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rachelelizabeth 's review for:

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
3.0

This review was originally posted on my blog, Rachel Reading. If you like it and are interested in more like it, please check it out!

This book came highly recommended, as I loved the books "Dangerous Girls" by Abigail Haas and "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart. I had to wait for months for it to show up for my Kindle from the library, so I had very high hopes for this book. It wasn't a bad book by any means, and I probably would have absolutely loved it when I was younger, but it was missing something.

Bronwyn, Addy, Nate and Cooper all have detention one day with Simon, the school's rumor mill. They've all been framed by having their phone ring, when it wasn't ever their phone, in their science class. Then, in detention, while a car accident happens outside which distracts the teacher, Simon drinks some water, and dies. He doesn't have his epipen, and the nurses office is somehow completely out. Obviously peanut oil doesn't just show up on water cups, so his death is now suspicious.

Throughout the book we're shown the reasons each character could have for doing such a thing, and while I really couldn't figure out who did it, the book also felt like it moved a little slow for my tastes. There was a lot of stuff in the middle that I felt like the book could have done without, and I wish there was more mystery! More twists and turns! I wasn't a huge fan of the ending, which probably tainted my view of this book a little, and when I have to wait like 3 months to get it from the library I want it to be AMAZING. I can totally see what McManus was trying to do here, and I think she did a good job of it. I think a lot of people will really enjoy this book, and it's a fun read that keeps you guessing, just don't expect your mind to be blown in the end.