Thursday, June 8, 2017

One Of Us Is Lying

One of Us Is Lying

Bronwyn. Nate. Addy. Cooper. Four kids in detention who become suspects when a fifth kid- Simon- ends up dead. Simon is notorious for publishing other students' secrets on his app so he has no shortage of enemies, but when he dies in detention the only ones in the room were these four. So naturally the police focus on them, especially when some of their secrets are spilled, so the question is- who would kill Simon to keep him quiet?  

This book reminded me of The Breakfast Club so much. You have the brain, the jock, the criminal and the princess- the only one missing is the basket case, but maybe that's Simon? At any rate this book was so fun- I was expecting to like it but I had no idea I would be sucked in the way I was. Each character is unique and well- realized and we get the perspective of each, which was awesome. Each one feels like their own person- and while I liked some of them more than others at the outset, I liked all of them by the end. Each one had struggles and realities that really made me feel for them. I also felt like the high school environment was depicted very realistically, which is not always a thing in YA books. 

It surprised me a little to see this was a debut as well- it felt polished. I would absolutely read more by this author. There was a confidence to the writing that really worked, especially in a case like this where you have a multi-POV story with a lot of moving parts and a premise that could easily go off the rails if not done right. I mean think about it- a Breakfast Club- style murder mystery. That could go wrong in so many ways, and I was half expecting it to- but no, this story rocked and managed to stay fairly realistic when it could very much have been over the top. 

That might be my biggest takeaway- that the author pulled this off. There are some explorations of parental issues, how kids are raised, what really happens at high school, hooking up- again it felt realistic. I can't say too much about the plot- this one is best if you go in knowing very little- but I will say I loved how the kids came together (at one point calling themselves "murder club") and again these characters were so developed that I really came to like them. Addy in particular was a breakout- she seems so different by the end but it was done so well, it made sense. There were times towards the end when I wanted to cheer for that girl. 

This book was a lot of fun and I almost want to re- read it knowing what I know now. I did have a sense of what happened towards the end, but it was because of the slow drip of clues and I wasn't sure- but it made sense. I highly recommend this one- it's a great mystery but it's also a great story. It's like The Breakfast Club with a murder- and the best part is- it works. 

39 comments:

  1. This one sounds really good! I love thriller books that can pull of the end well, and since this one is very Breakfast Club-y (feat. murder) I can’t wait to read it. Glad to know that it was polished and well-written too. Great review :D

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  2. Well you've definitely sold me this one. Joining the TBR list somewhere near the top :-)

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  3. I saw that the library has it :)

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  4. I have had my eye on this one. I love the idea of Breakfast Club with murder. Glad it was pulled off. Great review!!

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    1. I was great and a lot of fun- loved the breakfast Club elements and the murder mystery.

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  5. The publisher sent me a copy of this one a few weeks ago. I love a good mystery, but I usually hate books set in high school (which is probably why YA isn't really my genre), so I donated it to the library. I'm glad you enjoyed it though!

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    1. I'm not always fond of the YA depiction of high school either, although in this case I thought she captured it well. But I know what you mean!

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  6. This one looks so good! I am hoping my library gets it in eBook soon!

    Great review.

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  7. I don't read many YA high-school themed books, but hey, Breakfast Club! I love that movie, even at my age, and now I can see myself wanting to really read this one and see how the author pulls it off. Thanks Greg-- great review!

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    1. I do too, and that along w/ the murder mystery sold me. :) I did think the author did a great job!

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  8. I love that it sucked you and that it felt realistic. Definitely on my TBR!

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  9. I wrote this one off because I read a bad review a couple of weeks ago. I am glad I read yours, I will reconsider.

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    1. I would, I thought it was really good. I mean it won't be for everyone but I thought it was a lot better than I was expecting!

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  10. I read another review about this one that put me down... Nevertheless, you sort of used the magic word with Breakfast Club, so that might do the trick and I could still decide to give it a go at some point. Glad it worked well like this for you :)

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    1. Thanks Silvia. I really did sort of get a Breakfast Club vibe from it, and it's a good mystery too.

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  11. I often think it would be great to reread certain books just to see if all the breadcrumbs really add up to the final conclusion. But, I don't usually do so - something about too little time and too many books (better than too much time and not enough books eh!)
    Lynn :D

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    1. That's exactly why I don't do it either! By the time I finish a book I want to move on. I do think this one would be fun to re- read though, to put the pieces together. :)

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  12. The fact that you ended up liking all the kids by the end really makes me want to read this. I usually don't enjoy a book if I don't like the main characters, and when I heard about this story it seemed like it would have unlikable characters for reason. Love the idea of The Breakfast Club with a murder! I have a print copy, but I bet this would be a wonderful audio book. I'll have to look it up. Wonderful review! :)

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    1. This was a very pleasant surprise. I really hope you get a chance to try it. I usually need to like the characters too, and here I was really rooting for them by the end. They would get together and I loved Brownyn and Nate- and Addy too. Thanks Rachel!

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  13. I love Breakfast Club and a good friend of mine loved this one too. I'm looking forward to reading it.

    For What It's Worth

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  14. Oh YAY! I seriously might read this tonight, because it sounds so good! I love that it did really feel like The Breakfast Club, because so often such comparisons fall short. And it's great that it wasn't over the top, that was another worry I had about it. So glad that it delivered, great review!!

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    1. Dude, you need to read this one! And being over the top was my fear- I mean the premise- how do you pull that off? And the surprising thing for me was it worked- or at least I thought it did. Would love to see what you think!

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  15. Yay! I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I was also very surprised that it was a debut and you are right...it just worked. I remember sitting there when I finish with a big grin because it was just so good. Great review!

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    1. Me too! Loved it. And I thought it was great for a debut as well- polished. I can see having a grin at the end- I liked how it ended!

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  16. why not it could be interesting. I saw this around.

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  17. Nice! I'm glad this one turned out so fun! Who doesn't love The Breakfast Club? Now I'm thinking the only thing it needed was a murder mystery... Haha.

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  18. This is on my wishlist and I'm thrilled to hear you enjoyed it. It caught my eye with the reference to The Breakfast Club.

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  19. When I first read the blurb of this, I got The Breakfast Club vibes. I've yet to read this, but from your review, it sounds like I need to pick it up! Thanks for sharing!

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  20. I've been hearing such good things about this book. I am glad you ended up liking it, Greg.

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  21. I'd seen this book about but I had a few doubts about it. Turns out I was totally wrong and this is a brilliant sounding book. I'm especially impressed you think the book feels polished enough when it's a debut. I will have to give this one a chance.

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  22. Ok, you got me with Breakfast Club. Sounds fun.

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  23. This sounds just as fabulous as I was hoping it would. I really can't wait to read it now. Great review!

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  24. I really want to read this one! Ever since I read the title, I was already intrigued. I haven't watched The Breakfast Club, but I know it is a very popular movie so it must be promising in that regard. I am glad to know it was so polished for a debut!

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  25. Agree with everything! The characterization was perfectly done. I found myself being a fan of each of them, as well. It's one of those books where you suspect everyone at the beginning and then they all get under your skin so one by one I wanted to tick them off of my mental list. So well done!

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