One Of Us Is Lying - Review

One Of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus

What they say: One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.

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. 

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I received a copy from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review!

What I say: Mix Prep School Confidential with The Liar Society and throw in a dash of Dangerous Girls and you're still not even close to the plot of One of Us in Lying but you're in the right ballpark in terms of a YA murder mystery.

One of Us in Lying is the ultimate high school whodunit. When a teen dies during detention the remaining four students find themselves under scrutiny and at the centre of a murder mystery.

All the students have secrets, which victim Simon seemed ready and willing to exploit. So it's not difficult to imagine any of them murdering him as they all had motives.

The story is told from multiple POVs which means the reader gets to experience the mystery unfold right along with Addy, Bronwyn, Cooper and Nate. 

The book is full of secrets and lies. Like literally all the secrets! No not really but you get the point. I had my suspicions about the culprit/culprits from the start, then promptly changed my mind and ended up being right on the money (don't worry no spoilers here). 

As much as the story is about finding Simon's killer, it's also about the pressure and stress placed on teenagers today. We uncover a lot about Addy, Bronwyn, Cooper and Nate throughout the book. We see them as they face their guilt, loss, anger and tackle their own more personal issues.

One of Us is Lying is an intriguing and dramatic coming of age story with a harsh lesson and good mystery.

4 Stars in my Sky!