The Cousins is not in the universe of One of Us is Lying; however, it still falls under the YA Mystery/Thriller genre. I would say this book is a bit more into the mystery than the thriller of her previous novels. With that being said, it is also a bit more plot than character-driven and the subplots of POV characters are more complementary than exploratory. The tone and pace of this novel are also different from her other books. The Cousins is what I would say is closer to a cozy mystery: one where the setting is a character and dropping little nuggets of clues (rather than WTF bombs usually present in fast-paced more thriller type mysteries). Overall, this book still carries her style of mystery but it is told in a much different manner than the other books.

This was such a fun and juicy read! I have loved all of Karen McManus’ other books, so I had high expectations for The Cousins. It’s full of family secrets, new scandals, and a little romance, all in a fun coastal New England setting. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

I wanted more out of this book. The characters were fine and the plot okay but it felt very predictable and the outcome obvious. The premise and setting were great but, for me, it was just a little disappointing.

Wow.
This book was a fun ride.

The Cousins is not my first Karen McManus novel. I loved One Of Us Is Lying and Two Can Keep A Secret.

I will say this one is by far my favorite!
Oh my gosh I could not put this book down!

Let’s start with the cover, I love the creep factor it gives even though it’s very simple.
It immediately draws you in.

I’m slightly obsessed with YA thrillers even though a lot of them leave me wanting more. I don’t have that issue with Karen’s books though. Her writing style is entertaining enough without giving too much of the mystery away.

This novel has multiple POVs, a beach town, family secrets and a few mysteries sprinkled in.

I highly recommend this one to YA lovers.

Karen McManus’ work seemed to improve from one book to the next in each of her first three novels. One of Us Is Lying was a huge disappointment, Two Can Keep a Secret was messy and problematic but fun, and One of Us Is Next was actually a really solid, well-plotted mystery.

The Cousins is a bit of a backslide from that one, but still a fun read and a decent mystery. I’d say it’s McManus’ second-best novel to date.

Likable characters have never been a problem in McManus’ work. Even in her first novel, I adored the four protagonists in spite of the disaster of an ending she wrote for them. The three eponymous cousins are no exception to McManus’ skill at writing charming leads, and this one comes with some memorable and captivating (some in a good way, some not so much) secondary characters as well.

Plot-wise this isn’t the author’s best work, but it’s not bad. And the solve was (mostly) fine.

There’s a good twist in the story. Actually there are three good twists. Which seems like an excellent feature in a suspense novel, except that each of the three is the exact same twist. Any one of them alone would have made for a great plot point. But with the same twist employed three times to three different characters, the cleverness of it was entirely wiped out by the repetitiveness and eventual predictability after the first two rounds of it.

The above was especially frustrating because the final use of said repeated twist would have been an excellent big reveal near the end of the novel if it hadn’t been so easy to see coming because it had happened twice already.

Regardless, this is still a fun read overall with good pacing and endearing characters, and despite some flaws it’s still probably McManus’ second-best book.

Continuando a nossa parceria com a Random House Internacional, recebemos esse eARC (Advance reading copy: algo como “uma cópia de leitura avançada, ou seja, o livro ainda pode sofrer alterações antes de ser publicado), lembrando que essas resenhas terão um formato diferente: por serem ARCs, não haverão quotes, já como os livros podem sofrer essas mudanças antes de serem comercializados. Gostaríamos de agradecer profundamente a Editora pela oportunidade de agora sermos parceiros.

Esse é o 3ª livro da Karen McManus que leio e posso afirmar que ela está se especializando na categoria de “YAs de suspense/mistério”, se é que existe algo assim (se não existe, acho que ela deveria catalogar, hein). Como boa fã de suspense que sou, gosto da forma que ela conduz suas histórias que tem temas até um pouco pesados (como é o caso de “Um de nós está mentindo” e mais ainda em “Mortos não contam segredos”) mas tendo adolescentes no centro das tramas e sempre com a pegada rápida de narrativa, sem focar nas descrições dos crimes. Eu me divirto com as ideias e a forma como ela entrelaça a vida dos personagens e aqui não foi diferente.

Logo de cara somos apresentados a Mildred “Milly” Takahashi-Story, filha de Allison Story. Milly tem o nome de sua avó, Mildred Story, que há 24 anos atrás deserdou tanto Allison quanto seus outros 3 filhos (Adam, Anders e Archer) e cortou os laços com eles completamente, para espanto e surpresa de todos, e justo um ano após a morte dos avôs. Milly vê que sua mãe é bastante distante emocionalmente tanto dela quanto do ex-marido, seu pai, e não consegue entender por qual motivo sua mãe é tão indisponível emocionalmente assim, mas, para sua surpresa, a mãe chega com uma carta vinda de sua avó, a convidando para trabalhar no resort da família durante aquele verão. A mãe de Milly está bem mais empolgada com a ideia da filha ir do que ela, mas, em parte para agradar a mãe, em parte por curiosidade sobre sua família, Milly aceita ir.

Então somos apresentar a segunda prima, Allison Story, filha de Adam, o filho mais velho. Allison tem o que parece ser uma vida muito boa: pais casados, um namorado de anos e ama nadar, mas logo nas primeiras páginas do seu ponto de vista entendemos que ela está, por algum motivo ainda não explicado, sendo forçada a parar de competir porque precisaria sair do grupo de natação. Seu namorado não é tão legal assim e há algo grave acontecendo entre seus pais, o que te deixa sem entender realmente o que está acontecendo, já como tudo está muito nebuloso. Ela também é basicamente forçada por seu pai a ir trabalhar durante o velhão no resort da família.

Por fim, somos apresentados ao terceiro e último primo, Jonah Story, filho do segundo filho, Anders. De cara conseguimos entender que Jonah vai ser o personagem mais misterioso dos 3 e que provavelmente tem os maiores segredos, coisa que realmente fica mais claro a cada passagem dele.

Os 3 primos basicamente não conviveram durante a vida, já como moram fisicamente distantes e os pais não são exatamente melhores amigos. Depois que a mãe deles deserdou os filhos basicamente um bilhete com uma mera frase: “Vocês sabem o que fizeram.”, cada um seguiu sua vida: Allison se casou, Adam também, Anders o mesmo, mas Archer não seguiu esse caminho, sendo o único filho de Mildred que não teve filhos. Com isso, o primeiro encontro dos 3 personagens principais é basicamente o primeiro encontro deles, o que facilita bastante a compreensão do leitor, já como eles estão se descobrindo e aprendendo mais sobre cada um – ou melhor, aprendendo o que cada um quer mostrar de si para o outro, porque nem mesmo seus próprios pontos de vistas narrativos tem todas as informações sobre si mesmos, algo que é bastante eficaz para se guardar os segredos da trama.

Quando chegamos à Ilha Gull Cove, na costa do Massachusetts, entendemos que a trama é muito, muito maior do que entendemos porque Mildred parece surpresa demais com os netos chegando no lugar, quase como se ela não estivesse esperando por eles, o que não faz o menor sentido – mas muito não está fazendo, muito mesmo. Milly e Jonah claramente se detestam e há uma quimica grande entre os personagens, mas a personagem que mais chamou minha atenção foi Allison, e justamente por ela ser o oposto da prima: Enquanto Milly é a cabeça do grupo, com uma inteligência aguçada, Allison é calma, quase demais, sem ter coragem de se impôr seja ao seu pai, seja ao seu namorado. Milly não espera nada acontecer, ela corre atrás e é uma mocinha que é fácil se gostar, enquanto Allison vai se desenvolvendo durante a trama, aprendendo a se colocar e a tomar o rumo das coisas que estão pipocando ao redor de ambas e a trama é realmente delas.

Ainda temos um outro ponto de vista: o da 3º filha, Allison, a mãe de Milly, 24 anos atrás em Junho de 1996, na ilha, quando tinha 18 anos, e é justamente 6 depois da morte do seu pai e um pouco antes da mãe cortar todos os laços com os filhos. Obviamente vamos tendo mais informações sobre o que aconteceu naquele fatídico verão e, principalmente, vamos vendo a dinâmica familiar entre os irmãos. Adam e Anders são insuportáveis, para dizer no mínimo, enquanto Allison e Archer são os irmãos que mais nos apegamos.

Claro que morando em uma ilha pequena e depois os primos chegando nela, descobrem que há muita, mas muita fofoca sobre a principal e mais rica família do lugar. Toda essa parte da trama é extremamente charmosa e encontra ecos em cidades pequenas, o que me pegou também. Tanto no passado quanto no presente, entendemos o poder que a família Story tem no lugar, seja quando eles estão jogando com as pessoas ou quando as pessoas os envolvem em suas tramas.

Mas “The Cousins” me perdeu um pouco pelo tamanho da trama que queria contar. Antes do livro terminar, você tem todas respostas que procura e entende bastante muitas coisas (e deixo aqui um ponto extra para a autora porque eu amei o nome do livro depois que terminei), mas ainda falta… algo. Como eu já disse, tenha em mente que aqui não temos um livro de suspenso complexo e cheio de motivações, mas temos um enredo repleto de reviravoltas, bastante satisfatório para todos que curtem bastante o gênero e gostam da mistura também dele com o gênero young adult.

Os livros de McNamus são, de longe, alguns dos mais cinematográficos que conheço dentro do ramo YA, tanto que seu 1º livro, “Um de nós está mentindo”, está se tornando uma série de TV (acho que se daria melhor como um filme, mas quem sou eu?), e aqui não deixo de afirmar que ADORARIA ver um filme de “The Cousins”.

O livro ainda não foi anunciado no Brasil, mas como a Galera Record já publicou tanto “Um de Nós está Mentindo” quanto “Mortos não contam segredos” (que é o meu favorito da autora), acredito que ano que vem eles podem publicar o livro. Indico o livro para quem gosta do estilo da autora e afirmo, com toda certeza do mundo, que não ficará decepcionado com a história, nem mesmo com os primos também.

Thanks for the free book, Penguin Random House International.

The Cousins by Karen M. McManus
Three cousins (Milly, Jonah and Aubrey) who do not know each other are sent to work for their wealthy grandmother, who they have never met, at her resort in the hopes that the teens can get their families back into her good graces as well as inheritance. Everyone has an agenda and secrets. This is a twisty layered mystery. Loved it!

So far, I haven’t read a book by this author that I haven’t liked. The Cousins is a YA mystery, which is a genre I tend to not enjoy as much, but that isn’t an issue at all here.

Another solid YA mystery from McManus. Once again there's a fun balance of teen drama and unexpected twists. This story involves two different generations of the Story family and repercussions from the older generation's actions when they were in their teens and twenties.
I found myself pulled along by the story and happy to discover that ultimately none of the secrets in this book are of the Flowers in the Attic variety.
McManus does a great job of wrapping up the book too, providing a satisfying ending for just about everyone.

Hot take- this is Karen McManus's best book yet. Deep dark family secrets- the kind only the most privileged get to keep- and summer jobs on a remote, fancy pants island? All that and more and the changing perspectives kept this really interesting. There are lots of clever twists and there is enough character development that despite the switching perspectives I felt we got to know each of the main characters well. Definitely a fun one to pick up!

Karen m McManus has done it again folks. This book was seriously the wildest ride I’ve ever been on! I really loved all of the cousins. It was so nice to see them all as they first meet and who they grew into be after the crazy summer. I never saw any of the twists coming and the twists just kept coming! This book was such a great twisty turny journey that I stayed up entirely too late to finish. Overall, I highly recommend this one! It is a wonderful story that I think will have readers entranced within the first 20 pages! Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for the EARC in exchange for an honest review!

I am slowly reading through Karen McManus' works and I have to say The Cousins is one of my favorite thus far. McManus can clue into the inner workings of the teenage mind and writes her character interactions and plots as believable but still mysterious.

I received an ARC from Goodreads and this is just what I needed. I started this book Wednesday night and finished it by Friday morning. I had a hard time putting the book down and always thought to myself just one more chapter before I do.
This book had me intrigued from the very start of the book. I had fallen in love with the three cousins and had to find out what kept their families from staying apart and the elusive Gran. This is one family full of secrets. Best get reading.

Karen McManus returns with another twisty, turns tale of suspense in The Cousins. Aubrey, Milly, and Jonah are shocked to receive an invitation to work at their elusive grandmother’s posh resort over the summer. After all, their parents were all mysteriously disinherited from their grandmother’s will twenty-four years earlier. The three cousins agree to come, each for slightly different reasons, but have no idea what’s in store for them. I was initially intrigued by this book after having read McManus’s previous work. I usually enjoy a suspense thriller quite a bit, but The Cousins fell just a bit flat for me. It didn’t hook me as much as her previous books did and it took a LONG time for me to feel like the plot was progressing. Most of the action takes place over just a few pages, and it felt like too little, too late for me. However, I still wanted to reach the end and was a little surprised by the ending. I think teens will enjoy this even though it wasn’t very notable to me.

3 1/2 ⭐️. Three cousins in their late teens are invited to their grandmother’s luxury resort on a small island of Cape Cod. Each has a different sibling who is their parent. The grandmother has cut them off with no reason other than “you know what you did.” The three cousins set out to find out why their parents were cut off along with their youngest brother. Lots of detail here, the telling could have been more succinct, but overall entertaining. The ending was not very satisfying for me and the afterword tied up loose ends that really shouldn’t of been loose ends at all.

Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah have never met their grandmother and barely know each other. She cut off their parents years before they were born with just a cryptic letter. It is now the summer and they have been invited to work at the island resort their grandmother owns. They don’t know why she invited them, but they are curious. None of them jumped at the opportunity to give up their summer to work at the resort, but each of their parents talked them into it with the hope that whatever happened would be forgiven. As the three teens explore the island and learn about their family, they wonder if they will be able to discover why their parents were disinherited.

The Cousins is a standalone mystery that is full of family drama. There are a few side stories that are woven together within the larger story and it is also told from multiple points of view. The changing viewpoints were not a problem, but occasionally the story would jump back to the previous generation and it would take my brain a moment to catch up. This book is a great one-n-done and I believe most readers will be happy with the way it ended. The big questions are all answered and just like in the real world, some things stayed a mystery. Those who enjoyed McManus’ other novels will not be disappointed in this newest endeavor.

Three teenage cousins are invited to their family owned island resort to supposedly make amends with their rich, rigid grandmother. Their parents have been cut-off financially and none have seen the grandmother in 20 years. But, things are not as they seem and this YA mystery quickly takes you down several twists and turns you don't see coming. I would recommend this book for grades 9-12 and above.

Karen McManus is one of those authors who I will always read because my students absolutely love her books. For young readers, her plot twists and related teen characters are irresistible. And she keeps pumping them out, so I'll keep reading!

In this newest book, McManus throws three teens together on a summer trip to discover the secrets of their parents' unknown pasts and their mysterious grandmother, Mildred Story. At the center of the story are...you guessed it...the cousins: Milly, a mediocre prep-school student; Aubrey, a star swimmer with some family drama; and Jonah, a junior who's cranky he'll have to miss a summer at science camp to meet his family. The only thing they have in common is some not-so-great relationships with their parents and a desire to learn more about their grandmother. As always in a McManus novel, you'll have plenty of mystery and plot twists.

I didn't love this one as much as I have her previous ones. I think mainly my issues lie with the characterization. Deciding to assign names beginning with the letter A to every adult in the Story family made it incredibly difficult to keep track of the three male characters -- Archer/Asher, Adam, Anders?! I felt that by the end that two of them ended blurring together and I had to reread a few parts and refer back to the family tree at the start of the book. Of the three main characters, I only really enjoyed reading Jonah's perspective. The girls, Milly and Aubrey, just felt a little flat for me.

I also felt like a few of the more "shocking" moments were predictable or cliche. The main conflict resolution was satisfying (and don't get me started on that EXCELLENT last line), so overall I found the book engaging and enjoyable throughout. But it did take me three weeks to muster up the energy to read this thriller.

Lovers of McManus will enjoy her typical format and twisty plot lines. If you haven't yet read her novels, maybe try one of her earlier works first.

Thank you so much for this arc @prhinternational Millie, Jonah and Aubrey are our three main character in this new book by @writerkmc . You all know her novels are character driven, so this one too. It starts really slow but still interesting. Millie, Jonah and Audrey got invitations to work for her grandmother Mildred over summer in her resort. The family fell apart years ago. So they didn't really know each other. Their parents saw a chance to set peace. But when the three cousins arrive something is strange. Her grandmother didn't expect them. The story plays in the past and in the present. When you go deeper in this story, there is a really creepy atmosphere and I think there is soon a point where you can't put the book down. It is not so predictable as I thought. Karen M McManus surprised me with most of the twists. Trust me. In my eyes it is the best book by her yet. Visit Gull Cove Island. Watch the three come closer together and find out was bloody secret this family has. you won't forget it. If you love YA Mystery this book is perfect for you. You won't regret it .

Of course I had to read this book- it’s Karen McManus.

The uniqueness of each cousin (and Jonah’s secret) was fun to read about, and family drama always fascinates me as an only child. Isn’t it convenient that the cousins all just so happen to be the exact same age?

This book really wasn’t a huge page-turner for me, but I definitely didn’t see the ending coming, which always impresses me.