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ocie 's review for:
One of Us Is Lying
by Karen M. McManus
5 very different people are thrown together in detention one afternoon under suspicious circumstances. When one of the teens experiences an allergic reaction and dies, the remaining 4 immediately become murder suspects.
I started this book with my usual wariness of high-school centered YA books. But seeing as it's a murder mystery, I decided to give it a shot.
One of Us is Lying reads a lot like a whodunit. There are plenty of clues throughout the book that point to the killer. And yet the book confuses the reader by giving each suspect a point of view, leaving you wondering just how in the world any of them could have committed the murder.
This constant switching of POVs was at first a little annoying, but I got used to it and even came to appreciate how every POV switch left me with more questions than answers, compelling me to keep reading to find out what happened next.
My favorite thing about this book is the character development. While each student is introduced as your stereotypical nerd, dumb blond, athlete, and bad boy, they each have their own story and each one develops character depth I don't get to see in many YA books.
Bronwyn is your typical preppy, all-As student who's expected to get into Yale. She's a natural leader, and easily steps into her role of (unofficial) lead investigator on the case. Cooper is a Jock who throws a wicked fastball and is expected to make the majors after college baseball. Addy is at first an air-headed, pretty girl who will do anything her boyfriend asks, until they break up and she begins to develop her own personality, which turns out to be pretty empowering. Nate is the black sheep, the troubled kid, the natural scapegoat. Already on probation for drug-dealing, he's the natural lead suspect in the case.
It was fun to try and solve the mystery, but I was a little disappointed when one clue was revealed about 2/3 of the way in that pretty much gave away who the murderer was.
Aside from that, though the book was pretty entertaining. I'd recommend it to everyone. It's YA, high-school, mystery, it discusses family problems and other matters that I won't say here because of spoilers. Basically it's worth it. Check it out.
I started this book with my usual wariness of high-school centered YA books. But seeing as it's a murder mystery, I decided to give it a shot.
One of Us is Lying reads a lot like a whodunit. There are plenty of clues throughout the book that point to the killer. And yet the book confuses the reader by giving each suspect a point of view, leaving you wondering just how in the world any of them could have committed the murder.
This constant switching of POVs was at first a little annoying, but I got used to it and even came to appreciate how every POV switch left me with more questions than answers, compelling me to keep reading to find out what happened next.
My favorite thing about this book is the character development. While each student is introduced as your stereotypical nerd, dumb blond, athlete, and bad boy, they each have their own story and each one develops character depth I don't get to see in many YA books.
Bronwyn is your typical preppy, all-As student who's expected to get into Yale. She's a natural leader, and easily steps into her role of (unofficial) lead investigator on the case. Cooper is a Jock who throws a wicked fastball and is expected to make the majors after college baseball. Addy is at first an air-headed, pretty girl who will do anything her boyfriend asks, until they break up and she begins to develop her own personality, which turns out to be pretty empowering. Nate is the black sheep, the troubled kid, the natural scapegoat. Already on probation for drug-dealing, he's the natural lead suspect in the case.
It was fun to try and solve the mystery, but I was a little disappointed when one clue was revealed about 2/3 of the way in that pretty much gave away who the murderer was.
Aside from that, though the book was pretty entertaining. I'd recommend it to everyone. It's YA, high-school, mystery, it discusses family problems and other matters that I won't say here because of spoilers. Basically it's worth it. Check it out.