It’s been a while since I read any contemporary YA, think the last one may have been Thirteen Reasons Why and Some Boys Do. So, I took up Karen M. McManu’s One of Us is Lying with some trepidation. It came highly recommended in last week’s Top 10 Tuesday posts. And it was actually quite good.
Simon’s been running a gossip app in high school, and has made a lot of enemies because most of that gossip is perfectly true. Ouch! Then Simon and 4 other classmates get called to detention over somebody else’s prank, and Simon ends up dead. Who killed Simon, and what secrets had Simon discovered that he needed silencing?
The story is told in 4 alternating points of view – Addy, the kind but insecure girlfriend of a jock; Bronwyn, high-achieving A-grader who wants to go to Yale; Nate, son of a drug addict who’s been on probation and the gossip app multiple times; and Cooper, star baseball player, who’s under a lot of parental pressure. McManus has done a good job of starting off each character as 2D and unsympathetic, and then slowly peeling off the layers to their core self and making them more empathetic. It really works.
The whodunnit at the end is quite a surprise. Each character finds some kind of closure (well, as much as you can expect in a YA book). Plus, there’s a theme of found families as well. Bronwyn and Nate hit it off, but that’s going to be a tough ride because they’re on extreme ends of the spectrum. I didn’t find their OTP as convincing as some bloggers claimed, even after reading the sequel, One of Us is Next. Still, overall, they seem good for each other, so it works.
A good solid contemporary YA suspense book about how technology can sometimes mess up life more than it can make things more convenient.
11 replies on “One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus”
I listened to this on CD in the car, and I really enjoyed it. A story told from multiple points of view doesn’t always work but I found this convincing. I tried the second one and couldn’t get into it before it was due, but might try again later.
Oh, good to know that the audiobook worked well too! I went into this with not very high expectations (contemporary YA not being a strong winner for me), and ended up really liking this. The sequel not so much, but overall a very good series.
Hi Lex! Interestingly enough, I think my last YA was also Thirteen Reasons Why. Or wait, I think I’ve read Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Boys after that.
But I know this one is on my TBR and yes, the reviews are raving. Your high review just convinced me to keep it on the TBR until I crosses my path somewhere.
Hope you are having a good weekend!
Elza Reads
Oh, you’re a Raven Boys fan too! Awesome, that series is <3 <3 <3
YA is tough for me but I do like the sound of this. Thanks for sharing!
I hear you, YA is tough for me as well. But once in a blue moon (once in a year?), I do give it a shot, haha.
I rarely read YA, but I like when technology is important in the plot, so I might give it a try. Thanks for sharing
Trust me, you’ll be surprised. This book is very well-written
I’ve been really enjoying McManus’ books. her most recent one- the Cousins- might be my favorite yet.
I think I remember you spotlighting Cousins before — I think it was for Tuesday Tagline? I remember laughing at the tagline too, it seemed too dark for YA. But now that I’ve read One of Us is Lying, I do see the appeal of McManus’s work. I’ll check out Cousins too, thank you!
This does sound good – happy it worked so well for you.
Lynn 😀