One of Us Is Lying

Title: One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus  

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Genre: Mystery

Justification:

          When choosing a mystery/suspense book the first goal was to make sure it was not going to be too scary. When researching books One of Us is Lying kept appearing. This book is the winner of 10 awards (Junior Library Guild, 2018). These awards include the YALSA 2018 Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, ILA Young Adults’ choices, and BuzzFeed 28 best YA Books of 2017. These awards and the synopsis made the book rousing. This book draws the reader in and make them sit on the edge of their seats as they try to solve the mystery. After reading this book the sequel was immediately added to my wish list.

Evaluation of the book:

This book is told through multiple points of view. The book shifts between the four main characters. Each character tells part of the story through their point of view. The author titles the viewpoint before each section. Several of the chapters have multiple points of view take place in the same chapter. By doing this the reader can tell what is happening in each person’s head and life. The four accused murders were all different and came from different perspectives and walks of life. The way that each one had a perspective allowed the reader to get to know them. Addy grows significantly in the book from the beginning to the end. This can be mostly seen through her thoughts. Cooper and Bronwyn have secrets they do not share with other people. The view points let the author know what the character feels and thinks such as when Cooper says “I hate that part of me. But it’s there.” (McManus, 2017, p. 310)

The book is full of tension. The first chapter kicks the book off with Simon’s gossip blog. “A sex tape. A pregnancy scare. Two cheating scandals. And that’s just this week’s update” (McManus, 2017, p. 3) From there four students are in detention when a murder takes place. All the evidence points to the four students at first. Each student however is innocent. The book deals with the stigma of them being ostracized, outed, and dealing with the media and social fallout. The students must deal with cops, lawyers, and their families as they become the prime suspects in this murder investigation. As Bownyn works to clear her love interest Nick and herself they learn more about Simon’s disturbing behavior. When the blog entries keep appearing after Simon’s death that also increases the tension of the book. The very end of the book become shocking as Jake tries to kill. The book does have some calm points to make the action scenes more profound.

Throughout the book dialogue is incorporated. The reader can hear each character internal and external voices. The conversations with the police officers are recorded as dialogue. This helps to set the tone of the book.  The dialogue is sandwiched between the characters thoughts to give the reader a full view of the scene. The dialogue sets the tone of the book and helps illustrate how the characters are treated. Detective Wheeler is calm and concerned about Addy treating her like a child (McManus, 2017, p. 82). The dialogue builds the relationships, the scene and supports the story.

Response:

          © Having a child brings out certain characteristics in people. Everyone says I am hard on my daughter and hold her to high expectations. This book made me think of Brownyn’s cheating. She cheated in a class because her expectations where too high and unattainable. This was mind changing. After reading the book I became a little lighter. I thought about the consequences. I love my daughter but want her to know it is ok to fail.

          (d) Addy never learned to speak up for herself. This book teachers her to become her own person and stand up for herself. In the beginning of the book she depends on her boyfriend. He makes all the decisions of them and is very controlling. As they break up, she learns to control her own life and destiny. I think this is very important for young women and men to read. Teens need to know they can be their own person and make their own decisions. This emotional abuse took a large toll on her. She needed to find herself after all the trauma. It is important for women to see the importance of finding themselves and not letting a man control them or just hop from one relationship to the next.

          (a) This book hit me hard in two different ways. The first was a boy who I felt was like a brother committed suicide. This book reminded me of him and how lost and alone he must have felt. It made the memories flood back, the second way it hit me was on how we have a violence problem in the United States. Today when I opened my phone the first thing, I saw was another shooting. It has become a common place occurrence.  There needs to be more support and counseling services. Online websites like the one Simon ran should be checked. His browsing history should become a red flag. Simon was determined to take down as many people as possible and cause the most damage while making himself a saint. This needs to be stopped and it should not be glorified and celebrated. In the movie Coco they stress the importance of remembering the good and not the bad. As a society we should focus on the good, help, and not focus on the bad. She should help them and monitor. We should not glorify the bad.

Conclusion:

          One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus is an amazing read. This book is engaging and nail biting. While reading it I wanted to jump to the end to read who did it. The book uses multiple viewpoints, tension, and dialogue to progress the story and keep the reader on the edge of their seat. McManus has written two other books that have been added to my wish list after reading this book. The twist at end is a comment of society issues as well as the importance of not jumping to conclusions. This book deserved to be a New York Times Bestseller.

Citation:

Junior Library Guild. (2018). One of Us is Lying. Retrieved from Junior Library Guild: https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781524714697J

McManus, K. M. (2017). One of Us is Lying. New York: Random House.

The University of Texas at El Paso. (n.d.). How to Write a Reaction Paper or Reader Response. Retrieved from Reader Response: http://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/engl0310link/readerresponse.htm