One of Us is Lying By Karen M. McManus Book Review

“I don’t know why it’s so hard for people to admit that sometimes they’re just buttholes who screw up because they don’t expect to get caught.” 

About

Author: Karen M. McManus 

Genre: Young Adult Mystery

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Other Books by Karen M. McManus:

One of Us is Next

Two Can Keep a Secret

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Synopsis

Pay close attention and you might solve this.

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. 
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. 
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon’s dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose? 
Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them. 

Review

Spoilers Contained Below

Dear mystery lovers,

I’m actually quite excited to write this blog post because I have a different format I had in mind to do this, but first can we talk about how GOOD this mystery was. LIKE WHAT?

I don’t read a lot of mystery books or whodunnit scenarios, so this was my first book like this and I can say it was pretty good. I feel like it would have been more shocking for me if I was more interested in the plot, but I really liked how every person kept me on my toes and the storyline just had me so confused.

First and foremost, I just wanted to say, I ABSOLUTELY believed none of the Bayview four killed Simon and I’ll get into the reasons with the rest of the review, but I seriously never thought they did it the whole time and was more suspicious of the people around them. I mean, it’s kind of obvious that if you’re pinning a murder on four people, then it’s no the four people because why would you draw attention to yourself in that way as to pin a murder on yourself. I think a person would stay out of all that drama and fade to the background of things because how DUMB are you to say you are a suspect of committing a murder and actually committed it?

I don’t know, the logic there was always splotchy

So let’s break down the mystery shall we:

Here are the facts:

Four students of different paths all get detention one afternoon because they all apparently had a phone snuck onto their person and was caught by the science teacher to have a phone. This teacher, Mr. Avery, has a strict no technology in his class rule.

The fifth student in the room is Simon who owns this gossip website kind of like a Gossip Girl-esque website if you ask me. But his is called About That where he posts peoples initials and secrets about them. His rationale for thinking it was okay to do this was because he felt like people shouldn’t be sneaking around or doing all these things if they didn’t want someone to find out—-like they were asking for it. Personally, I think Simon could have minded his own business because he had his own secrets too, so he should respect others. Simon also had About That to give himself power as someone who was always on the sidelines of popularity and getting the “girl of his dreams.” About That was his attention getter and way into society.

On the day of detention, Simon got thirsty and drank from this beaker of water in the back of the room, and all of a sudden he is literally choking to death.

He has a peanut allergy and apparently someone snuck peanut oil into his water.

He had no Epi pen and when Addy went to the nurse’s office to get one, they were all gone.

But before Simon choked on his water, there was a “car accident” in front of the detention window that got Mr. Avery up and out of the room for a brief amount of time. Everyone else was looking out the window while Simon was getting water. After the “car accident” both cars drove away, never to be seen again.

Strange much?

Anyway, back to Simon.

Had no Epipen and was taken to the hospital where he passed away.

Four people were in the room with him

1. Bronwyn: The academic good girl with a lot of drive
2. Cooper: The star baseball player and all around good Southern guy. The type of guy any mother would love or trust.
3. Addy: Good sister and good girlfriend to the star football player. Has nice hair.
4. Nate: The drug dealing delinquent with a bad reputation.

Who did it?

Let’s see:

Bronwyn

Cooper

Addy

Nate

So I obviously didn’t suspect any of these four in doing the deed because when you look at all the reasons as to why they would do it, there’s not much there to begin with.

I mean they worked harder on trying to solve the case together as well and if one of them did it, then I think that person would have found ways to keep out of things or to drive everyone off path of figuring out who truly did it, so nope, not Bronwyn, Cooper, Addy, or Nate. But the title wasn’t lying when it said that one of them was lying 🤪 I mean they were all lying about something, but then again we all have our secrets so who am I to judge. But I think it was within their rights to keep their secrets for them, but also it made me feel like they weren’t living an honest life in the first place and these secrets would have come out eventually, but I think it should have come out on their own terms, especially for Cooper’s situation. I felt completely HORRIBLE when he went to Addy that day at school and was like, “I just needed to tell someone on my own terms,” because he knew that people were going to find out and that there were going to be rumors around school about him. It just really sucked that he had to feel the need to rush this process of him coming out when it was his story and identity to tell and be comfortable in. Addy was also very cool about it and was like, “That’s cool.” I wouldn’t know what to say in that situation too, but I liked how he trusted Addy a lot.

I also liked the moment that Nate stood up for Cooper in the cafeteria when everyone was teasing him and calling Cooper names. I mean, don’t these people know that they are living in the 21st century and you’re heterosexual ideals need to be talked down. Nate was the only one who called out the bullies and when he did that, everyone stopped talking about Cooper because you don’t mess with Nate. I also liked how Nate and Bronwyn kissed in the middle of the cafeteria to draw attention away from Cooper or just to kiss. Either way, I was here for it. I also LOVED how that guy named Luis stood by Cooper when he came out. At the end of that chapter, Cooper was like, “I guess who I know my real friends are.” YEA YOU DO! I mean, get you a friend who will love you for you no matter what. We loved Luis.

But speaking of Nate and Bronwyn kissing.

Can we talk about their romance?

I love a good, studious girl getting together with a bad boy kind of storyline. I liked how Nate always had a thing for Bronwyn and when they were doing this religious play, he stole baby Jesus just to mess with her. You know what they say as a kid: if a boy messes with you , they like you. Obviously, Bronwyn didn’t get the memo. But I liked how after all that time, Nate told Bronwyn that he stole baby Jesus from her and he said it at the randomest times so it threw Bronwyn off, which was funny. But I also thought it was cute too. Nate’s mom was also a big fan of Bronwyn and was egging Nate on in his childhood and teenage crush on her. Nate’s mom is me, I am Nate’s mom 😂 I thought it was funny that when Nate stole baby Jesus from Bronwyn, how she made up her own baby Jesus and pretended to carry it around stage. Nate’s mom at the time was like, “That’s a strong woman.” Nate’s mom was like Bronwyn’s hype girl if I’m being honest.

Nate’s mom wasn’t lying though when saying Bronwyn was strong. Bronwyn has a lotto good will and passion and when she is set on doing something, she does it. Or if she loves something a lot, she will go through loops and hoops to protect that person. That person being Nate. When Nate got arrested, Bronwyn would not stop intervening or trying to prove Nate innocent even though Nate wasn’t having it. I felt kind of bad for Nate because he was so accepting of getting arrested because he knew that if anyone was going to be pinned for this case, it would be him. Since he’s that bad boy narrative again, he felt like he wasn’t ever going to be good enough for Bronwyn, so he pushed her away. But Bronwyn kept pushing back because she loved him despite Nate holding her at a distance. I think part of Nate not accepting her help or seeing her was also from that fear of having something good in his life and for him to mess it up or ruin it—-he didn’t want to hurt Bronwyn. I think he was also scared to let someone into his life when his mom and dad weren’t the most stable parental figures out there. So if he let Bronwyn into his life, she might figure out one day that she didn’t love him, so if pushing her away now could save him from that heartache, that’s what he would do. And he did it. It broke Bronwyn for a bit, but like Nate’s mom said, Bronwyn is a story woman and she picked herself back up.

In fact, each and every one of these characters picked themselves back up when the going got tough for them.

With Addy, she had a hard time not being in the popular friend circle anymore, but she found new friends who actually cared about her because if her real friends liked her, they would have found a way to see through what happened. Sure, her cheating on Jake was sucky, but they would have gotten past that to be her friend again because one small act shouldn’t change their friendships. I think once Addy was able to let go of her “friends,” she was able to focus on her. That meant a haircut and becoming the bad-beach she was meant to be. I loved the spunk that seemed to exude from her after she cut her hair. Such a difference from the girl who was all wobbly-lipped and needed Jake to comfort her when the whole thing with Simon happened. Nope, this Addy was pretty kick butt.

Then we had Cooper who also went through a sucky period in his life where his dad wouldn’t look him in the eye, but just look near him. Colleges also stopped calling him back, so it felt like his whole life was over and I could get that because his future and his family relationships just went to pieces, so that had to be hard. But things got better for him too. He could come out in public with his boyfriend Kris. It was awkward for him at first, but he learned to be comfortable with being his true self. Eventually, his dad got used to the idea of his son being gay and how that didn’t change anything about Cooper fro m the way he played baseball to the way he was as a son. I think a big fear for parents when their child is coming out is that they think that they did something wrong or that they failed their child because they turned out the way they did. But there’s nothing wrong with the child or nothing that changes. Just because a child says they love the same sex or they feel like a different gender, doesn’t mean a parent failed or that the child changed who they are—-that child just chose to be someone else and to love someone else. That’s the only thing that changed. But the core of that person is the same. Once Cooper’s dad saw that, I think that’s when he learned to be more accepting of Cooper in knowing that his little boy and the baseball player he knows was in there; Cooper’s still the same person.

As for Nate, I think he grew more compassionate in opening up to people. He was able to form a relationship with Bronwyn and friendships with Addy and Cooper. There was also this part when the four of them were talking and Nate was like, “I couldn’t see any of them doing it,” which just highlighted how much he liked and trusted them—-how much good faith he placed in who they were. He was also able to open up and reconcile with his mom who left him at a young age and went to rehab. Nate was snarky at first, which was understandable because the mom was gone for sooooooo long and just left Nate with the dad in the hopes that the dad would “get his life together” once she left. But that was some false hope she placed on the dad because he still turned up a drunken mess. Nate was able to see how hard his mom was trying and how shrilly was better, and again, I think for Nate it’s hard for him to let people in because people like his mom left him. But if the mom was making an effort, he decided to try it too.

The four of them also reminded me a lot like Scooby-Doo or Pretty Little Liar partner in crimes in meeting up at the secret house at night to go over things or sitting together at lunch while everyone stared at them. They were a cool gang if you asked me. But what was funny and kind of sexist because that is the world we live in, was how Cooper and Nate got fan pages while Addy and Bronwyn got blasted all over the media when they were shown as prime suspects for the case. It’s also just kind of sad how at one moment all of them were shown as villains and then as the story changed, people’s perspectives went from hateful and suspicious to understanding and loving. Cooper was a big part of that in how that case TV guy was gay too and he showcased Cooper as being the victim in this case in how he was forced to reveal or talk about his sexual orientation. It’s just crazy how the media has such a powerful say in how people see things, not in just the fictional sense but in the real world too in how it sways us to believing one thing and only showing one part of the story, when we don’t see it all.

Interesting, right?

Anyway, so if it wasn’t these four? Who did it?

Let’s look at the other suspects:

So it wasn’t fully him.

THEN WHO DID IT?

FREAKING SIMON.

I mean the first chapter was called Simon says.

He was calling all the shots this whole time.

The signs were all there and yet we missed it. Or I missed it.

If I’m being completely honest, this book turned mystery into a depressing topic about depression and suicide.

That just really hurt because people kind of knew that Simon felt like an outcast, but they never thought he would do something like this.

First, he was obviously depressed.

and

Second, he had those sadistic comments on some website.

Those comments were what really drove it home in knowing that he said that people should be creative with what they do, so of course, Simon, wanting to finally get the attention and grand finale he deserved, staged this whole mystery to set up Bronwyn, Nate, Addy, and Cooper. His whole plan was to let their lives fall apart for a year and then have Janae take this note she wrote to the cops explaining how he did it to himself and that the four of them were innocent. But then by that time their lives would have been thoroughly ruined and that was all he wanted.

Some sick, twisted mind if you asked me.

What just hurt me too was how he had all this time to plan this whole scheme, but yet in this time he could have gotten the support and help he obviously needed. I also just wondered why Janae and Jake never told anyone about him doing this or why they didn’t try to get him help as well.

Because Janae and Jake did have a part in this.

Janae knew the whole time what Simon was going to do and what he did. She was supposed to plant the evidence on Addy, but she couldn’t do it because Addy had become her only friend, so in a panic she framed Nate instead because he was the obvious suspect. I also just wanted to ask Janae that if she knew Simon felt this low, why didn’t she help him or get him help rather than go along with everything. I can only imagine how hard that must have been for her to harbor all these secrets in knowing what Simon did and how he was ruining all four of these people’s lives.

Simon’s reasons for targeting the four of them in the first place weren’t even good reasons, more petty if you ask me.

He had a bone to pick with Bronwyn because she cost him being on some academic team. And because she cheated in Chemistry, she was more likely to be valedictorian, which took away his chances.

He didn’t like Cooper because he knew he was the one to get him uninvited to Keely’s party or something and Simon really liked Keely.

Didn’t like Nate because he slept with Keely.

And he didn’t like Addy because she did something too.

All of these were literally no big deal situations, but I think that’s the point. Sometimes we don’t realize that our small actions have every bit of power as our big actions and that we have to be aware of our choices and the people it affects. I don’t think Cooper uninvited Simon to make him feel inferior, but that he just didn’t want him there at the time. To Cooper, it didn’t seem like a big deal, but to Simon it mattered a lot because Keely was the girl he liked and he was hardly invited to things anyway. So this party was his chance to fit in and Cooper took that away from him.

All these people took things away from him that made him feel like he had nothing anymore and it’s beyond heartbreaking how a person feels that low. I really wished Simon could have gotten the help he needed to be okay. If only he could have talked to these four people to reconcile and be like, Hey, I didn’t like when you did this or that and that really affected me,” because when people have that type of mature conversation it opens perspectives to see how the other was harmed—-no one’s going to know how you feel if you don’t tell them.

Simon says, but he never told people how he felt.

I think About That was really Simon’s way of getting the attention he craved, but I think he used that power for wrong and that just made him disliked by people more. If you’re going to use people’s secrets against them, of course, they’re not going to like you. I think that he could have gone about that 😉 better in not posting about people’s secrets and maybe actually trying to be a nice human being by being social and making friends. I think Simon would have had good friends if he was nicer to people and they didn’t see him as a threat.

I thought it was ironic that Jake had one of Simon’s secrets and in fear of Jake spilling his secret he enlisted Jake to help carry out his whole plan after he did everything. But I think it was kind of like a taste of his own medicine in having Jake know one of his secrets because Simon said that he felt sick to his stomach or something about Jake having that leverage over him, so maybe Simon could see how other people felt. Jake helping him though, was kind of twisted if you ask me. In many ways, I thought it was wrong how he knew how Addy cheated on him the whole time, yet he bided his time in saying nothing until she said something. It really didn’t explain why he blew the heck up about Addy cheating in the first place when he knew. Getting cheated on had to still sting, but seriously, dude, did you have to be so dramatic about it.

I also think that Jake’s not right in the head either. He was very controlling of Addy and Janae. The fact that he blackmailed Janae into not telling anyone because if she did he would blame the murder on her was beyond rude. What kind of sick satisfaction did he get from this whole ordeal? I think he really over did everything.

OOOOOOOOOOOH!

And don’t even get me started on when he went after Addy after she hid in the closet trying to record him!!!

When Addy’s phone went off in the closet, I literally cringed for her!!! SIS, PUT THAT PHONE ON SILENT!! 😆 Then I was yelling at her to run like the darn wind!!! Jake was on the hunt and he had literally no mercy and the way he choked her and gave her a concussion!!!! I Wanted to GIVE HIM a concussion for being a GRADE A Psychopath!!! Where’s Joe from You when you need him? UGGGGH!!!! What a crazy man!!

But thank goodness Cooper showed up and bashed Jake down like the sucker he was. Of course, it had to be hometown golden boy Cooper who saved the day.

After everything, Janae told the cops the truth and was let off easy. Jake went to prison for many deeds, and Nate was released. Something I wondered though, was we knew how Jake planted the phone in Addy’s bag, but how did the other phones get planted in the other three’s bags? I’m also wondering how did Simon plant the peanut oil in his cup to drink it? Was that what the “car crash” was for? So he could turn the attention away from him while he put the peanut oil in his glass and drank it? 🧐

Anyway, it made me kind of sad that the four of them didn’t remain close friends after that. Or well Nate didn’t remain close friends with them. Bronwyn, Addy, and Cooper still talked, which was nice, but just kind of weird how this situation bonded them in more ways than one. I also thought they had to deal with the repercussions of what happened in their own way. For many of them, it was thinking about their past actions and recognizing how wrong it was to act in the moment.

I really liked that moment when Bronwyn did admit she cheated because it takes great strength to admit when one did wrong, but she did it on national television where every college was watching. It could have ruined her future prospects of getting into a good college, but I liked how Harvard/Stanford? (one of the Ivy Leagues) tweeted her saying they looked forward to her application.

I also liked how Cooper’s dad was warming up to him being who he was and how colleges were starting to call him back. But good for Cooper for staying loyal to the California college that stayed loyal to him even when all these scandals came out.

Addy stayed friends with Janae. As for TJ, I think there could have been a really good relationship there, but I also liked how she knew that she needed time to focus on herself for a while. You go girl.

As for Nate, he was focusing on family. His mom moved back and was actually making an effort to be better for him. The dad was also in rehab to get the help he needed. But Nate went back to his retreating ways, thinking no one would like him after everything—-business as usual.

Doing that really hurt Bronwyn, but it made her stronger.

The night of Bronwyn’s piano performance was so sweet in how Addy, Cooper, and Kris showed up.

But you know who also showed up?

NATE.

Nate was there like Harvey at the end of the Sabrina the Teenage Witch Episode where she was getting married and was at the chapel, but Harvey was with his motorcycle waiting outside. It was like that moment for me! Nate had his motorcycle and was in a suit and said how dumb and scared he was—–yea, he was—-and how he wanted another chance.

Bronwyn, my girl, was playing hard to get. I respect. But don’t tease us!!!

They agreed to go see a movie of her choosing as friends, but we all know they’re going to be more than friends in the future, but I thought it was a good way to end the book with an open romance.

I really do hope the four of them get their lives back on track and find happiness and normalcy given all that they’ve been through in the last few months because gosh knows it was crazy for them. But I think at the end of the day, our actions and our words do matter. Be careful of what you do and what you say because it may not seem like it, but what you do or say affects those around you and you never know what they are going through and that one act or that one word might be the trigger to set that person off, or it might be one shove in the chest that pushes them further down. Choose kindness, love, compassion, and care. Choose to always do the right thing and if you see someone who’s alone or who feels alone, be there for them, ask them if they are okay or if they need someone to talk to. The worst they can do is push you away because they are not ready to talk about it, and that’s okay because at least you tried to be there for them and maybe in time that person will see how you tried to help and when that person is ready, maybe he/she will come to you.

It’s always better to be kind than it is to hate.

It’s as simple as that.

And always speak up if you know someone is going through a hard time if you think they are on the verge of doing something irreversible. It might be hard to do, it might not be your place to, but sometimes you have to speak up no matter how hard because in the long run, would you rather have stayed quiet while someone was suffering or would you have rather told someone about it because you cared that much?

It’s okay to care.

We should care more.

I challenge each and every one of us to be kinder and love more.

Anyway, if you read this book, wha twas your favorite part? Least favorite part?  Who did you think did it at first? Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕

I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and whereever you might be reading this.

And as always, with love,

Rating

4.35 Full Bloom Flowers

Characters: All four of them were such diverse characters that you can find something to love about each of them. They also experience immense growth in this time when their secrets come out and challenge them to rise above them.

Plot: This book really throws you for a loop with mystery and romance

Writing: The multiple POVs was interesting and I think it really helped progress the book in seeing things from all their perspectives. Would have liked a Simon perspective

Mystery: Not one for mystery books and this is my first one. It was quite an experience that always had me guessing, which I guess is the point of a good mystery. Can’t say I saw the ending coming, but I guess that’s also the point of a good mystery 😄