Review: One of Us Is Lying

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

One of Us Is Lying has intrigued me for a long time, and I had high hopes for it. Unfortunately, those hopes were quickly lost. I worked out the mystery before the end of the first chapter – I’d worked it out before the death occurred – and the secrets of the character’s I had not worked out by the end of the first chapter, I’d worked out by the end of chapter two.

This is why I stick to adult mysteries. I work out young adult mysteries far too easily, and they end up filled with teenage drama. I’m over that, have been for a long time, and this one failed to win me over in the way some rare young adult contemporary books do.

In fact, the responses this book caused were more extreme than usual. There were many things I found problematic, so many aspects that I’m tired of seeing in young adult books as it’s sending the wrong messages to teens. I’m really confused as to why so many people are okay with these things and how they were overlooked.

Perhaps I’m just looking too hard at this one, but for me One of Us Is Lying was a huge disappointment. The only saving grace was that I kept reading – if only to see if I was wrong.

View all my reviews