but trust me, you could see everything from miles away). And of course the romance of the story is between the bad boy and the smart girl. Basically, the book was a manifesto for all American high school stereotypes.

That might have been the reason why I had problems with connecting with the characters because how one dimensional they were and how predictable to plot was. I wanted mystery and thrilling investigation but it all got tramped on to high school drama. I did like Cooper and his storyline was quite interesting but of course he got least attention and had less page time than the others. Addy grew on me, too, and I ended up liking her after a rough start.

There was potential, but the stereotypes and lack of character development outside of those stereotypes made the story so predictable that it was quite hard to enjoy. I can only recommend this if you don't mind excessive use of stereotypes and lack of unique characters/situations. The murder mystery was good, and I have to admit I didn't guess who the killer was. And the last third of the story was quite exciting but I don't feel like it saves the day.

Could have been brilliant but was just OK. just another high school read with not much to keep you reading.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Karen M. McManus, and the publisher, Delacorte Press, for this opportunity.

After a typical day in a typical American high school, five teenagers enter detention but only four make it out alive. Simon, notorious due to his gossip-style blog that revealed all the dark and dirty secrets his fellow students never thought would see the light of day, had made many enemies. But which one would want to see him dead?

The multiple perspective all provided their own angle to the plot. These all pulled together, towards the end, to turn their individual stories into one cohesive whole. Each dirty secret that was uncovered made each character less of a walking stereotype and more of a flawed, and therefore real, individual. I will admit that when I first was introduced to this cast of characters - the overachiever, the bad boy, the jock, the popular girl - I had assumed these were going to be nothing more than a set of weakly constructed and overused cardboard characters. How wrong could I be?

The actual plot was a thrilling and interesting one, but it was the characters who circled it that really compelled me to keep reading. I admit that I figured out the mystery pretty quickly, but this didn't detract from my enjoyment in any way, purely because the characters. With their flaws and their individual insights they continued to interest me, and made this a very real and very suspenseful read.

Smart, sweet and oh so gripping, this book kept me up half the night. This is a perfect read for fans of The Breakfast Club and Veronica Mars. It`s funny, thrilling and has a twist that really delivers. I can`t wait to see what Karen McManus does next.

Did not finish.
I only review completed books, therefore I won't be writing one in this instance - sorry.

One Of Us Is Lying is a multi-perspective book about five teenagers who entered detention one day, and only four made it out alive. The book follows each character as their secrets are revealed.

I was super excited to read this book and at the end of it, felt kind of disappointed. It was an enjoyable read and I liked learning about the characters, but there was no surprise element in it for me as I had already guessed the 'killer' in the story fairly early on. However, this didn't change my enjoyment whilst reading this book, it simply felt a bit obvious to me. I liked how McManus chose to write the story from each characters perspective and I had doubt in my mind about each and every one due to the secrets they were keeping. If you're into YA thrillers and are fairly new to the genre, this book is a great one to try.

Well guys, welcome to the first five star book of 2017. One of Us is Lying is amazing. Part Breakfast Club part Heathers part Scream it really is an awesome thriller.

When social outcast Simon dies during detention his four fellow classmates are instantly classed as suspects in a murder investigation. Simon wasn’t a liked member of the student body, in fact he was downright hated by some due to his bitchy Perez-Hilton style gossip column; each other member of the detention crew had secrets that they didn’t want revealing and Simon knew what they all were thus giving everyone, Nate, Bronwyn, Addy and Cooper all a motive. So which one did it?

You will have to read to find out.

One of Us is Lying is a well crafted and brilliantly writer whodunit. The characters are believable and the mystery plot will have you guessing until you turn the last page. This is definitely a must read for 2017!

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus is available from 1st June 2017.

For more information regarding Karen M. McManus (@writerkmc) please visit www.karenmcmanus.com.

For more information regarding Penguin Random House UK Childrens (@penguinrandom) please visit www.penguinrandomhouse.com.

Clever, often tense, addictive and with as many twists as a you can imagine - except the twists don't always come within the mystery but just as often within the characters.
Definitely a mix between TBC and PLL . Read in one sitting and loved it!

This was a light-hearted, fun and enjoyable read. It's a murder mystery set in your stereotypical American high school - cliques, drama, teen romance and a whole lot of gossip. The characters fit neatly into categories; the nerd, the jock, the beautiful popular one, the bad boy, all with their own secrets.

It wasn't the most thrilling of mysteries, though. It seemed clear early on who the killer was, what the secrets within secrets were, and it lacked the element of surprise for me. That being said, I still enjoyed seeing the build up and reveal as the characters themselves were clueless! This was a thoroughly pleasant read. Perfect for people looking for something that's not too heavy. Sit down, get comfy and enjoy the ride. It went by very quickly for me!