Review: One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Title: One of Us is Lying

Author: Karen M. McManus

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publishing Date: May 30th, 2017

Pages: 361
Audio Length: 10 Hours and 43 Minutes

Genre: YA Mystery

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio

 

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."

What made me pick this book up: 

The cover definitely caught my eye, and we had it on audio.

What did I like about the cover: 

The pictures with the faces blocked off and the giant red marker like words across the front is really cool. It really matches the book well.

What made me read this book: 

I was a promised a book like the Breakfast Club, and I love the Breakfast Club. But really, the synopsis sounded really good. I'm a sucker for a good mystery.

What did I like the most: 

I've discovered I really really like mysteries. So the mystery of this book of this book is great. The whole book you're trying to figure out who killed Simon. 

It keeps you guessing the whole time, about who possibly could have put peanut oil in a cup, that no one knew if Simon would actually drink out of. Plus who put random cell phones in those 5 people's backpacks, without anyone noticing. 

The characters are interesting and all very very different. Also all very likable. You don't want to believe that any of these people killed him. 

The writing is also really well done, and the ending you will never see coming.

What didn't I like: 

Some parts of the book really pissed me off because of what was happening. But that's what it's meant to do.

It also lost a start because it took me 4 days to finish the book, but it felt like a lot longer. So the pacing was just a bit slow.

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
Yes!

Characters: 5/5

Plot: 5/5

Pace: 4/5

Writing: 5/5

Mystery: 5/5

“I don't know why it's so hard for people to admit that sometimes they're just assholes who screw up because they don't expect to get caught.” 
― Karen M. McManus, One of Us Is Lying

Karen M. McManus is the New York Times bestselling author of the young adult thriller One of Us Is Lying, which has been translated into 37 languages worldwide. Karen lives in Massachusetts and holds a master's degree in Journalism from Northeastern University, which she mostly uses to draft faux news stories for her novels. For more information, visit www.karenmcmanus.com or @writerkmc on Twitter and Instagram.