One of Us Is Lying (One of Us Is Lying #1) by Karen M. McManus - Restarting April 5th 2024

[Karen]

Read at your own pace. Don't forget to hide spoilers.

[Tammy]

Is anyone planning to read this? It sounds really good

[Karen]

Myself and Meaghan have this planned. It fits the Jumanji challenge (BR).

[Heather]

I have this in my TBR. Can I join in?

[Karen]

Absolutely Heather. The more the merrier.

[Tammy]

I'd like to join in too :)

[Tammy]

Did the release date change?

[Karen]

Release date is May 30th, but I got a copy from Netgalley. I assume anyone else doing the buddy read will have an ARC.

[Sarah Elizabeth]

chapter 1 (view spoiler)[ Well, Simon sounds like the local Gossip Girl. It's very strange that they were all set up to end up in detention together, and the missing epinephrine pens can't be a coincidence. Not good. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah Elizabeth]

chapter 2 (view spoiler)[ and he's dead. oh dear. (hide spoiler)]

[Abi]

Sarah wrote: "chapter 2 [spoilers removed]"

Yep!

[Tammy]

Ah. I assumed it was out. I guess I'll have to wait til the end of the month to read this one. I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys think :)

[Karen]

11%-ch 1-3. Hope I enjoy this. The opening has got me interested. Mix of characters, who all seem to have something to hide.

[Karen]

21%-up to ch7. Think this will frustrate and entertain in equal measure. Someone has to have set this up, right?

[Karen]

36%-up to ch12. Jake is so controlling that I don't feel any sympathy for him. Nate has more depth than we first thought. Nothing obvious to point to any of the four at the moment.

[Karen]

60% up to ch19. Suspicious of everyone now...waiting for a Scooby Doo style moment!

[Karen]

68%-up to ch22. Have to say, this is so well-written. I'm doubting everyone and everything they do. Can't wait to get the proper answers!

[Karen]

75% up to ch25. Seriously? I can't have got it that wrong...

[Karen]

Finished. Couldn't wait to finish this one - will be recommending this to my students.
Link -https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Sarah Elizabeth]

chapter 15 (view spoiler)[ well that's a drastic haircut. I still don't know who did it. Cooper is a little suspicious though as he has so much to lose if the whole steroid thing comes out. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah Elizabeth]

chapter 17 (view spoiler)[ his mother turned up? I'm ready for some answers now. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah Elizabeth]

chapter 18 (view spoiler)[ so Kris is a guy! and Cooper is what, bi? or is he just gay and never cared about his girlfriend at all? I wonder what his family's reaction to that news would be. I can't imagine his father would take it well. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah Elizabeth]

chapter 21 (view spoiler)[ so what was Janae doing in her room while she was getting drinks? (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah Elizabeth]

chapter 24 (view spoiler)[ I don't believe Nate did it. I'm starting to think that Simon did it all himself to be original. (hide spoiler)]

[Karen]

Sarah wrote: "chapter 21 [spoilers removed]"

It was a rather suspicious event - alarm bells were seriously ringing here.

[Karen]

Sarah wrote: "chapter 24 [spoilers removed]"

I think it was around this point that I started to think the same.

[Sarah Elizabeth]

Karen wrote: "Sarah wrote: "chapter 24 [spoilers removed]"

I think it was around this point that I started to think the same."

(view spoiler)[ my only question is, where did he get the peanut oil from? and what did he do with the container it was in? the police obviously didn't find it anywhere, so where did it go? (hide spoiler)]

[T.J.]

Sarah wrote: "chapter 1 [spoilers removed]"
My sentiments exactly...

[T.J.]

Chapter 1 (5%)
(view spoiler)[
So what do we know?
Simon has a gossip app that has targeted almost everyone. It seems it hasn't targeted Bronwyn yet.

Bronwyn, if we are to believe her narration (and since it's written in present tense, I think we are meant to), didn't know that Simon was going to be in detention until she got there.

Cooper wonders if Simon has something on Bronwyn, the way he teases her. Cooper apparently hasn't been targeted by the app yet, but most of his friends have.

Addy is a sweet girl who, in Cooper's eyes, is not the type who can stand up for herself.

Lost of suspicious events going on.

The car crash is obviously a diversion to get Mr. Avery out of the room.

Nate runs to the window, then Bronwyn, then Addy, then Cooper (who is narrating now), then Simon. We don't see if Mr. Avery actually goes to the window, but I assume he at least gets a look out because he decides to go down to see if he can help.

But who put the cell phones in the kids bags? (All but Nate's). Who took Simon's water bottle? Did someone put something in Nate's water? If so, who? Who took Simon's Epi-pen? Who did Cooper hear running down the hall behind him? Who took all the EpiPens out of the nurse's office? Where was the nurse?
(hide spoiler)]
Interesting mix of teens:
They've got a "jock", a "princess", a "brain", and a "criminal" -- in Breakfast Club tradition, they are missing a "basket case".

[Sarah Elizabeth]

TJ wrote: "Chapter 1 (5%)
."

(view spoiler)[ The car accident really did seem like a diversion, and I was left with all those questions after the first chapter too! Especially though, where did the peanut oil come from? whoever had it must have had it stored in something! (hide spoiler)]

[T.J.]

Sarah wrote: "chapter 2 [spoilers removed]" (8%)
(view spoiler)[
Sarah wrote: "and he's dead. oh dear."

Now it's pretty clear there was foul play, though it was rather clear from all the weird things that happened in the first chapter.

On a side note, I like the dynamic between Bronwyn and Nate...

We've also been introduced to some new characters (suspects): Perfect Keely and Jealous Jake.
(hide spoiler)]

[T.J.]

Sarah wrote: "TJ wrote: "Chapter 1 (5%) [spoilers removed]"
(view spoiler)[
Sarah wrote: "The car accident really did seem like a diversion, and I was left with all those questions after the first chapter too! Especially though, where did the peanut oil come from? whoever had it must have had it stored in something! "

My first inclination was that someone else -- someone who was not in detention -- slipped in when everyone was looking out the window. (Cooper heard footsteps behind him in the hallway). On the other hand that is pretty risky if you're going to commit murder... Anyone could turn his/her head. I went back to make sure everyone went to the window and they did. So that gave me the idea that it could be more than one person working together. Addy seems easily manipulated...

But my big question is: How did that person know Simon would drink water? Does Simon drink more than the average kid? They were only going to be there for an hour, and no one else needed water. Simon had a water bottle with him -- is that normal? I never had a water bottle with me in school. So someone stole Simon's water bottle, knowing that he would want to drink water within the one hour. Strange.

(hide spoiler)]

[T.J.]

Chapter 3 (12%)
(view spoiler)[
Okay, Bronwyn is not as squeaky clean as she lets on. She cheated, presumably, to get her Chemistry grade up from a D to an A in the second half of junior year, and her entire future depends on that information not getting out.

Other suspicious behavior: Addy claimed to be busy writing her assignment when Cooper could've sworn she hadn't started. Why lie about that?

Okay, and Cooper evidently is having a secret affair, which he definitely would like to hide from his perfect girlfriend and his family.

A side note: Cooper's dad strikes me as being a bit out-there -- forcing Cooper to learn to write with his right hand so as not to harm his pitching arm...

(hide spoiler)]

[T.J.]

Chapter 7 (25%)
(view spoiler)[
I wonder what Cooper's secret is. I don't think he improved his game because he was juicing. We know he has a secret relationship. Maybe he's gay and he wants to hide that from his father...

(hide spoiler)]

[T.J.]

Chapter 8 (27%)
(view spoiler)[
So Bronwyn is still hiding something else -- other than the cheating -- from her father. I wonder what?
(hide spoiler)]

[T.J.]

Chapter 9 (30%)
(view spoiler)[
Addy said she told her sister "almost everything" -- I wonder what she is still hiding... Maybe she's pregnant.
(hide spoiler)]

[T.J.]

Chapter 14 (45%)
(view spoiler)[
Whoa! So Maeve's got some secrets too. What happened to her freshman year?

...and she sure has taken elaborate steps to track Simon's activity, even before he died.

And again I wonder what Cooper's secret is. And why was his post changed? What is in the encrypted file?

Who is Kris? Is it really a guy from baseball? This may strengthen my suspicion that Cooper is hiding his homosexuality... Maybe Kris helped him improve his pitch (rather than steroids).

Addy is lucky to be rid of jealous, controlling Jake!
(hide spoiler)]

[T.J.]

Chapter 15 (49%)
(view spoiler)[
Yay, Addy! Glad she's starting to make her own decisions and speak for herself.

I don't think any of the four were behind Simon's death, except maybe Cooper. But I'm pretty sure it is someone else. Janae is also a suspect, as are Jake and Maeve, and Leah Jackson (who tried to kill herself), and the kid who moved away.

It had to be more than one person because two cars crashed in the parking lot as a diversion, so at least three.
(hide spoiler)]

[T.J.]

Karen wrote: "21%-up to ch7. Think this will frustrate and entertain in equal measure. Someone has to have set this up, right?"
Right!

[T.J.]

Karen wrote: "36%-up to ch12. Jake is so controlling that I don't feel any sympathy for him. Nate has more depth than we first thought. Nothing obvious to point to any of the four at the moment."

Agree. Addy's better off without Jake. I like Nate, on the other hand.

[T.J.]

Sarah wrote: "chapter 15 [spoilers removed]"
(view spoiler)[
Sarah wrote: "well that's a drastic haircut. I still don't know who did it. Cooper is a little suspicious though as he has so much to lose if the whole steroid thing comes out."

Cooper is most suspicious to me as well, but I don't think he took steroids. It's something else... something bigger... (at least in his eyes, because he was relieved that the gossip post only mentioned the steroids).
(hide spoiler)]

[T.J.]

Sarah wrote: "chapter 18 [spoilers removed]" (60%)
(view spoiler)[

Sarah wrote: "so Kris is a guy! and Cooper is what, bi? or is he just gay and never cared about his girlfriend at all? I wonder what his family's reaction to that news would be. I can't imagine his father would take it well."

Bingo! I called Cooper's secret at 25%!
The way he chose the most beautiful girl in school, who happens to be sweet as sugar and seemingly perfect in every way, because that is what is expected of him... and then can't get into her. This led me to suspect he is gay.

But now that my suspicions are verified, Cooper is less of a murder suspect for me. Now he's just a guy who is trying to keep his private life private (especially from his overbearing father).

Maeve is still a suspect -- even stronger now that I know what Simon did to her, but less so because I don't think she would frame her sister, unless... she was jealous about Bronwyn's success, even though she cheated... But Maeve certainly is smart enough to mastermind this, and get help from other victims, like Leah and the boy who changed schools.

Jake is a suspect -- I don't know what his motives may be, but he's aggressive and controlling.

Cooper's dad is a suspect. Maybe Simon was blackmailing him about revealing Cooper's secret... Cooper's dad is a bit... out there.

Simon's friend Janae is a suspect too. I don't know what her story is, but it could be unrequited love? And she is crying all the time. Guilt?
(hide spoiler)]

[T.J.]

Chapter 21 (68%)
(view spoiler)[
So after reading this chapter, I have another suspicion. Maybe Simon was mentally ill, and maybe this was some kind of elaborate suicide, and he wanted to bring a chosen few down with him.

Janae says, "When Simon was himself, he wouldn't have wanted this for you."

What does that mean? When Simon was himself? Was he not himself when he decided to destroy Addy?

"But the past couple of years have been rough," Janae says.
How so? What did he go through?

If Simon did plan his own death, he would have needed accomplices, like Janae, to drive the diversion car.

What's with the sickos website? Did Janae know about it?

And why did Janae invite herself over to Addy's, ask for a drink to be alone in Addy's room, and then leave? Plant evidence? Get on Addy's computer? Or is this just a red herring for us?

(hide spoiler)]

[T.J.]

Chapter 22 (71%)
(view spoiler)[
I just want to say that the four are growing on me, and I don't think any of them did it.

Bronwyn and Addy still have a secret out there each, but I like all four and don't think they were involved in Simon's death.
(hide spoiler)]

[T.J.]

Chapter 23 (73%)
(view spoiler)[
Oh, that scene in the cafeteria was pure brilliance. Performance art.

Nate telling Vanessa to "try to make that happen," Bronwyn kissing Nate, and Luis asking why it couldn't have been apple day. I am laughing out loud. I hope this book becomes a movie. This will be my favorite scene I'm sure!

It's not the Breakfast Club, but the Murder Club! ;)

(hide spoiler)]

[T.J.]

Finished a couple of days ago, but my original post got deleted when I turned the page by mistake. Ooops.
(view spoiler)[
So I guessed the "whodunit" at 68% -- whooo hoooo!

I added Jake and Janae to the suspect list at 49% and kept them there till the end. I couldn't figure out their motives, though. (Not sure I really buy Jake's though -- seems like much too elaborate, and illegal) way to deal with a broken heart, imho).

I also considered that maybe Simon hadn't planned to commit suicide, but to just grab some major attention, and that someone else stole all the epi-pens (someone who knew about his plan and was helping him carry it out). I considered that there may be a twist like this when Kris came out and expressed my suspicions about Simon being behind it all. I thought -- this is too early for a character to come out and say it -- although he said it long after I did ;).

I thought the ending was a bit cliche, though. I've seen this scenario too many times in teen/YA/chick movies or films: Brooding MC breaks up with his love interest near the end "for her own sake" or "because he's no good for her" or "to protect her" or "because they're from different worlds and it would never work out" or... yada, yada, yada.

Then he reconsiders and surprises said love interest at her big performance, debut, dance, graduation, before she's about to get married, before she leaves the country, before she joins the army, or the convent... and then confesses his love for her because, of course, he was a fool, and he can't live without her.

Nate and Brodwyn were such amusing, creative, original characters, and their relationship was amusing, creative, if not entirely original: uptight, ambitious, ivy-league-bound, rich, inexperienced-with-boys girl hooks up with dangerous, poor, from-broken-family, drug-dealing hotty -- it's been done before. But still, they deserve a creative, amusing, and original ending...

But I loved this book, nonetheless! It was a page-turner. It kept me guessing and second-guessing and reading until late in the night and into the early morning hours... I can highly recommend it!
(hide spoiler)]

[Meaghan]

Karen wrote: "11%-ch 1-3. Hope I enjoy this. The opening has got me interested. Mix of characters, who all seem to have something to hide."

(view spoiler)[Yea I'm definitely intrigued! So far all the characters seem to be walking stereotypes though, so I'm curious how that will play out. (hide spoiler)]

[Meaghan]

Karen wrote: "60% up to ch19. Suspicious of everyone now...waiting for a Scooby Doo style moment!"

I changed who I thought was the murderer literally every chapter! You get pulled in so many directions!

[Meaghan]

Epilogue:
(view spoiler)[ Am I the only one super annoyed by the random thrown in romantic issues? It made it feel like the epilogue was based mainly around Bronwyn and Nate and their "romance," not everyone healing from the traumatic experience. Additionally, I lost most respect for Nate. I get him having issues with people leaving, and that it should be dealt with, but now it felt a tad realistic. Bronwyn worked endlessly to get him out of jail, and all she gets is a cold, monotone thank you from a guy she was super close with a week ago??? (hide spoiler)]

[Meaghan]

TJ wrote: "Chapter 23 (73%)

Oh, that scene in the cafeteria was pure brilliance. Performance art.

Nate telling Vanessa to "try to make that happen," Bronwyn kissing Nate, and Luis asking why it couldn't ha..."

(view spoiler)[ Yesss I loved this scene. All my little characters were banding together and caring for each other after being somewhat pushed out by their old friends. This little murder club ended up way too close to my heart, especially with them all having this giant accusation over their head D: and with none of them being truly trustworthy, as the title hints at (hide spoiler)]