One of Us is Lying: A Kayla Hicks Book Review

What is One of Us is Lying about?

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.

My Review

One secret keeper with a nasty rumor blog and four others with dark secrets makes for an interesting predicament.

When Bronwyn, Cooper, Addy, and Nate are sent to detention for possessing phones that aren't theirs in class, events quickly turn for them, leaving one person dead and no one knowing how he died.

As the four surviving students' secrets are exposed, it becomes clear that everyone had a reason to kill Simon, who was prepared to share these secrets on his blog.

One of Us is Lying did a great job leading the reader on multiple different routes, making you think you figured out who killed Simon, only to find out it wasn't the case.

The characters were relatable and easy to read. While the point of view switched between the four surviving students, Bronwyn seemed to be more of the main character. But I appreciated the point of view switches to help gather a full picture of the story.

I would recommend this book for fans of 13 Reasons Why.

I give this a 4-star review.

*Content warning: this book deals with the topic surrounding school shootings and suicide loosely, but not with a huge spotlight, as the book focuses more on false leads and mystery**

You can get it here: One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus