One of Us is Lying

Introduction

One of Us is Lying was written by Karen M. McManus and published by Delacorte Press on May 29th, 2017. The first of a trilogy, this young adult mystery is told through four alternating perspectives. This was the first one of Karen M. McManus’ books that I read, and I immediately fell in love with her books, and with her as an author. To anyone who hasn’t read this book, I would highly recommend it. It’s fantastic on a first read through and satisfying on every re-read. However, I will say that it deals with very heavy subjects, including suicide, self harm, abuse, substance abuse and bullying. This is an official trigger warning for anyone who may be sensitive to those topics. If you are struggling with any of these issues, I am including links below for help resources.

If you’d like to keep up with Karen M. McManus, you can visit her website, https://www.karenmcmanus.com/, or follow her on social media @writerkmc.

Suicide Prevention

American Association of Suicidology (AAS) - https://suicidology.org/

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) - https://afsp.org/

IMAlive - https://www.imalive.org/

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - https://988lifeline.org/ or call (1-800-273-TALK)

Bullying

Stomp Out Bullying - https://www.stompoutbullying.org/

StopBullying - https://www.stopbullying.gov/

Abuse

Childhelp - https://www.childhelp.org/

National Child Abuse Hotline - (1-800-4-A-CHILD) - (1-800-422-4453)

Plot

Five Bayview High students are sent to detention, and only four of them make it out alive. Each of them are walking archetypes, and each has a secret of their own. The only question is, which one was willing to do whatever it took to keep their secret?

Spoiler-Free Thoughts

At the beginning of the book, each of the four main characters are put into a specific and cliched archetype, but the further one gets into the book, the more apparent it is that McManus has flipped the expectations on their heads. Each character has a well-defined personality both within their own perspectives and through the eyes of others. Having this book told in four perspectives may have had the potential to give away the ending, but McManus masterfully spun a compelling story full of mystery and deceit, and I honestly never would have guessed how it ended. Even now, I have similar feelings of awe when everything is revealed as I did when I read it for the first time.

Bronwyn is presented as the brains, Cooper as the all-American good boy, Addy as the airhead beauty queen, and Nate as the no-good delinquent. But as the tagline for the book says, “everyone has secrets, right?” This couldn’t be more true, and that is yet another aspect that allows the book to stand out. While the core conflict of the book feels like reality taken just a little further than expected, all of it is built on a foundation of realism that allows for a more immersive reading experience. The book is fast-paced, which is great for me because I tend to struggle with slower reads. The tension continuously builds throughout the entirety of the book, and even when I thought I had a good idea of who was and wasn’t suspicious, it was impossible to be one hundred percent positive, even though I was reading through their perspectives.

McManus takes care to address different mental health struggles, so I will remind anyone who skipped the Introduction section that there are discussions of self harm, suicide, bullying, substance abuse, and abusive relationships in this book. The book goes beyond these issues to address common high school problems as well, such as the cruel efficiency of the rumor mill, and realizing who one's real friends are. There are light moments that break up the heavy themes, but they are by no means ignored, and I would be interested to open up discussions about these topics with others. That is, at its core, the point of this blog: I want to discuss my thoughts and opinions with others, yes, but I also want to have these deeper thematic discussions that books like this one open up.

If you haven’t read this book yet, I hope this review has convinced you because given the character development, plot, pacing, and thematic importance of this book, I am giving it a 10/10.

Thoughts

While the premise of this book and the plot twist at the end seem far-fetched at first, the more I thought about the basest ideas, the more I realized they are grounded in reality. It’s important to remember that though there are certainly bright and humorous moments, this book does deal with heavy subject matter that should not be taken lightly. These characters are so realistic, and they deal with real-life issues that affect so many others, it makes them more compelling and relatable. Even when they mess up, it isn’t difficult to see how they worked themselves into that train of thought, which makes them forgivable as well.

Take Bronwyn, the brains of the operation. The supposed teacher’s pet cheated in her chemistry course to get better grades and maintain her GPA in hopes of attending Yale. This is obviously wrong, but it comes from a place of feeling the need to succeed not just because of her parents’ legacy of hard work and dedication, but for her younger sister. She tries to be the golden child to make Maeve’s life easier after her struggle with cancer. What she did was wrong, but there is a justification there: the excess pressure she put on herself to be perfect so that she can live up to her family’s expectations. While I cannot choose a favorite perspective, I relate to Bronwyn and her work ethic the most, and her relationship with Nate is fun to read about. I don’t read the good-girl with the bad-boy trope often, and I enjoy the way it’s done in this book.

Nate, the delinquent drug dealer, has a troubled home life. From the outside, it seems that he doesn’t care about anything or anyone, and he sells drugs for the hell of it. His mom struggled with her mental health and abandoned him when he was young, and his dad doesn’t work, choosing instead to spend his disability checks on alcohol. Nate had been taking care of himself for a long time, and yes, drug dealing was the way he chose to do that. He knows that it’s wrong, but he doesn’t think anyone cares because in his mind, his own parents didn’t care because he wasn’t worth it. This isn’t true, but it’s easy to see how his mind came to that conclusion.

Cooper is an all-star, and finds success on the baseball field. His dad is proud of him when all is going well, though he is demanding when it comes to his future in baseball, but that’s because he doesn’t know his son very well. When Cooper is outed by the police as gay to the entire country, not only do we see how his family reacts, but his entire community. People who hated him one day loved him the next, and the media firestorm was as fickle as his classmates were mean-spirited.

Addy was presented as the brainless beauty queen, and I feel like it took her the longest to shed that image. A huge factor was the revelation that she cheated on Jake, her controlling boyfriend. After losing him, it became clear that she was far better off without him, and the real Addy got the chance to shine through. She doesn’t have much of a relationship with her sister, and her mother is very detached from her life - aside from critiquing Addy - so losing Jake forced her to be independent. Her character arc was my favorite to read, though I cannot choose a favorite overall perspective.