One of Us Is Lying #1

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

This thread is to discuss One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus, the first book of the One of Us Is Lying series.


Pages: 360 pages


Length: 1 Month (July)


Participants: Eirelyn, Trisha, Ilse, Sneha, Nóri, Michelle, Syam Manoj, Alyana .


Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

[Michelle]

I have already gotten this book in e-book form from my library, so I'm excited to start reading it next month! :)

[Syam Manoj]

Yay! Me too, just got the e-book today.
(view spoiler)[ This is my first time writing something on goodreads, hence, verifying how to use spoiler tags correctly XD (hide spoiler)]

[Eirelyn]

I'm finishing up my final June read. This one is on hold, so hopefully I can start right at the beginning of the month. :D

[Nóri]

Starting this today. I'm in the mother of all reading slumps right now, so I'm hoping for a quick, fun, twisty read to dislodge me from here.

[Alyana]

Started this last night, most likely will be finished in a couple of days.

[Michelle]

I also hope it's a bit of a quicker read then the book I'm reading now. I like when the book goes slowly, but I dislike reading books after each other that all go slowly. So I hope this will read quickly :)

I hope this book will send you on the right way Nóri!

[Michelle]

I finished my second book of the month just now and am going to start this book! For people that already started; what are your thoughts so far? :)

[Alyana]

Finished the book the other day and I liked it. Didn't guess the culprit until the end of the book which made it more interesting for me. If we ever continue with the series, I'm up for it!

[Nóri]

I breezed through it until about halfway through, then I felt it started to slog a little. Still, I'll probably finish tonight, and I'm curious to see how it all ends!

It's not entirely what I expected in that there aren't too many twists, and most of them are pretty predictable. But the main characters are great and I enjoy their interactions most of all.

[Eirelyn]

I've read through chapter 5 so far, and it's been enjoyable. It's a really easy read, and I love how well-developed the characters are already.

[Michelle]

Thank you for your comments! I'm about halfway through now, on chapter 15 and I'm finally into it. it took me a while to get to know the different characters. We're diving deeper into their lives and I'm particularly interested in Nate's behaviour. But I don't think he did it. I also don't know if it's one of the four. But I'll find out later! It is indeed an easy read :)

[Eirelyn]

I just finished last night! :D

(view spoiler)[I enjoyed this book all the way through. It was a very quick, easy read. I liked the plot line and the twist at the end (although, if I had been trying to put 2 & 2 together better, I probably would've figured it out because there were several clues!). I felt like the characters were very well-developed & likable. I looked forward to reading from each one of their perspectives, and I like how they were all flawed in some way.

They had all made mistakes, but what Simon did to them (and everyone else on his blog) was just horrible. It was really sad that he felt so unaccepted that he wanted to take his own life. I felt like that part of it was glossed over a little bit, and that Simon was made into a wholly bad guy. Obviously, trying to take everyone down with him by framing them for murder was terrible, but he wasn't an evil person, and he didn't start out wanting to hurt anyone -- years of rejection & loneliness had festered and manifested the new vindictive Simon.

Also, it was really sad when, after the four of them figured out the truth, they were talking about when Simon was dying, and how he seemed like he was scared & had maybe changed his mind in that moment. I remember a psychology teacher in high school talking about that -- how a lot of people (teens, especially) don't think suicide through. They think, "Oh this will show everyone!" or something similar, not truly realizing that after that moment, they're actually going to be dead. So even if it "shows everyone," they're not going to know about it... They're just going to be gone. The Bayview Four talking about Simon maybe regretting his decision while he was dying just reminded me of that... (hide spoiler)]

On a better note, I like how (view spoiler)[there were happy endings all around for almost everyone. I'm a sucker for happy endings, so I was glad to see that. I don't know how everyone else's books were set up, but mine had an extra tidbit at the end. Not just the epilogue, but after the Acknowledgements & the Resources, there was "The Bayview Four: Where Are They Now" section that was like an extra epilogue. I like to read some of the post-book stuff sometimes. If I hadn't, I would have completely missed that section! But I though it helped add to the happy ending that most of them saw.

Maeve, though, with her comment: "Now it looks as though things in Bayview are, finally, exactly as they should be. I'm sure they'll stay that way. What could possibly go wrong?" Oh, Maeve. Famous last words. XD (hide spoiler)]