Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

31 reviews

classicpseudonym's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

again, writing this immediately after finishing the book so i don't forget anything so i'm still sort of in shock. i read two can keep a secret by mcmanus a few  years ago so i've had this on my to read ever since (but never particularly wanted to read it until i didn't have time to find another option at the library). but woah that was definitely something.

i feel like i was more hooked than i'm willing to admit because this was a typical ya book about high school and murder (except by peanut oil i guess), but i still wanted to read on even though this doesn't exactly align with my book tastes. and the build-up of everything was pretty well executed, so props to mcmanus on a thrilling debut.

on the other hand, i'm looking back immediately after and i feel like i didn't really get anything out of it? if that makes sense. i wasn't a big fan of the hold that romance and relationships had on the plot and the book overall, but that's just how high school is portrayed in general, and i'm not a big romance person so i'm probably just biased. me saying "i didn't get anything out of it" isn't to say that the psychological themes and the perspectives/narration of each of the characters wasn't interesting, but i just feel like i wouldn't want to read this book again. like the case with two can keep a secret (which i don't remember anything about, then again its been years) i don't think i'd remember anything about the book besides the ending (which will haunt me even though i felt it coming) in a few months.

now that i'm thinking about it, simon's character is going to haunt me for the rest of my life. from the reference to the omniscent narrator at the beginning of the book, to the way he planned on dictating "his story" even from the grave... chilling. god.

so if you want fast paced, thrilling, and haunting in a ya sort of way read, i'd recommend. there are a lot a lot of trigger warnings though, so i'd recommend that people keep that in mind if they read. if you tend to stay away from ya thriller/mystery books like i do, maybe still give it a read if you're bored because i feel like it's decently well done, but it wasn't my favorite book personally and it might not be yours either. then again, i think it's just because i think too much and i gravitate towards books that are really deep and get my mind all jumbled on the issues of society. but that's a me problem. pretty good book overall though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, and Self harm

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Outing, Alcoholism, Cursing, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Death of parent

adiisbookland91's review

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

CAWPILE: 3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Really enjoyed this story. Fast paced. Would of like to see hardcore secrets. But kept me guessing and didn't want to stop reading. Gav e me Pretty Little Liars vibes. Loved the romance part.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Grief, Homophobia, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Addiction, Bullying, and Abandonment

renyoi's review

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

YA fiction that simultaneously does and does not feel like YA fiction. Multiple gasp-out-loud moments and surprising subversions of popular tropes make this book one of the more sophisticated YA titles I’ve ever read. All characters feel well-rounded and representative of real teenagers—who, as the author clearly knows, are agents in their own world and not just victims of or reactions to circumstances. My main complaint? The author doesn’t actually know how Tumblr works. :P

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Homophobia, Outing, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Car accident, Chronic illness, Cancer, Classism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity

serendipity421's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Chronic illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Cursing

olivia_elise_reads's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Outing, Sexual content, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Bullying, Chronic illness, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Cancer, and Cursing

abi_ineedtoreadmore's review

challenging emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug use, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Self harm, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Outing, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Pregnancy

brandie_abbie19's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Chronic illness, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Violence, Alcohol, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

mllewellyn's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Good plot but under whelming 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Murder, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, and Homophobia

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Medical content

tayloremmap's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I wasn’t a fan of this book. I had high hopes for it but I thought it dragged through the first 3/4 of the book and then all of a sudden, with very little lead-up, the mystery was solved and everything was good as could be.

The characters weren’t very likeable either, the only one I was rooting for was Cooper. Bronwyn was precocious, Nate was a predictable, and Addy’s character arc felt one-dimensional and fell flat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Outing, Mental illness, Homophobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, Mass/school shootings, Infidelity, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Cancer, Car accident, and Chronic illness

allyhoo811's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

From a pure reading enjoyment factor One of Us Is Lying should have been given a 4 star rating, but because of my background in mental health counseling/education I felt like I had to lower it to a 3 because of the handling of a couple of issues which I'll list at the end of this review.

Overall, I found this to an engaging YA mystery. The characters and their secrets/motives were pretty cliche and easily guessed, but the overall character development (especially with Addy) was wonderful and I would definitely recommend this one to most people. It gave me huge Breakfast Club vibes and I think fans of 80s/90s teen movies would especially enjoy the nostalgia factor even though it has a contemporary setting. 

I did not love the ending/epilogue,

it was just too cheesy teen rom-com for me and I don't think it really fit with the rest of the book. But I understand that it probably is what was expected in a YA novel.

My 2 Big Issues (contain major spoilers):

1. Simon killing himself was a really interesting (if somewhat predictable) twist, but the portrayal of Simon as someone suffering from depression was unfortunate. Many people (teens included) suffer from depression, but they don't create elaborate, evil revenge plots to take out everyone who ever looked at them funny. Most people with depression have a hard time getting out of bed. And Simon had been destroying people's lives for years, portraying him as someone who was depressed and felt like an outsider when he was actually probably suffering from some severe personality disorders puts a bad light on depression, especially in a YA book.

2. Jake's character arc. This is a thriller trope I hate, and I hate it even more in a YA mystery. Jake the "perfect" boyfriend with some controlling tendances turns into a psycho killer at the end of the novel. This is just so overdone and not logical. Yes, people who attempt to control their partners are more likely to engage in emotional and physical abuse. But Jake had gone months without the slightest indication that he was escalating after he found out about the cheating (and kept it to himself). His mask didn't even slip once. And by the end we have a crazy action sequence where he is trying to kill two people without any hesitation. It felt forced, and I think Addy's character arc would have been better served without the killer boyfriend trope.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Outing, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Classism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, and Sexual content

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Stalking, and Transphobia