Everyone Has Secrets: A Review of "One of Us Is Lying" by Karen M. McManus
"Now here's your assignment: connect the dots. Is everybody in it together, or is somebody pulling strings? Who's the puppet master and who's the puppet?
I'll give you a hint to get you started: Everyone's lying."
--Karen N. McManus, One of Us is Lying, pg. 131
This is another one that snuck up on me. I'm not usually a fan of mysteries and who-done-its, but there was something about this book I couldn't shake. It kept showing up everywhere, in the bookstore, on my Twitter feed, in my Goodreads recommendations. Like it was following me. I had heard immensely good things about it, so finally I caved. I bought the book.
And I freaking loved it.
No joke, I read this book in a day. I didn't want to put it down, and when I did, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I stayed up until all hours of the night to finish it because I was so engrossed I lost track of time.
One of Us is Lying is about four high school student who end up as suspects in the murder of their classmate, Simon. Bronwyn (the Brain), Addy (the Beauty), Cooper (the Athlete), and Nate (the Criminal). All familiar high school stereotypes, made popular by The Breakfast Club. Simon, however, was not one of these stereotypes; he was an outcast, the creator of a gossip app that revealed the secrets his fellow classmates kept, and for that, he was hated. When Simon turns up dead after detention with Bronwyn, Addy, Cooper, and Nate, they become prime suspects in his murder investigation, especially when it comes to light that Simon knew their secrets and had planned to release them the next day.
The main reason I loved this book is because of the characters. Each of the four main characters is very different and nuanced, and each has a very distinct voice. They also read like high school students, not adults pretending to be teenagers. Each has their own insecurities and shortcomings, and sometimes they're not always likable. it was so realistic I wanted to fall over.
I also enjoyed the character development throughout the book. At the beginning, each of the main characters fits their stereotype, but at the end, they have become someone completely different. I loved seeing how the experience of being a murder suspect has changed each of these people, forcing them to become someone better than who they are. I also thought it was great that they actually did change, rather than remain who they were before. Witnessing a murder and then being a suspect is a pretty traumatic event, something that you shouldn't escape from unchanged.
I think perhaps the best character development happened with Addy. She starts out as your typical blonde, beautiful, Homecoming princess. She has a boyfriend whom she adores, and a seemingly perfect life. This all begins to fall apart in the wake of Simon's death, when her secret comes out. This leads to her boyfriend breaking up with her, and the loss of all her friends. But Addy, instead of breaking as everyone thought she would, learned to live without the people she thought she was closest to. She became someone strong, someone who could stand up for what she thought was right, and I think that was just beautiful.
I also appreciated the diversity among the four main characters. Bronwyn is Colombian, with parents who don't let her fit into any stereotype that comes with being Latina. Cooper turns out to be gay, something not widely accepted in baseball players, his sport. While I feel more diversity could have been included, I feel like this is a start. People need to read about people who look like them, act like them, talk like them, and this book accomplished that.
Okay, this is where the review is going to get a little spoilery, so bear with me. Or feel free to skip this part, but it involves my one real disappointment with this book.
The ending was a little bit lackluster. After reading the whole book, we come to find out that no one killed Simon; Simon committed suicide. I was like:
This book was so amazing up until then. And the way they figured it out was also a little disappointing. I feel like there was so many other ways for this to end, and this part was not my favorite.
But all in all, it was really great. The romance was low-key (they don't even end up together at the end, which I thought was A+), there was a little bit of action, but the mystery was great. It kept me hooked all the way up to the slightly disappointing ending. This is definitely a must read for anyone who likes murder mysteries, and honestly just a must-read in general. McManus' writing is beautiful, fluid and realistic, and it shows in her characters and world. An excellent novel.
Description from Goodreads:
Pay close attention and you might solve this. On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention. Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing. Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher. And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app. Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose? Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.07/5 stars Publication Date: May 30, 2017 Page Count: 370 pages