All the secrets of the Bayview Four will be revealed in the TV series soon to be streaming on NBC’s Peacock!THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY • BUZZFEED • POPCRUSH“Pretty Little Liars meets The Breakfast Club” (Entertainment Weekly) in this addictive mystery about what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only … when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive.
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.
And don’t miss the #1 New York Times bestselling sequel, One of Us is Next!
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I relly, really enjoyed this book. I picked it up after reading Two of Us Can Keep a Secret. I look forward to the next novel!
This was such a great book that kept me up WAY past y bedtime. I cannot wait to read Two Can Keep a Secret!
A fast-paced teen murder mystery with a healthy dose romance. The author takes four stereotypes – the ace sportsman, the brainy school council leader, the beauty princess and the bad boy – and makes them her suspects in the death of a fellow student: Told in alternating chapters from the viewpoints of these characters, the novel soon reveals their depth and unique personalities. They cope with secrets, lies and suspicion against a backdrop of unrelenting media and social media attention.
This book was awesome! I read it in two days. A mystery that will keep you on your toes!
It is a cross between Breakfast Club meets Clue. I could not put it down! Finished it 3 days!
This is a pretty good book if your just starting to read mystery and suspense. I think the main focus of this book was the romance, not the murder, and that’s the reason I didn’t give it full stars. The murder in this book isn’t used as the main plot, but rather the reason the two main characters end up together in the end.
I thought this book was an interesting read. It was a little slow with the details and I felt like it was a little bit predictable as I was able to figure a lot of stuff out well before we actually found out; however, it was still well written and had a lot of depth to it. Although the topic was a little dark, there was quite a bit of humor which really got me. I enjoyed the style the author chose with the narrator changing throughout because there were so many main characters and this allowed us to see more into each of their lives and their thoughts. Overall, I did enjoy this book and I would probably read something else from this author.
While this was a good story I really didn’t find anything overly awesome about it. It is a coming of age story, wrapped in a new age re-telling of the Breakfast Club. It had all the typical characters, nerd, jock, bad boy, shy girl… but I did not connect to any of them and did not care about their woes.
The story was fast paced and I read it in a day, so there was enough story to keep me interested, but if I had put it down I most likely would not have picked it back up. The mystery is nicely written and I liked how the author structured the story. I will admit it took me quite awhile to keep track of the characters (and their “labels”) because they switched narration so often. Each character spoke (all four) in each chapter, that is just a lot of back and forth for me.
While nicely written I just can’t seem to see what all the fuss is about. It was a good story, just nothing to write home about.
Have you ever sat there and think why am I reading this? No. Well, with this book. I did. This was by far the most I don’t even have a word for it. I liked 2 well 3 things out of this book and oh my god other than that. It was terrible. It’s hard to say that about books it really is but this book deserves it.
When I first heard of this book it sounded amazing, and I was super excited for it, so when it appeared on NetGalley I requested and I was lucky enough to get an ARC. So thank you for that! But then I started it, and it went downhill straight away. The main characters are very stereotypical, you have the nerd, the popular girl, the loner, the bad boy and the jock, it wasn’t until halfway through the book I managed to learn what their names were. Simon is the lonerCooper is the jock, Bronwyn is the nerd, Addy is the popular girl and Nate is a bad boy. So yeah it took ages for me to learn the name. I hoped this would get better as it went on and it did a bit but I guessed the ending from like 5 or 6 chapters in, I saw it coming. It was so obvious. (I’m not going to spoil in case you want to read it) but I guessed it. The beginning was terrible it got goodish. near the middle and other than guessing the end it was sort of okay.
Before we even got started on the story let me just rant this out, one thing I hate is when authors use stereotypes (I did my dissertation on stereotypes in television anyway) like you know what if you want to use them do it. But actually, go towards trying to change the stereotypes as young people we are all brushed with these stereotypes that are frankly very harmful, yes I know it’s a book, but people will read this, impressionable people and they may think, is that how school is? Is this how we are meant to be? No, I don’t like it. If you want to use a stereotype then use it but challenge it, I felt in this book it was not challenged at all, in fact, the author buys into the stereotype and just reinstates it. These characters were flat, they didn’t really have a personality, they are your basic high school stereotypes, they were very 2D. I didn’t know much about them and it was just really hard to connect to the kids and characters are a massive part of me liking the book. I just wish we had more character building. Also, where was this even set other than a high school? I don’t even remember. I feel really bad saying all this but it’s truth. I just can authors not use stereotypes for their characters? Or if you do, actually give them personality. They were all annoying and honestly you wouldn’t know the difference if it wasn’t for their stereotypical identity whose pov it was. Many times I had to go back and be like whose chapter is that?
The story is about 5 kids who go to detention and only 4 come out, Simon one of the kids dies from an allergic reaction to peanut and in the detention room is Cooper, Bronwyn, Addy and Nate and thus when he dies it begins a police investigation and they are suspects in the murder of Simon. So even that sounds appealing and I was like yeah this is going to be amazing. Yep nope.
It’s soon revealed that they are suspects because Simon was about to release something on his About That blog page thing he had which exposed mostly everything that happened. Cooper was accused of steroids, his original post was deleted and changed, Bronwyn cheated on a test, Nate did drugs and sold drugs, and Addy cheated on her boyfriend. So not great people in the first place but that’s beside the point.
Parents really seemed absent in this book they were there but only when needed, like the only time Bronwyn’s parents were mentioned was when it came to the investigation, the same with Addy’s and Cooper’s and we got small mentions of Nate’s family who becomes slightly more involved. It bugs me that in YA novels that we have an absentee of parents or that they only appear when we need them. It drives me nuts. And these parents some of them are very questionable like just in what they do and even supporting their kids, it just they very questionable. But yes parents would be good.
I have a massive problem with the end of this book but I will put it down after the good parts and if you want to read it I shall say spoiler.
I feel like all I’ve been talking about is the bad… Well… I’ll say something good. I liked how all 4 suspects and sister and boyfriend kind of all came together to figure out what happened that day in detention and actually solve it. So I really liked that. I also really liked the growing relationship we had for Bronwyn and Nate that was the only time we really saw much personality from both of these characters. I really liked their relationship that they formed. So yeah that was a big plus for me in this book. Oh and we had one tiny bit of diversity, one of the characters are gay, but it honestly felt like it was there for the sake of causing drama. You don’t really have any inkling from the character himself that he is gay. So good but also kinda sucked.
That’s my ranting for those who don’t want to read the spoiler. Stop reading.
SPOILER.
STOP READING.
IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED.
IT’S GOING TO TELL YOU THE END.
STOP NOW.
That was really dramatic haha.
My massive problem with this book was the fact I feel like it kind of romanticises suicide. Simon killed himself it’s honestly the shittest reasons ever why he did it. It wasn’t justified in fact it felt stupid to his reasons. He was just jealous of these kids who had what he wanted. It was pure jealousy and the fact he got Jake (Addy’s boyfriend who she cheated on) involved too was stupid. He basically stabs all his friends in the back because he couldn’t control the fact he girlfriend cheated on him. The reasons that we are given for Simon committing suicide and Jake help him are stupid. They have no basis and they were pretty pathetic.
In the story, we are told Simon has depression which is how I guessed he did this to himself FYI. Nobody picked up on it, and everyone just ignored it. I get sometimes it slips through the cracks but no way, not one person noticed this. The book romanticises suicide for this and for the YA audience that this is directed it’s dangerous. It’s basically could be saying to someone you haven’t got all this so kill yourself. That is not OK. Nobody should be committing suicide for crap like what is in this story.
Rant over. But seriously. I just I didn’t like this book as I say it had 3 good things about it.
Great book I just wanted to keep reading when I say it down to get to sleep
I LOVE THIS BOOK! PLZ READ IT!
This was such a fun page-turner. It had a very Breakfast Club vibe. I loved the way all these unlikely characters got thrown together and were forced to sink or swim. It tested and broke some friendships, while strengthening and forming other. I loved the “who-done-it” aspect but for me it was the characters that kept me turning pages. You really feel for them and want to know if their lives are going to be turned upside down and how they’ll survive. An original concept. Very enjoyable.
I’d recommend it for anyone who likes books like Pretty Little Liars and The Summer Boyfriend (The Boyfriend Series Book 8)
This is one of those debut novels that make raving about it tough. Why? Because it’s so damn good…the story is so satisfying and entertaining, it leaves you wondering, “how will the poor dear ever top THIS?” Great characters, a wonderful ear for teenage speech, acute insight into the teenage mind, an enviable gift for storytelling and suspense, and finally, a real connection to human emotions makes this book a real cut above. Highly recommended.
Five students walk into detention and four students walk out of detention. A suspensful who dunit that left me wondering what did I miss once I reached the conclusion. This book centers on five high school students and the worlds they are hiding from their parents. This story was told from the perspective of the four remaining students in what felt like journal entries. I thoroughly enjoyed this read but felt that it lulled in parts but once the action was there it was fast paced.
Oh, I had no idea what the real truth was! I love books like this! Amazing!
This book was recommended to me by editor Krista Marino and I’m so glad! My rating is a 4.9 rounded up to a 5. Loved that it was reminiscent of The Breakfast Club, but then veered widely in the plot. Loved the four alternating points of view and how distinct each character was. Loved the fact that I guessed what was going on, but didn’t KNOW for sure until much later (as an author myself, it’s rare that I don’t see the seeds being sown and guess plots too easily, so the fact that this book kept me guessing was a welcomed change.) Loved that the book kept me turning pages. Great read and highly recommend!
An awesome debut novel by Ms. McManus. Talk about high school drama, whew! Simon had an online app that posted information about other teenagers and in a very negative fashion. When he and four other students are in detention at the same time and he dies, the other students are suspect immediately. As other secrets on Simon’s app are posted, the guilt continues to shift. No one really knows who killed Simon, or do they? No one is talking but everyone is speculating. Was it Nate, Addy, Cooper, or Bronwyn, or someone not even in the room? Well-written teenager mystery with added high school drama. Cannot wait for Ms. McManus’ next novel.
This one really threw me for a loop!! The story jumps from all four suspects’ POV and at first I thought, “oh, this might be a little bit too much.” However, it actually flows together so nicely, because the cliffhangers are ACTUAL cliffs and I hung from every single one of them! This book reinvented my love for reading. I haven’t felt this way reading a book in a long, long time.
One of Us is Lying has been on my TBR since it first released last year. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about it and One of Us is Lying lived up to all of my expectations! It’s advertised as a mix between Breakfast Club and Pretty Little Liars, which is exactly how I would describe it myself. I was constantly trying to guess who was behind the murder and I was continually surprised by the twists and turns. Some of the revelations were bigger than others, but all were perfectly weaved into the story.
I had the good fortune to read an early copy of ONE OF US IS LYING–and I’m so elated that Karen M. McManus’s thrilling YA debut has found such an enthusiastic readership since it released last spring! The thing I loved most about this twisty, thoroughly engaging narrative was falling in love with every character, even though I never knew who to trust. Addy, Bronwyn, Cooper, and Nate begin as types we think we know well, but they quickly deepen and intensify into three-dimensional, compelling characters. Who might be getting framed. Or who might be killers.
Karen M. McManus nails it on all fronts: concept, writing, characters, suspense, and that little something extra that brings ONE OF US IS LYING to life–a fantastic twist.
For the inside scoop on this breakout thriller, you can find my Debut-to-Debut interview with Karen right here: https://kitfrick.com/2017/05/30/karen-m-mcmanus-one-of-us-is-lying/