Rating: 4/5 stars

I really liked this book! I was initially a bit wary- will this just be another Breakfast Club (but without my lord and saviour Molly Ringwold and a classic 80’s soundtrack), will this be another dumb murder mystery where you know who-dun-it the entire time?

Well the answer folks, is both no, and no.

I won’t lie, I was mostly in here for Bronwyn and Nate. I’ve just finished watching Riverdale and the pair give off a Betty/Jughead vibe that I feel like nobody’s business.

Overall, this book wasn’t predictable, the characters were all really interesting, and I couldn’t pick who the murderer was. Which is really all you could want from a murder mystery novel.

I was a bit disappointed with the ending… everything felt a bit rushed and unresolved. But overall I was a big fan of this and couldn’t wait to come home after work and devour it over a period of a couple of days.

With flavors of the TV series Riverdale practically seeping through the pages, One Of Us Is Lying is better than your typical teenage murder mystery. Although certain possibilities are easy to predict, you'll still be enjoying the plots and characters. Even by using typical stereotypes, McManus carves a few deeper layers into them.

One Of Us Is Lying was an entertaining, quick read which perfectly captures the murky world of High School - a great guilty pleasure read with a little more depth. Five students enter detention. Only four leave alive.

All the stereotypical High School characters are here - the successful jock, the prom queen, the brain and the rebel. The only character who is a slight enigma, an outsider, is Simon, a character who dies within the first chapter. But why did he die? Who is a culprit and who is a victim? Using Simon’s death as a catalyst, the author casts a tale of High School secrets and lies.

The story is told from the viewpoint of the four survivors from the detention - Bronwyn, Addy, Cooper and Nate. Each has their own agenda and their own secrets to protect, and the multi-narrative works well.

This book moves quickly and has a little bit of everything - there’s plenty of controversy, she tackles some controversial teenage issues wrapped up in a tale of murder, with some romance thrown in. It’s a great piece of YA, although I have to admit that at times I felt the murder at the heart of the story got lost amongst the other mini dramas throughout the story.

But, there is a mystery at the centre of this story, and it’s told well with a twist I really didn’t see coming. It’s a light read, but it’s more intelligent than it first appears. Well worth a read for any fan of the YA genre, but maybe not so much for those after a thrilling murder mystery.

YES! This book was amazing in so many ways that I couldn’t stop reading, dreaming and thinking about it.

Highschool students Nate, Addy, Bronwyn, Cooper and Simon end up in detention. It becomes very clear that something isn’t right. The whole reason for having detention seems to be a misunderstanding…or a set up?
Things get worse when one student, Simon, dies. The others are witnesses turned suspects. Each of them has a secret to hide but the question remains: who killed Simon?

We have Nate, the criminal.
Addy, the princess.
Bronwyn, the nerd.
Cooper, the jock.

Sounds familiar?
The Author, Karen McManus was inspired by The Breakfast Club. Four kids who have nothing in common wind up in detention. I loved the idea especially how Karen spiced things up with a murder.

The story is fast paced (extra Like for that!) and told from the four main character’s point of views. Nate, Addy, Bronwyn and Cooper are very diverse people and come from different backgrounds. I never had the feeling that one of them were left behind in the description or the story itself. Karen managed to sprinkle her magic on everyone - including me. I was SO into the story and couldn’t stop guessing who the real suspect is.

While there’s a murder case to solve, the story isn’t too focused on the crime/thriller section. For all the romantic hearts out here, Karen mixed some of that into the story as well. We have a well placed rollercoaster ride of mixed emotions. From love to hate to jealousy and pain. There are some exhilarating ups and heart-wrenching downs.
All those emotions contributed to the development of every character. AND I LOVED IT!

To sum it up:
The Breakfast Club meets Gossip Girl and How to Get Away With Murder. :)
I can totally see this as an upcoming Netflix series or film. Finger’s crossed.

Thank you Netgalley, for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is Karen McManus’ debut YA novel and on the surface it looks like one which would skirt close to highschool stereotypes and tired tropes, but of course that’s the point here in a way.
In what is both a clear nod to The Breakfast Club and the resurgence in interest for John Hughes-influenced stories like Spider-man: Homecoming and The Edge of Seventeen, we meet our five (soon to be four) main characters in detention in the first few pages. They’re all accompanied by the stereotypes they’ve either gravitated towards or been labelled with unfairly. The stereotypes work well for a start as the story is told from the perspective of four characters, which would be difficult if they were more similar.
From here you might imagine that the plot revolves around what happens to Simon and the investigation into it. While that is a major part of this book, it serves other purposes too: as a device to keep these four characters together loosely even though they didn’t enter that room as friends or even acquaintances for the most part.
On the other hand, the stereotypes that are presented in the blurb are exactly what Karen McManus sets out to tackle. I know that for example even reading the quick description of each person in the room, there is an immediate assumption as to who the blame for Simon’s death could be apportioned to. This is an important point throughout the book, as each of these characters finds themselves straying away from their stereotypes and becoming known as more complex individuals.
Without going into spoiler territory, the blurb mentions Simon planning to post ‘juicy reveals’ about each of the other four in the room, as part of his in-school gossip app, which is rarely wrong in its claims. It’s these reveals that are the catalyst for each of the characters as they deal with the fallout from telling family and friends secrets that have been burdening them.
The resulting narrative has some twists and turns but Karen McManus is clearly focused on trying to create an arc for each of the four main characters. This is successful to a point, with the reader inevitably investing more in one or two characters over the others and thereby finding their perspectives more appealing. I particularly enjoyed Addy’s arc, which started out as very highschool relationship based and actually became more about her family. I also liked Bronwyn’s story. She is that seemingly straight-laced character, but with the amount of pressure on her to continue her family’s Yale legacy, she is the type of person who hasn’t really figured out who she is and what she really wants. She is a strong and determined character and really drives the bulk of the plot along. Her interactions with Nate were great to read too and went in unusual directions at times.
One of Us is Lying also deals with such a huge scenario becoming news in the modern era. Karen McManus is quick to involve all manner of technology and social media in the mix and it creates a real claustrophobic environment for the main characters. From Simon’s gossip app About That, to TV cameras showing up at the school, to burner phones and even some Reddit threads, it’s all in there.
One of Us is Lying has become one of the buzz books of the summer, mainly based on its hook, but it’s well worth sticking around to see how these characters develop right up to the end. And of course to find out who did it!

A brilliant and beautifully written book which was a complete page turner.,

YA at its best. Teens acting like teens with teen issues. For a debut novel, this is no mean feat. Well plotted, scary and intriguing. Well done, Karen.

I had built this book up in my head to be totally amazing and I was scared that it wouldn't meet my expectations. Luckily, I was wrong. This book was enthralling and I could not stop reading it. I actually felt sad once it ended because I had grown so attached to the characters (Death does tend to bring people closer. Just read this book if you don't believe me).
Five very different students end up in detention after a misunderstanding...and then one of them dies. Simon's death is quick and very carefully planned. The question is who did it? Simon ran a gossip blog and was not very well-liked. Anyone could have killed him. Unfortunately for the other student's who were in detention with Simon, he knew secrets about them that he had planned to reveal the very next day.
This book should be called "All of Us are Lying" because everyone here has secrets which makes for an incredible story with several plot twists. This is a well-written book with characters that you can't help but feel sorry for.
The ending was pretty obvious to me but it didn't make it any less shocking. This was a beautiful, gripping read and I DEMAND THAT EVERYONE READS IT. EVERYONE!!!I don't care who you are or what your reading preferences are. Just read this book. I promise you won't regret it.

Unfortunately this book fell short for me.

In my opinion, what this book did get right is the multiple points of view. Each character being defined to a single trope could spell disaster, but I think Karen M. McManus delivered it perfectly. Whilst I did enjoy certain characters more than others (Ads was my favourite) each one was more than just their main attribution.

One of Us is Lying is very fast paced and I found it so hard to put down. Every time a chapter ended I instantly wanted to keep reading the next one. I did guess the “twist” early on, but I was still kept interested enough to want to see how it all ended.

I had quite a few issues though especially in the way mentall illness was handled. I felt like it was only used as a negative character trait and that is such a harmful trope.

I received this novel from NetGalley.

Holy Smokes, I loved this book! What an incredible ride!
Each character is multi-dimensional and interesting in their own way, they have their own quirks and their own backstory that makes them feel so real.
The plot twist is incredible, it isn't what you expect until the McManus lets you in on it, and that makes it feel even more shocking.
The romance side of this novel is perfect, because we cant have a YA novel without a little romance! Each protagonist has their own love interest or lack thereof and it makes relationships of any sort feel perfectly normal and accepted which is such a nice change!
The only downer I have for this novel is the ending, it feels like it wrapped up way too fast and the Epilogue left very little to the imagination. We saw Bronwyn go through heart break and then SPOILERS get with some poor unsuspecting guy just to see the prospect of returning to Nate and that is annoying, for me there was no need to introuduce the random character.
Anyway, a top 10 read for 2017 for sure!

OMG what a ride!!!

This book... I don't even know where to begin with. It was brilliant, the writing style is engrossing and I totally loved every bit of it. The different points of view of Addy, Cooper, Nate and Bronwyn were soo good that it felt like I was there in the same school with them and their group seeing the events happening right before my eyes.

I totally did not see this whole thing coming it was like BANG something hit your head and you don't even know what it was or where it came from. Great turn.

I dare to say that so far this has been one of the BEST and amazingly written book I have read in 2017 and I want more of it. There is nothing more to add everyone who's into this genre MUST read this masterpiece it would not disappoint I guarantee you this.

Brilliant...

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Penguin Random House UK Children's and NetGalley*

Bronwyn, Addy, Nate, Cooper and Simon all attend detention one afternoon, but one of them doesn't leave alive. Simon dies and the police don't think it was an accident.
Bronwyn, Addy, Nate and Cooper are all suspects, because Simon was about to reveal secrets about all of them.
Which of the four wanted Simon silenced forever?
Are any of them telling the truth?

One Of Us Is Lying was an interesting, unique read.
I liked the characters and how they interacted with each other. None of them were perfect - they all had secrets and mistakes that they didn't want anyone to find out about - but that made them relatable.
The plot was good and held my attention, but I did guess who was behind the murder around half way through. However, I didn't figure out all the details behind the murder.
I liked the writing style and found it easy to follow.

Overall this was an interesting, unique read.

This was amazing. That is what Goodreads says five stars means, and in the case of ONE OF US IS LYING, it is not wrong. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and I am so glad it was so good.

I was slightly worried at the beginning because the whole murder thing didn’t quite go down like I thought it would, but the rest of the story totally made up for it. The common issues with multiple-POV stories aren’t there either – I felt like all four main characters had distinct enough narrative voices that they didn’t all blend into one super-MC. The romance worked well too – it didn’t feel rushed or forced but natural.

I don’t really have a bad word to say about this book.

One of Us is Lying follows the story of 4 teenagers from different high school social statuses. As is stated in the blurb, each character follows a stereotypical high school role; the brain, beauty, jock and the criminal. The 5th character is deemed the outsider and in detention has an allergic reaction and dies, the four characters having been the only people in the room are accused of conspiring to kill him as it's revealed that he plans to reveal secrets about them. 

Simon the character who is dies is the creator of an app where he posts secrets about the high school population. I liked how the book brought in technology because it's something that is prominent especially in teen lives. So the use of Tumblr, texting, apps and forums was nice as it added to the realistic feel of the book.

Simon's character was hated by his peers and he was very power hungry and was very extreme in his hatred to others. I guess I found it predictable on who murdered him because the book I felt lacked mystery to it. It focused a lot on the aftermath/process when being accused of murder and how it changes you/how people view you. But it would have been better if it was more tense and exciting, as in parts, especially the first half of the novel the book did drag on. 

We get a multi perspective story with the 4 main characters alternating in chapters which I thought was good as we found out about them as individuals and how they dealt with the accusations, media coverage and interrogations. I would have liked to have gotten a Simon POV because we all sympathized with the other characters because we understood them and their situation however with Simon his motivation behind his actions were only told from other people and never him. 

The novel did include the cliche with adults being useless and teens having to rely on themselves to solve the 'mystery' and the entire teen hacking in to find more information  which I don't find realistic. 

I also really didn't like the resolve and just felt that the characters were just moving on without truly learning anything. And that the last chapter was useless and just added to the romance story which shouldn't have been the focus of the story. 

In general I think the story was interesting especially for a plot which has been overdone and I liked the characters however the actual resolve and just how the characters reacted to it felt a bit flat.

This, strangely, feels like the kind of book I've been waiting to read for a long time. It's strange, as shows such as 'Pretty Little Liars' (which this book is marketed towards fans of) have only mildly caught my attention, and I certainly don't enjoy reading about or watching Teen High School dramas too much. But I do like a good murder mystery, and that paired with my love for Contemporary YA recently meant I really got stuck into this read! In a big way! Every so often I'll stumble across a gem of a debut and this was certainly one of them.

So, things I liked! Well it had everything that a good murder mystery should: focused plot direction with plenty of twists and turns along the way, interesting characters with intriguing secrets, and a familiar setting of a high school that would definitely react to a murder in the same way that this one did. The characters were definitely the best part of the book - especially the four suspects to Simon's murder. Great POVs to read from definitely, and each very different. I liked that everyone had their own story and distinct personality and the way they came together to solve the mystery. The gradual reveals were really cool too, I especially liked Cooper's story, but don't want to spoil things so I won't go into too much detail as to why.

There wasn't a whole lot that I didn't enjoy about this book, hence why it ended up getting such a high rating. The plot maintained my interest throughout, and the ending was very clever, though I was pleased to see it aligned with one of my theories for the most part. I suppose I'd like to have seen a little more of what happened to the characters later on in life, but McManus actually did a good job of rounding the stories off nicely. I'm certainly looking forward to more books from her in the future!

One of Us is Lying is told from the point of view of four different high school students, all of whom are present in detention when one of their classmates dies under suspicious circumstances. I don’t want to go too deep into the details of the plot as I think that’s something you should find out for yourself.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I had high expectations and it didn’t disappoint. The characters were deeper than the stereotypical teenagers they initially seemed to be. The plot was well thought out, and even though I guessed the solution of the mystery just over halfway through, there were still plenty of secrets, lies, twists and surprises to keep me interested and entertained.

If you’re thinking about reading this book, that is probably something you should go do right now. I’m looking forward to whatever this author has to offer next.

(Disclaimer: I recevied a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

The book Sophie most enjoyed this month was One of Us Is Lying, the debut novel from Karen McManus. Described as “The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars“, this is a book that fits perfectly into the current dark teenage culture of shows like Riverdale and 13 Reasons Why.

The book begins with five teenagers arriving at detention. Bronwyn is a teacher’s pet destined for Yale, Addy is the perfect homecoming princess, Cooper is the school’s all-star baseball pitcher, and Nate is the local criminal who’s already been caught dealing. The fifth student is Simon, creator of About That – an app dedicated to spreading rumors and exposing secrets about the students at their school. But during the few minutes their teacher steps out of the room, Simon suffers an enormous anaphylactic shock and dies. The police discover that someone had put peanut oil into the cups in the room and hidden Simon’s water bottle and epi-pens: this is no tragic accident. Within days, it is revealed that Simon was about to post salacious information about all four of the students in detention with him, information potent enough to ruin their lives for good. However, all four of the others feel that they were planted in the room. Is one of them the murderer, or is someone else behind Simon’s death?

Sophie absolutely loved this story. Although she began to suspect who was behind Simon’s death about two-thirds of the way through, she really enjoyed watching the waves of suspicion roll though the four main characters (the book alternates between the perspectives of all four detention students) bouncing off each one in turn and bringing them together in secret before driving them apart and back again as each new revelation hits. The main characters are more than just their jock, brain, princess, criminal archetypes and have opportunities to develop as the book progresses, although Sophie did figure out the big twist about one of them very, very quickly. This is a great read for anyone who just finished a 13 Reasons Why binge and is wondering how to fill their time until season two rolls around.

I had heard a bit about this one and then when I read the blurb and saw the cover, I had to request it.
Five students are in detention. They themselves even comment on what a cliché "Breakfast Club" group they make; there's the A student, the jock, the homecoming princess, the bad boy delinquent and the misfit. One of them is going to die in detention that day but which one, who did it and why?
This was a great read- fast paced and entertaining, a bit like a combination of the aforementioned Breakfast Club, with a bit of Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars thrown in for good measure. Considering I liked all of those, this is an ideal read for me, although granted, that's not everyone's cup of tea! I still love teen drama, even though I'm in my thirties and I'm totally cool with that as it's pure escapism, as all good books/TV should be.
I felt like all of the characters in this were well developed and made me want to root for them, even if I didn't always know the motivations for their actions. I also didn't guess the end, which makes me very happy with a book like this! This is another great Summer read- pop it in your beach bag and you'll find yourself glued to it by the pool with your Pīna Colada.

4.5 Stars

I was very curious to read this book after seeing many good reviews, and it was definitely worth the time spent on it!

Five students entered the detention room, they couldn't have been more different: the beautiful one, the athlete, the smart one, the bad boy and the outcast.
Only four came out of the room alive.
Simon, the victim, had a gossip app, that caused many damages and destroyed many lives, many feared him, some hated him, but most just ignored him. Before he died, he was planning to reveal some secrets about the same 4 students that were with him in detention.
What makes it worse is that his death was not an accident.
So, who did it and who had the most to lose by these revelations?

I really enjoyed reading this book, it was not a typical YA, although it revolved around the same kind of 'clichés' students. But there was much more to the story than what meets the eye.
I also liked how the story was told, alternatively, from the point of view of these 4 students, it made it easier to understand them and to connect with them, but not exactly easy to figure which one of them was responsible for Simon's death!
The end was quiet the surprise for me, i imagined many scenarios about how this would turn out to be but never how it actually was.

This was a debut novel of the author, and for me it seemed like a breath of fresh air! I will definitely be waiting for her next book and i recommend it to my friends.