Book Review: One Of Us Is Lying/Next by Karen McManus

SCREAMING!!! I could literally not tear my eyes from the pages of this book. Not at work. Not while walking the dog. Not at home. I was up until 2 a.m. and barely had enough self-control to not start the second immediately.

This book is Breakfast Club meets murder, and like The Breakfast Club, all characters have their secrets and layers. Bronwyn is our main character, and she's our rule-following Good Girl (tm). Her love interst, Nate, is the Bad Boy With The Attitude And Cool Motorcycle, but really has a heart of gold. We also meet Addy, the Popular Girl Who Is Smarter Than You Think She Is, and Cooper, the College-Bound Athlete Who Is Secretly Gay.

Oh, and of course, Simon, who's dead. Also he's a total asshole, but really who cares.

The book follows all of our characters investigating Simon's death while also being investigated themselves. Simon was going to reveal some pretty big secrets about all of them before he died, so all have motive to kill him. In the end, we get to know each of the characters as people (except Simon, fuck that guy lmao) and fall in love with the amazing chemistry that Nate and Bronwyn have. Nate gives off huge Touch-Her-And-I'll-Kill-You vibes, which is one of those tropes that I will literally read every time regardless of content.

The ending was fairly predictable, but kept me second-guessing myself enough to really make it interesting.

The second book follows a different, although closely related, cast of characters, focusing on Bronwyn's little sister and her bad boy love interest. Characters from the first made appearances, and I felt like cheering every time one of them showed up on the page. I didn't like the second book's characters nearly as much as the first, but I hope there will be a third book to balance it all out, although it doesn't look like McManus has any plans.