One of Us Is Lying – Karen M. Mcmanus
Who is Karen M. McManus?
Karen M. McManus is a # 1 New York Times, USA Today and international bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying, Two Can Keep a Secret, One of Us Is Next, and The Cousins. Her work has been translated into more than 40 languages around the world. Karen M. McManus lives in Massachusetts and studied English at the College of the Holy Cross and continued her postgraduate studies in journalism at Northeastern University. In addition to writing, she works in marketing and communications. The author’s literary debut with an unusual crime plot One of Us Is Lying (YOLi 2017) has been a huge success in the world. [1]
One of Us Is Lying
The book is written from the point of view of several characters, so the reader can learn about the deepest secrets of all those involved. They can also understand characters’ feelings and emotions better and have the opportunity to see what they really think about certain events. The book is not written in a boring way. On the contrary, you will have trouble breaking away from it, as most chapters end in tension and make the reader think about the plot and desiring to know what will happen in the next chapter.
Content
Five high school students live a peaceful student life. However, one tragic day at school, when every one of them mysteriously gets detention, turns their lives upside down. Ordinary students will become prime suspects in the murder of Simon, their classmate. But who is really guilty? Until Simon’s death, the four students, Bronwyn, Addy, Cooper and Nate, knew of themselves only as people attending the same school. There were no deep friendships or conflicts between them. But this tragedy united them all. Although they suspect each other of murder, they realize that they are also the only people with whom they can talk about this and have an understanding they don’t get from everyone else. They decide to track down the killer together, even if it could be one of them.
Main characters
Bronwyn – She is an exemplary student who is known among teachers for her good performance in class and excellent results when it comes to writing tests. One would call Bronwyn a typical nerd. But she also makes mistakes and has her secrets that she doesn’t want the public to know.
Addy – You’d probably classify her as the typical star at school. Everyone wants to be like her, look like her and so on. But the reality is different than it seems, and for Addy, popularity is not everything. Her behavior at school hides her insecurities and internal struggles, and her situation at home is also not the best.
Cooper – A talented athlete, popular at school, but doesn’t feel the need to act like he is something more. His relationship with his girlfriend looks perfect, although Cooper hasn’t felt so great about this lately. He has a secret that he doesn’t want the public to know only because it would damage a relationship with his father.
Nate – A typical renegade involved with drugs and other problems with law. At school, however, no one has a problem with him, even though they know what he does in his free time. He does not have the best family conditions at home and in a way he depends only on himself.
Review
I really liked this book. It wasn’t boring and they didn’t unnecessarily stretch the story. I certainly was one of those readers who could not tear themselves from One of Us Is Lying. I needed to know what would happen next and how the story would turn out, so I read the book fairly quickly. However, I cannot say that this book has somehow extremely interested me. It was a pleasant change, but there would certainly be people who would find the book and the story too simple and not really elaborate. However, since I’m not a critical reader, I think One of Us Is Lying is a good book for relaxation and shifting to another world.
Resources
[1] https://www.karenmcmanus.com/about ; https://www.bux.sk/autori/80213-karen-m-mcmanusova.html
