One of Us Is Lying Book Review

 Book #1: One of Us Is Lying by: Karen M. McManus

Overall rating: 8/10 

I recently went to a book fair, with the original intention of buying another book which I really wanted to read that I had seen the day before. However, when I went to buy the book, it wasn’t there anymore. I had already gotten some money to buy a book, and with it, I bought this book. 

In One of Us Is Lying, five stereotypical students walk into detention, but only four make it out alive. The student that died was the creator of a gossip blog, which revealed many unpleasant secrets of students. Coincidentally, all four students were about to be the topic of the blog the next day, which makes them prime suspects for murder. 

While the murder mystery is a prime part of the book, the book also focuses on the lives of the students (and also their secrets). The relationships between the students also grow, even though they are parts of completely different cliques in school. As the story goes on, more and more about the life of each character is revealed, and while all of this goes on, the murder also attracts the attention of the media and the police.

To be honest, this book was pretty fun to read. It wasn’t all murder mystery, so there was more substance for me to enjoy. I would say that it is a mix of thriller and realistic fiction. There was also a deeper meaning in the story about the power of lies, so it also had some deep connection to the real world. I particularly liked how relatable some of the characters were, as there was a wide range. This book is also part of a book series, so there is more content to enjoy in this universe. However, the book was a little bit lackluster, overall, and there could have been some more content towards the end. Maybe a cliffhanger would do? It tied together loose ends, but there could have been a different ending, in my opinion.

In the future, I’m definitely going to review the whole book series, as the first book is pretty engaging and fun to read. There’s also a TV series, so if anyone isn’t interested in reading a book, you could just watch a TV series. This is honestly such a great start to the book series and I can’t wait to read the next book!