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One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
4.0

5 Students walk into detention. A few minutes later 1 of them is dead. Who killed Simon?

I've been wanting to read One of Us is Lying for awhile now. I am a hug fan of tv shows like Riverdale and Pretty Little Liars and teen movies like Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Mean Girls, Can't Buy Me Love, Scream, etc. I could go on & on. It's pretty bad - I can't flip through the channels and see any of those on without watching. Therefore, it's no surprise that this book seemed like a perfect fit for me. I'm not even sure why it took me this long to read it.

One of Us is Lying isn't a very complex mystery. I had it figured out from the beginning. Well, admittedly I can't say I had all the angles completely figured out but the main twist - I called it right from Ch.1. Usually, that would ruin things for me but this time I didn't even mind it. I knew what I was getting into with this YA mystery and I was definitely along for the entire ride. ;)

This book was better than a daytime soap opera! Seriously, EVERYONE was lying or hiding something from everyone else. Yet, I genuinely cared about these kids. These 4 SUSPECTS - they captured my heart. I loved how they grew throughout the story. Addy - who I found spineless and whiny in the beginning completely won me over by the end. I was literally cheering her on - OUT LOUD! Nate - who doesn't love the misunderstood, brooding bad boy rebel! What's not to love about sweet as Pie Cooper? Finally, Bronwyn a.k.a Miss Goody-two-shoes reminded me of me. Obviously she was my fave! I enjoyed watching these 4 form an unlikely alliance and band together to figure out what really happened.

Here's the thing - even though I had the whodunnit mostly figured out, there was a twist that I hadn't seen coming. That made reading the book even better than I initially expected. Is the book a bit cliche? Yes, but that's what makes it fun & a bit nostalgic. Does it depend on stereotypical characters? Yes, but don't they often do that? I felt like these characters showed growth from beginning to end which you don't often get to see in YA mysteries. What some might see as negatives I saw as positives for this book. It was fun, nostalgic, engaging and extremely readable. It held my interest from beginning to end.