One of Us Is Lying Readalong!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Did you feel immediately gripped by this book or did it take you a little while to get into it?
- Are you enjoying the writing style?
- Did any of the characters become an instant favourite of yours or were you thrown off liking any of them too much as one of them could be a killer?
- Who do you think is guilty at this stage of the book?-

I was engaged immediately. I love "American High School" style writing & The Breakfast Club is a favourite movie of mine.

I liked the four main characters - Bronwyn was my favourite.

At the start I thought the killer was (view spoiler)[Mr Avery. (hide spoiler)]

[Lauren]

Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: " Did you feel immediately gripped by this book or did it take you a little while to get into it?
- Are you enjoying the writing style?
- Did any of the characters become an instant favourite of you..."

I think Bronwyn might be my favourite as well because I identify with her quite a bit!

Interested by who you suspected to be the killer! :O

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Lauren wrote: "Interested by who you suspected to be the killer! :O."

Don't open the following spoiler unless you have completed your read! (view spoiler)[ My suspect changed quite a bit over the course of the book. If it had been Avery, the author wouldn't have played fair as he disappeared from the narrative. (hide spoiler)]

[Kylie]

Carol - at the very beginning I thought it was who you thought also!
I have since finished reading, so will just copy down my notes after chapter 15 - again they might read bullet point like as I don’t want to add to it incase I spoil it for others!

Chapters 8-15
I’m more confused than ever, now!
Bronwyn and Nates relationship is sweet and lovely to watch grow but I can’t help think one of them is about to be really hurt.
What is Coopers secret!?
I don’t feel any of them are capable of murders, so I’m confused and unsure what to think. Is this just one big smoke screen? It seems so intense for high school!
Mr Avery - is there more to the story there? Why is there not more focus on the planted cellphones? Interesting that the author has chosen not to write more about Avery + the reason they ended up in detention, or the car crash.
Hopefully we find out more about Simon, I’m wondering if he somehow set this up? Was it actually suicide? But that doesn’t explain the blog posts - I wondered if it was pre written posts, but it can’t be with the details being very current and after death. But I would like to hear more about who was and his life? Where did he get all the info for these secrets, too? Who is he really?
Feeling terrible for Addy, but is this a genuine breakdown (haircut), or is it a smokescreen? Or something simple like annoying her mother?

Definitely hooked though, love all the stories entwining into one great big mystery.

[Lauren]

Hmm, I'm at a loss at the moment too! I really like Nate and Bronwyn's relationship as well, and I agree about one of them getting hurt... I have a feeling it's going to be Nate. Especially as he doesn't seem to let people in. I'll be really heartbroken if that happens! They've been one of my favourite parts of the book so far. I *really* don't want one of them to be the one who's lying... I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing about it being very intense for high school. Especially when all the news vans start arriving and the stories show up in the papers/on the news.

I really want to like Addy but I'm still finding it pretty hard.

It frustrates me that the students spent so much time talking about the cell phones that weren't theirs but it seems not to be a thing? Surely someone couldn't be that unreasonable? Or maybe they would, I'm not sure.

When the four of them end up in Principal Gupta’s office I was kind of thinking all hell was going to break loose but that didn't seem to be the case?

How's everyone feeling about the pacing at this stage (almost halfway through!)?

- Lauren :)

[Bex]

Phew! I'm finally up to date with reading.
This is a reread for me, but I don't think I remember that much of what happened from the first time round.

Chapters 1-7
It took me a few chapters to get into it, but I definitely love the breakfast club like vibe of the group!

I like the writing style and that you get to see everyones POV. If it was just one character telling the story, you wouldnt really know what was going on in other people's brains or how their family and friends were reacting. I think it works well with this sort of book - as a reader, you get to be the detective and get in everyone's brains and hear/read their side of the story.

I think Addy and Bronwyn are my faves. But I feel like anyone could be the killer
Have to say, I HATE Simon. Anyone who gets joy out of other people's suffering is a big NOPE

Chapters 8-15
I ship Bronwyn and Nate! They're almost like Claire and Bender from the breakfast club. In saying that, I think I read someone describe this book as breakfast club meets Riverdale. That was totally the reason I picked this up the first time around.
I definitely has the intensity that Riverdale has.

I like Addy, but I also feel sorry for her. She seems really naive, and lonely now. I'm hoping for her to have a good old "I don't need no man" realisation and become her own person

I have to say, I like Maeve. She seems pretty onto it. If I had to be friends with one of the characters, it would probably be her!

[Kelsey]

I totally agree with everyone about shipping Bronwyn and Nate! I am so enjoying all their little moments together and their late night phone calls, especially that joke about the "come round and meet my lizard' cracked me up haha.

The author does it so well how she introduces more characters that could possibly have something to do with the murder but then later gives you all these options why they wouldn't. I agree with Kylie that I think Mr Avery is very suspicious with being so unreasonable about not believing them about the phones and also it would be the easiest for him to poison Simon as he would of been in that classroom before the kids had arrived.

I also feel like Brownyn's sister might be a bit of a black sheep. She could hack into Simon account, which could explain who is posting on tumblr and she knew so much about how he was posting and it feels like she has been planning something for a while.

I think at the moment I still can't get my head around it being one of the main 4 but I'm excited to read more and see if my thoughts switch as more secrets get revealed!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I've had to return the copy I borrowed, sorry.

I'll wait till everyone is t the final conclusions stage to comment further. :)

[Lauren]

Okay, I now feel REALLY mean for splitting the chapters this way! As soon as I got to the end of Chapter 22 I desperately wanted to keep reading, it's getting so so interesting. I think that after I've written this post I'll keep reading.

The one thing that was really stressing me out about reading this was that only Cooper's secret seemed to be incorrect but after finishing these chapters it's all seeming a bit more suspect...

Is everyone still suspecting the same person or have all your thoughts changed?

I still really like Bronwyn and Nate but am feeling so suspicious of Janae?!

[Courtney]

I totally worked out Cooper's secret long long before the reveal of it. It was just final confirmation when it got told! Janae is definitely the most suspicious person, particularly with that run out...

[Sam]

Even though this is a reread I’m struggling to put this down! It’s just so entertaining!!
I’m also seriously loving seeing everyone trying to figure it out- I can’t wait to see what you think of the final reveals!

[Kelsey]

Okay I first have to say with these last chapters that I'm so happy that Nate and Bronwyn finally kissed! eekkk! They are so cute and I just hope nothing happens to them. I feel like I was holding out for their little steamy moment in the basement and the author delivered!

But yeah I agree with Courtney that I had a feeling what Cooper's secret would be but now I also really want to know why Simon never posted his secret and instead made up a lie? I'm now wondering if this really is Simon at all or if maybe Janae is the one behind the gossip posts? She is acting so weird and I'm really worried that she took something from Addy room when she came over. Something that she could use to frame her??!!!

Also Addy character arc is getting so good with her transformation of not just her hair but also her independence and that she doesn't need no man. The moment when she is talking to Jake and realised she didn't need to put herself through this and got up and walked out was the best! :)

I'm really excited to read this last bit and see how everything ties together!!!

[Lauren]

Okay, the reading part of the readalong is over so I think we can agree that spoilers are okay from here on out?

If you're not up to date yet then this is your warning that there are spoilers below!

How did everyone feel about the ending...?

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

*settles comfortably into chair*

I liked it. My idea of a good mystery is one where I didn't guess the solution - but I feel I should have! I felt there were enough clues there.

The main thing I have a few quibbles with is (in the wake of the Varsity Blues scandal in the states) that there should have been consequences for Bronwyn. Cheating is cheating. This book was written before the scandal broke.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_co...

[Bex]

Overall I liked the ending. None of them hurt Simon.
But the fact that Simon was willing to kill himself makes me sad. He needed help, and he needed friends. But also, he tried to frame people for murder! No matter what they did to him, they didn't deserve that!
So, I guess I'm a bit torn as to how I feel about the ending.

I like the way Bronwyn and Addy were portrayed. Normally the popular girl has no heart, and the smart one is a goody two shoes.
Addy had a heart, and was kind to Janae. And that ultimately lead to them finding out what happened.
But Bronwyn...I like her...but I do agree with Carol. She cheated. She should have had consequences! but I guess being nearly framed for murder and all the attention she got in the wake of Simon's death was her consequences in a way.

Rereading this definitely reminded me why I love Karen's writing and I am SO excited for One of Us Is Next to come out!!!

[Kelsey]

Yeah I definitely didn't see the ending that it would be Simon in the end but it did make me feel sad that he was behind it all. In a way I wanted it to be more of a shocking twist where it was one of the four but Karen's writing was so good in terms of how she pulls you into the story and makes you question everyone.

I agree that Bronwyn though she was my fave character she should of had something happen as she was cheating on a school exam. But I'm also glad that her and Nate actually worked out - the pages were running out there and I was worried about how it would conclude! But yay for a good romance wrap up!

Overall I really enjoyed the story, the pacing and the characters and now I'm looking forward to see how this story with tie-in with the sequel. Maybe some characters will pop in for a quick appearance which would be great!

[Naomi]

If you still need convincing to check out ONE OF US IS NEXT, have a squiz at this long review from the Guardian (a rarity for YA titles):

https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

' McManus keeps the juicy subplots ticking over and drip-feeds reveals as clinically as an IV tube. '