One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus

[SondraGrim]

In One of Us is Lying, five very different students find themselves in detention. The plot thickens and the mystery begins when only four of them make it out alive. In the quest to find out the truth, countless secrets are revealed causing irreparable damage to lives and reputations of those involved. This whole story is a mystery about the death of the gossip blogger Simon but more than that it is about the social relationships of all the students involved.

Bronwyn, Addy, Cooper and Nate are the surviving students and it is their secrets and lives that we follow to the end of the story. There is more than what meets the eye to every relationship in this book making it a non-stop page turner from start to finish. Addy is the popular homecoming princess dating the star football player. As her story unfolds it is the tension in her relationship with Jake because of her secrets that play a major role in the plot itself. The tension with her mother and her once friends also play a major role in her development as a character. Bronwyn, the Yale bound perfect student, has tension with her parents because of her secrets. Through the tragedy of the death in detention, Bronwyn finds her self in a relationship with the bad boy Nate which her parents do not approve of. As the story progresses, her relationships transform her as a character and add to the plot twists. Nate is the resident bad boy who is on probation and lives "on the wrong side of the tracks". The tension between him and his alcoholic father and absent drug addict mother play a major part in who he is as a character. The tension between Nate and his peers, as well as Nate and the authorities, because of his not so innocent past lead to plot twists and surprises. The tension that Nate has with himself and accepting his love for Bronwyn also play a major role in his development as a character as well as the plot progression. Cooper, the soon to be MLB star, has tension with his perfect girfriend Keely because of his indifference and a secret that he is hiding. This secret then causes tension with his family and his peers which adds even more twists in the plot. All four students have major tension with the deceased Simon because he knows all of their secrets making them even bigger suspects than they already were just because of their presence in detention when he died.

This book reveals secrets and lies until the very end. I read this in less than 24 hours because I could not put it down. One of Us is Lying is definitely a mystery worth unraveling.