McManus never ceases to amaze me with her writing talents -- every new book she writes becomes an instant favorite! I think this one's probably my second favorite after One of Us Is Lying. Teens and mystery just go so well together, and McManus knows how to do it right.

Yet another great YA from Karen!

That twist at the end!! I did NOT see that coming! I had about 2 or three different ideas of what was going to happen but this just left me speechless!

The character development was one of my favorite things! The way she was able to advance not only the main characters but also the side characters was brilliant!

Omg Karen McManus does it again with an amazing mystery with an ending you’ll never see coming. An awesome thriller that would be more appropriate for high schools than middle schools but I will still out it in mine.

The premise of The Cousins was intriguing - three cousins whose parents have had no contact with their mother in decades are invited by their grandmother to work at the family resort for the summer. When they arrive on the island, their grandmother is surprised to see them and instead of spending time with them, actively avoids them. Told through the three perspectives of the main characters and in flashback scenes from Milly's mother's POV, the reader is slowly introduced to what happened all those years ago - but so many pieces are still missing until the climax scene when Milly figures out what happened and why. While the antagonist's motivation made sense, I would have liked more collaboration between the main characters to come to the final reveal - it felt like the character of Milly was a "chosen one" and the rest of the characters were along for the ride. Of all the POVs, for me, Jonah's was the strongest (and I liked the reveal dealing with his character.) Overall a decent thriller, but I am always drawn more to flawed protagonists when reading thrillers.

While I've read all of McManus's other work, this wasn't my favorite.

It was....slow. I kept putting the book down to do other things and when I came back, I would have to quickly skim parts of the book to catch back up to what I was doing.

There were parts that were predictable (Jonah not being part of the family?). We knew there was going to be a dead body, even if it didn't show up until the end of the book.

I felt a slight disconnect with the cousins. They wouldn't work well as a team, all three of them.

What I did like about the book? Oh that twist with Mildred being dead and Donald/Dr. Baxter/Theresa manipulating the family? That was golden and I loved not realizing it.

I'm wondering if there is more to the story that we will get to read!

I couldn’t get into this one at all. I knew it wouldn’t be a good fit for my classroom and didn’t even want to finish it for myself. I love her other books, so I was disappointed.

I always have really high expectations for books by Karen McManus and this one did not disappoint! She has such a great way of pulling you right into the story and keeping you engaged throughout. I liked getting the perspectives of all three cousins and the flashbacks to when their parents were younger. I definitely stayed up way too late to finish this book, but I had to keep reading to find out what happened. We've already bought this book for our library, but I know we'll have to buy multiple copies. Her books are always checked out and I know this one will be no different. Highly recommend!

Following 3 cousins who haven't seen each other in years, finally brought all together to work at their estranged grandmothers resort. All have different reasons to be there, and have different reasons why their parents sent them. I am a sucker for the multiple perspectives for each chapter. Not as good as Karen McManus' other mystery's but still a fun quick read.

I should begin by saying that I usually love McManus' books. I find them to be interesting, and I love a good thriller. However, I found this one to be redundant of all of her other stories. I thought the characters were exactly the same, the plot and tone were similar and I could not enjoy it.

I absolutely loved the characters in this book. The cousins were quite different and yet a like. This book kept me on my toes throughout and the ending was killer!

A fun twisty YA thriller that grips you from the very beginning. This was an incredibly amazing book. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have had an ARC- thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

One day each of the grand children 9f these women get a letter who they believe came from their estranged grandmother. Each of their parents had been removed from the will and are making their kids go to try to get back in the good graces of their grandmother. But it come to the attention that it doesn't seem like their grandmother even knew they were coming. Weird thing start happen and you are trying to find out why they are there. This book goes back and forth from the past to the present. It has a good story and an unseen twist that make the story worth reading.

Incredibly amazing book. It was gripping as soon as it started, I would give full points for world-building! It's what captured my attention straight away. Karen McManus has always been an amazing writer so I'm not surprised, the ending was quite intriguing & I can't wait for the next one!

I didn't love this one quite as much as McManus's previous books, but it packs a punch. The characters were so intriguing and the plot was so intricately woven.

I was a massive fan of One of Us is Lying so I was excited to be offered the opportunity to read McManus' latest novel THE COUSINS. Right off the bat I was immediately intrigued by the plot, but I was ultimately somewhat let down by the plot and my connection with the three main characters. One of the best things about this book was the amount of twists and turns it presents to the reader- one in particular continues to stand out to me and actually had my mouth drop open in the moment.

The history behind the Story family was intriguing to learn about and it was fun to put together what little pieces are given to the reader when trying to figure out the plot. My biggest complaint about THE COUSINS was that it moved incredibly slow and I guess the plot was not inherently obvious- likely due to the fact that the plot didn't revolve around a murder per say- but it all wrapped up nicely in the end.

As an educator, I can definitely envision using this novel in a YA lit class (if you're lucky enough to have one!) or to add to your language arts curriculum as a novel study. Personally at my school, we teach a unit on drama and I think this would make an excellent addition or provide an ample opportunity to introduce mystery to my 7th graders.

If you love previous books by Karen McManus, this one would fit right into your TBR!

I had a difficult time getting through this book because I found the characters to be unlikeable. I'm not someone who enjoys reading unreliable narrators, so I'm guessing this is the reason I couldn't get into the story.

The setting was great and the book itself was well-written; the story just wasn't for me.

I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

This was my favorite Karen McManus book so far. The characters really made it for me as the actual originality of the story I felt, was just ok. I still really enjoyed it. I never felt it was too slow or lacking. Overall, it was just a really solid entertaining read.

Okay. I'm going to be honest, when I first read One of Us is Lying I didn't enjoy it. I'm not sure why, the story was interesting and I liked the characters. That being said I am so happy I picked up the next one and then this one because I love her books now. I also open one with happy anticipation for the characters and whatever journey they are going to have. The Cousins was no different for me, I really enjoyed the twists and turns even when I guessed some. Overall it was just a cozy mystery but set in high school and no tea. Or in other words, Riverdale Lite.

Okay to start, I love Karen M. McManus. Her books are amazing! The Cousins though wasn't my favorite.

The Cousins wasn't bad but wasn't great. I enjoyed it but wasn't hooked like the author books.

The story of the Story family is complex. Family drama, mysterious, lies, romance, it is a good story. The cousins hardly know each other but come together in the hopes of getting an inheritance. What they find is a crazy story.

I like the book. It was good but I wasn't attached to the characters or the story. I can tell that there will be a sequel but haven't decided on it yet.

*3.5

I enjoyed this book. It was told from the perspectives of the 3 cousins and each was very different from the other so it was refreshing to have different styles of chapters. I liked each cousin equally for different reasons and believe they were all written very well.

The setting was on an island resort and it was very atmospheric. I felt like I was actually there while reading the book.

There were some twists in here that I wasn’t expecting which kept me drawn in. I ended up guessing the main plot twist but was still satisfied because it was a good twist. However, the ending wasn’t exactly that satisfying so I feel like it fell flat a bit there.

I definitely enjoy this author’s writing style though. I am looking forward to reading more thrillers by them and trying to guess the twists in turns in those ones.