Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children’s for a complimentary copy of this novel! This is Book 3 in the One of Us is Lying series. The original Bayview Four members are back along with the rest of the gang. This novel occasionally flashbacks to six years ago when Simon was still alive, before he pulled his own fiasco. We see how everything he started then has continued to cause a domino effect even now. Once again, the gang is involved in a dangerous game, but this time, “Practice Makes Perfect!” From a creepy billboard message, to a bayview members kidnapping, and then even murder; this book is jam-packed with non-stop action!!! The question is, who is back, and who is looking for revenge now?

A fitting conclusion for a series that has kept many YA’s clues to the pages. When Jack comes back into the story, the group of teens is not happy. Then one of them is kidnapped and all suspension gets thrown to the one who is easy to blame. Full of suspense this conclusion races to a satisfying end where most of those lingering questions get answered.

One of Us is Back-WOW!
I got to revisit characters (BayView crew) from the first two books, but it’s focusing on three characters- Phoebe, Nate, and Addy. I like the focus of all three for various reasons- Phoebe’s internal and external conflict at the end of book 2 felt incomplete and was addressed. I liked Nate from book 1-he's a sweetheart in this book even with the bad living and family situation he was in. Addy was the last POV, but the most important one (to me she was and with great reasons). I want to explain more but then it’s all spoilers…
It was the most satisfying finish/last book in a trilogy and as a whole series, there were no plot holes and sad this will be the last time seeing the BayView crew.

I gave this book 4.5/5 stars.
Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press e-arc!

Karen M. McManus can always be counted on to deliver a solid YA thriller, and "One of Us is Back," the third in her Bayview trilogy, is no exception to the rule. With the return of Addy, Bronwyn, Cooper, and Nate, as well as Phoebe, Knox, and Luis, in their combination as The Bayview Crew, this installment sees Bayview victimized yet again by a malicious, unseen tormenter, who kicks off the book with a mysterious billboard that threatens the beginning of a new game - one with only one, unspecified rule. (It isn't, "we don't talk about fight club.") This is a seamless continuation of the previous two books, and although the acknowledgments at the end seem to hint that the Bayview-verse is coming to a close with this third book, it also leaves it open enough for a return to this revenge-filled little town somewhere down the line. McManus has done it again, and I look forward to whatever she comes up with next.

I demolished the first two in this series and was thrilled to be given the third in an advanced readers copy by NetGalley.

This one combined the crew from number one and the crew from number two and threw them together, and I loved how the characters mingled well and banded together. A member of the Bayview Crew goes missing, and more victims come to the forefront of the story as the Bayview Crew have to solve yet another mystery before more people die.

The characters are likeable, the romance believable, and the storyline predictable but not enough to give away the ending too early. There were definitely some shockers in this one. I would love a story with just Nate and Bronwyn, though…

5/5 stars

thank you so much berkley for this arc

so this book was my most anticipated read of the year so far and it absolutely did not disappoint! being back in bayview is truly a dream come true, i missed my bayview four plus some more and all the content we got of them was so sooo fun to read! the mystery in this book is truly top tier, the stakes are infinitely raised and with more lives at risk this time around you really never know what’s coming next! there’s so many emotions i had while reading this book, the sweet moments between our established couples, and budding relationships was something i couldn’t get enough of, i love my babies for real. the action in this book will really keep you on your toes and looking over your shoulder more than once. i loved this book and if your looking for a murder mystery book with a little bit of everything, i’d say to definitely pick this one up!

One of Us Is Lying is one of my favorite series, and I was anticipating how Karen McManus would end our time at Bayside. Reuniting with the Bayside crew was fun, as they had another mystery to solve. The book had all the fun elements readers love, including a few murders, many family secrets, and high -stakes. I also liked that this book was set up differently than the other books in the series, allowing everyone to have their own POV, which helped them shine their personalities more. I loved seeing their personalities grow and getting to know them better as we saw more of their backgrounds. It was still a little confusing to remember how everyone was connected after so long between the books that but I liked that Mcmanus included a handy character list at the front of the book. This was a fun read, but I sadly found that this book lacked a bit of magic I felt when I read the other two books. The book was not as fast-paced and full of twists as expected, but I still enjoyed being back in Bayside. It was still a great way to end the series. I highly recommend this if you want an easy but fun thriller series.

Thank you to NetGallery and to Random House Children’s for giving me a copy of the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s publishing for an ARC!

After reading the first two in this series, I was very excited for a third. One of Us Is Back brings together all of the Bayview Crew. After an eerily similar message appears in town, the crew start to wonder if there is yet another Simon copycat. They work together to try to get to the bottom of it.

This book does a great job of giving us some of the suspense we are used to from the first two books while also tying up some loose ends. If you haven’t read the first two books recently, or at all, the first 20-25% does a nice job of providing recaps of key parts from the first two books while also setting up for a new plot.

This was a quick read like the others and kept me wanting more until the very end.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel. 4/5 stars.

I'm a sucker for the One of Us Is Lying series, and this -- while good and had me hooked -- just felt different from the others...but it's almost expected with it being the final book with the Bayview Crew. It pulls together both sets of Bayview victims and suspects -- who have now formed the crew -- into the story where once again, someone is out for revenge. I did enjoy seeing new parts to the story, and I'm still in love with Nate and Bronwyn...but the story felt cluttered with so many POVs.

It's still 4 stars though. Bayview has me hooked into the stories of power and privilege and revenge. I do think it tied up all the loose ends for all the stories, and the mystery had me literally gaping once it was revealed who was behind it and what created the final path for revenge...along with once again...tying back to Simon.

An excellent (final?) edition in this series, even though I would love to spend more time with Nate Macauley. The plot was surprising, and the characters heartfelt. The climax felt slightly skipped over, but the closure felt at the end of the story is exactly what this trilogy deserved.

If you’re a fan of the series (One Of Us Is Lying) or you’re looking for the latest young adult thriller, this book is for you. McManus hasn’t lost her touch and you won’t be able to put this book down.

Murder is afoot…. again. It seems like the Bayview crew can’t catch a break, but as a reader who has been there since the beginning, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

In this return to Bayview, the gang reunites again and for the reader, it’s like catching up with old friends. However, what would Bayview be without another murder? It appears that a deadly game has started once again; only this time, everyone is a player. Get ready for more of Simon’s secrets to be exposed and the story to come full circle in this exciting conclusion to the One Of Us Is Lying trilogy.

i will freely admit that karen m. mcmanus's two previous pandemic-era standalones did not seem as up to par as her best work, so it brings me considerable pleasure to report that we are all so back in this excellent conclusion to the bayview trilogy.

I’m extremely torn when it comes to this book. It lacks the magic of the first one, but that’s to be expected when the first one in the series was just so amazing. It’s nice to see the characters again, but the twists and turns made for a convoluted plot. It’s obvious that at this point, these characters have pretty much run out of secrets, so we’re just scraping the bottom of the barrel to slap another book together. Was it terrible? No. Would I feel like the Bayview crew didn’t get a resolution if this book didn’t exist? No. Am I upset that I read it? Also, no. It was fine.

Expected Pub Date: July 25, 2023

I am a Karen M. McManus completist - I have read all of her books and I can always depend on her for a fun, easy, page turning, fast-paced YA mystery/thriller.

This is the 3rd in the One of Us is Lying series - I loved the first one and the characters that made up the Bayview Four. As the series progresses, we do get more characters introduced and even though I enjoyed some of the new characters including siblings of the original 4, I prefer the OG characters and felt that with this third installment, I was really having to make an effort to remember who everyone was and how they were connected.

This was a fun, easy to read thriller and definitely continued the series in a great way - we got flashbacks to some of what happened in the rest of the series, and learned more about some key characters backgrounds which I really enjoyed. Yes, the big twist was very predictable and I guess "whodunnit" pretty quickly into the book, but having said that, I still enjoyed every minute of being back with these characters and the world that McManus has created.

I would definitely recommend any of this author's work if you are looking for a quick, fun, palette cleansing YA novel. I will continue to read anything she writes!

Side Note: The One of Us Is Lying TV Series is a lot of fun too!

Thank you to Netgalley & Delacorte Press for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

wow. karen mcmanus has done it again. this book is flat out incredible, the best send off for the bayview crew i could have ever asked for. it was absolutely thrilling, I enjoyed every second. mcmanus has a special way of balancing the absolute joy these characters are with the thrill and horror of the mystery that surrounds them. the plot twist in this book was incredible, i felt like everything clicked for me the exact same moment it clicked for the characters. i loved seeing how the baview four from book one and the three leading characters from book two come together in this book and become one large group, the bayview crew. the mystery in this book was more complex and wild than others we’ve seen before, you can truly see now how the first two books built up to make this one possible. it has been so much fun reading about the bayview crew, i can’t believe this is the final book for them! i will truly miss this trilogy, and i am so grateful to have read and experienced it over the years. this really was an excellent ending for an excellent series.

thank you so much to random house children’s & netgalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is the 3rd, and possibly final, installment of the One of Us is Lying trilogy. The book is told from the POV of Addy, Phoebe, and Nate, characters from the previous two books. As someone who read One of Us is Lying and One of Us is Next in 2021, I found that I struggled with recalling many of the details referenced in One of Us is Back. There are a lot of callbacks to previous happenings, even though the plot in One of Us is Back kind of stands alone. Like always, I enjoyed Karen McManus's writing style and would recommend this book. It's a strong finish to the series--just be sure to read the #1 and #2 before reading this one.

The Bayview crew is back.
And if history is any indicator, that means so is trouble.
But who is the target?

The early part of the book was mostly spent catching the reader up to everything that transpired in books one and two. That's a good thing because my memory isn't great. However, at times I felt myself asking, when are we going to focus on the current problem plaguing these young adults?

The time eventually came and like the earlier books, it wasn't always clear who the target was and why. When it is eventually revealed, along with the "who" is behind it all, it was a bit of a surprise. Interestingly enough, it managed to tie back to both of the previous books, which I thought was clever.

These books often have me thinking of the popular Scooby Doo catch phrase, "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those meddling kids". Although at times I think they should have left well enough alone, they are so supportive of one another and always go on high alert when one is missing, that I could see why they never gave up trying to solve the mystery.

If I was in this gang, I'd likely hightail it out of Bayview and never return. Too much drama! But I have a feeling, whether another book is planned or not, drama will always find this crew.

It started off a little slow. However, it did include some back story which was super helpful when it's been awhile since I read the first 2 Bayview books!

This book has 3 different POV's (Phoebe, Addy, and Nate) and a 6-yr flashback. The flashbacks brought the story together, and the 3 POV's got easier to follow as the book went on.

This was not my favorite of the three books and I did not see myself getting into it as much as the others. Overall, it had a good ending when all the puzzle pieces started to fall into place.

A classic Karen m. McManus. Mystery. Plot twists, murder. At the beginning, a bit disjointed because it's been a long time since book 1 and 2. Chapters 2 and 3 were hard to follow because it rehashed a lot if previous books, and so many different characters. But once in the flow of it, a pleasurable, quick read.

As always, McManus has a way of telling a gripping story that has me guessing until the last page. Another 5 stars from me. I hope the Bayview Crew does well.