One of us is lying – Karen M. McManus

This book is generally sold with colour-sprayed edges and I for one shudder when I see it. I personally really do not like coloured edges. Especially because the books are sprayed in primary colours. The other side of the coin is that sprayed edges (those intricate ones) usually cost a lot more money and as I do not want them to begin with I feel I am saving myself a whole lot of money. Truth be told when I opened the box set which contained this book I sighed with relief. My pages are boring and paper coloured and I wouldn’t want it any other way. But then… I had to find out if the content was worth it with the thought that if it wasn’t I hadn’t just bought one but three others.

The book in short
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.

I found this information here.

What did I think about the book?
The start of the book made me think about the Breakfast Club a film that came out in 1985. I’ve seen it on Netflix it’s pretty cool and used to be very popular. A lot of media used to use a lot of subtle nods towards this film. The vibes are similar at least at the start. Our story follows the four main ‘suspects’ of Simon’s murder. These protagonist changes weren’t as annoying as I thought it would be. The stories blended well enough with the characters ‘voices’ being different enough not to become confusing. I think it made the story more well-rounded than it would have been otherwise.

To me, it was clear very early on that neither of the four killed Simon. The question remained who did it then? It wasn’t as predictable as you might imagine it took me a few chapters to zero in on my suspect and remain firm with my thoughts and opinions. I thought the story was a very easy and quick read but it didn’t take away from the complexity of the story. The book is clearly a YA story and meant for that target audience. I thought it was an interesting way to show people that no one is truly one-dimensional even though people seem to think this way in high school. It’s the message of the breakfast club in a new coat with a touch of murder.

I think that especially when you haven’t read a lot of different stories it might not be half as predictable as it was to me. The ending might be a great revelation. To me, it wasn’t but that didn’t have much to do with the story or its writing. The story is accessibly written. I think young people who do not like reading books or simply haven’t for a while can appreciate this story. Ultimately, the accessibility of YA books is how many people find the love of reading again after experiencing the book lists that schools hand out (although I must say, I really liked the books on my list). Generally, I thought it was a wonderful read. It might not have been ‘earth-shattering’ or ‘never been done before’ but it was great for what it was. If the story sounds intriguing to you, I would recommend it.