This was everything I love about a Karen McManus mystery! Every time I read one of her books, it becomes my new favorite. I loved the setting of this one--eerie, isolated island locale, full of wealthy and mysterious people. Each of the "cousins" had such distinct voices and personalities, and I ended up caring a lot about each one and enjoying the way they bonded with one another. I really didn't see the twist/ending coming until it was revealed, which I love in a mystery. Overall, another fun, fast-paced, twisty read from one of my favorite authors. Looking forward to what's next from her!

This is my third book by Karen McManus, and her books definitely have a particular flavor to them. Her teen characters are so fun to read - they always have secrets, histories, and insecurities that drive the plot forward, which I think really makes for satisfying mysteries. She's very good at dropping pieces of information as the story moves while saving a big reveal for the climax, and even when you can guess some of it, you'll still second-guess yourself throughout.

While I liked this book and it's a solid mystery, I think I was hoping for a bit... more. Just something beyond my expectations. (Which, admittedly, were high.) I don't know how to explain this. I just hoped for something magic, 5-star worthy, and it wasn't here.

Many thanks to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the advanced review copy!

From beginning to end, I loved everything about this book! I was pulled into the story of Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah and couldn't wait to see how this story unfolded.

Milly, Jonah and Aubrey are 17 year old cousins who have been been out of touch since they were young kids. They all receive a letter from their rich grandmother, who invites them to spend the summer with her on Gull Cove Island. Their grandmother has disinherited the entire family and has had nothing to do with any of them in 24 years. Although the cousins are surprised and hesitant, their parents all force them to go, in hopes of getting back into the grandmother's good graces.

This book has a fun setting, excellent characters, and such a great plot, with lots of twists and turns! I loved that there was a different narrator each chapter, and several flashback chapters. And the ending....fantastic!! This is my first Karen McManus book, but definitely not my last! I can't wait to read another!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Cousins is a different style of mystery compared to Karen McManus' previous titles, and it's not what I was expecting or wanting. I liked the three cousins, especially Aubrey, but I had a very hard time caring at all about the Story family mystery. The story goes back and forth between present day and the last summer before their parents were disinherited as the cousins try to figure out what happened and reconnect with their grandmother.

The actual mystery of what happened to cause their grandmother to disinherit their parents with such abruptness was incredibly weak, and none of the plot twists throughout the book were actually surprising. This felt more like a rich family drama than a solid mystery, which many people may actually really enjoy if they know that going in. Aubrey and Jonas had a good development arc throughout the story, but I hated that Milly's budding alcoholism wasn't ever addressed.

Fans of We Were Liars and similar books will likely enjoy The Cousins, but it wasn't for me.

I've read Karen McManus' work before and was a big fan of it, so I already had high expectations coming into the book. I ended up finishing the entire novel in a day! The characters were flawed, but even so, you ended up rooting for them through the end. The ending is one where it leaves it open for the possibility of a sequel, but still ties up enough loose strings where it feels solid as a stand alone.

The Cousins by Karen M. McManus is the authors fourth book and maybe my favorite of hers.
***
“This entire family is built on secrets right? It’s the Story legacy.”
Cousins Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah are offered the chance to go to their grandmother’s resort for the summer, work and finally meet her. The grandmother who disinherited all four of her children one day with no explanation other than a note that said “You know what you did”, and denied them the ability to ever see her again. The cousins parents take this as an opportunity to try and get back into their mother’s good graces, and possibly (preferably) the family fortune.
Unfortunately things aren’t what they seem and the Story family has lots and lots of secrets. Secrets that are starting to unravel and Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah are in for more than they anticipated.
***
I’ve read lots and lots of mysteries over the years and while I had some idea of where the story might be going and the who of it I was still taken slightly by surprise, and enjoyed the story quite a bit. The three cousins were fun characters and I found the story very hard to put down.
***
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was very dull and not at all thrilling, as McManus's previous books were. It was a soap opera, basically, full of teen drama tropes and flat (and very annoying) characters.

Why would your grandmother suddenly disinherit her four children, cutting them off with a brief, one line note and never speaking to them again? And just as suddenly offer a summer job to her grandchildren, one she doesn't seem to remember offering? Of course there are deep dark secrets that the cousins uncover about their parents and their grandmother, and at the end, All Will Be Revealed. The cousins and their parents are all stereotypes, sadly, and the Big Reveal is a little hinted at all along. However, teens will find this a fun read and that's really all that matters.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

I live and breathe for Karen McManus’ books. Everything she’s written has been an absolute goldmine in my opinion! This was sheer perfection, and ugh I’m dying for more

I can't wait to add this one to my classroom library!

Karen McManus' books have never disappointed me with their twists and turns, and The Cousins was no exception. I loved the unreliable narrators and realistic interactions between the cousins themselves, and I especially love when I can't predict the end of a mystery before I get there. Definite must-buy for my classroom library!

This thriller has a lots of twists and turns but ultimately, it wasn't for me. There were too many narrators and I didn't connect to the teenage characters. This is a familial drama with mystery surrounding the rich grandmother and why is she estranged from her four children?
The three grandchildren of rich Mrs. Story are invited to her elite hotel to WORK for the summer. None of them have ever met their grandmother because she cut off her children years ago stating "You know what you did." The children of Mrs. Story fully expect their own children to be delighted at the prospect of spending the summer working for their grandmother. They decide to go to the lavish resort for the summer, not exactly willingly.
Told in many perspective that ended up being a few too many for me, this is the story of the family and the secrets that divide them.
The author does a good job creating flawed characters that may seem likeable to you. I wasn't invested in them personally and for me this is a three star read.
Thanks to netgalley for providing the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am disappointed in yet another book by McManus. The Cousins is pitched as a mystery and thriller, but it falls in neither of these categories. It is a novel featuring loads of family drama and a hint of no chemistry romance.

The cousins are unmemorable. Aubrey has an unaffectionate and narcissistic father along with a boyfriend of five years who doesn’t like her. She is a swimmer. Jonah is good looking, snarky, and secretive. Milly is a beautiful but arrogant and discourteous alcoholic.

The first two chapters could have been excluded since they featured Aubrey and Milly before they arrive at the island. The chapters held no weight to the story since Milly’s introduction featured her dolled up in makeup and revealing clothing and sitting at a bar while she flirted with an older man so he would buy her alcohol. She revealed this was a game her and her friends regularly played and then proceeded to complain about older men hitting on her 17-year-old self. Well, maybe if she wasn’t hanging out at a bar then these things would not happen.

Aubrey’s introduction is rather dull. The reader learns there is an issue going on between her father, mother, and her swim coach. She purposely loses her swim match to strike revenge against her coach and then leaves early to hitch a ride home with her not really boyfriend.

Jonah’s introduction is his Uber ride to Hyannis where there is lots of Cape traffic and he has to run to make the ferry.

Once the cousins make it to the island not a lot happens. Aubrey wishes to gain the approval of the grandmother. Jonah is secretive and sarcastic and regularly butts heads with Milly. Milly is her typical rude drunk self. She treated Aubrey and Jonah very poorly throughout the novel and would become furious at them for no reason. That grew old pretty quickly.

The little reveals weren’t impactful and the big reveal was ludicrous. The story dragged on as the cousins were swept up in the lavish lifestyle of their grandmother and the little mystery present wasn’t intriguing. This could have been written much better with stronger characters that all don’t have names beginning with A. It was a tad confusing separating them from each other.

I couldn’t put this book down. Like Karen McManus’ other books, I read it all at once. The characters were nuanced in ways that I found pleasantly surprising. I was genuinely surprised by the ending. My students will love this book.

Karen McManus is the queen of YA family thrillers, and her latest is a soapy, melodramatic, wonderful nugget in the genre. Full of intrigue, The Cousins tells the parallel stories of the Story family - four siblings who, in 1996, did something to cause their unilateral estrangement from their wealthy mother, and three cousins in the present day, who are called back to the family home to (perhaps?) repair the relationship. Nothing is straightforward in a McManus volume, though, and I had a delightful time coming along with cousins Aubrey, Milly, and Jonah as they untwist their familial past. The book is full of twists, some more obvious than others, but all ends up settled in a supremely satisfying way.

Another great mystery from YA author Karen McManus. Three cousins meet on an island for a summer to work for their estranged grandmother. They have never met her because she cut off her four children years earlier through a letter that stated, ”You know what you did.”

Expertly crafted, this fast read is a fun thrill ride.

As someone without siblings, I was so excited to find a book titled Cousins! While I'm grateful my family is nothing like this one, I still couldn't stop turning the pages. This family has some serious secrets, and it was very fun to uncover them.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in return for my honest opinion.

The Cousins was one of those books that I really enjoyed reading, but left me a little disappointed in the end. There wasn't anything wrong with the ending in particular, but I just feel like it won't be one of those books that stays with me. I did greatly enjoy reading it though. It was quite the page-turner and I finished it in only a few days. It had some good twists and turns that kept me reading.

If you enjoyed Karen McManus' other books then I’m sure you will love this one too! It's a good old fashioned mystery but with a family dynamic twist that I didn’t anticipate. Three cousins come together after years of their family being estranged, for a summer of trying to figure out the mystery surrounding their grandmother's disinheritance of their parents, with a simple note saying “You know what you did”. From the perspectives of each cousin, this book interweaves the Story family past and present. Also included is their parents perspective of past events that helps fill in some of the blanks. The story wraps up nicely but does leave a little unexplained at the end which could leave room for perhaps a sequel. Pretty please?! This quick, fun, and engaging story will have you speeding through the pages to figure out what is going on.

Note: I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks netgalley for an arc of this title. My students LOVE Karen M McManus books and I have no doubt that they will love this one too. It’s another well written but classroom appropriate title that I can’t wait to share with my students. This is also a great thriller read for adults!

First, there's a typo on the family tree at the beginning of the book (which needs to be fixed before publication). The youngest son is listed as Asher, but during the entire novel, his name is Archer.

I liked this one just as much as One of Us is Lying. There are a few parts that I guessed, but the ending was a surprise. I love rich, eccentric (WASP) family mysteries. This is a great teen (14+) thriller (alcohol abuse discussions of sex make this for older teens).