With the launch of 2018, I made a personal vow to run a weekly book review on my blog every Monday. I’m excited to do this and committed to it; however, with the passing of my father two weeks ago, my heart just hasn’t been able to get into reading just yet. I’m hoping this next week will be a little easier and my brain will finally slow down a little so I can “escape” into the pages of a good book.
With that in mind, today’s book review is a reblog of one I published in June of 2017. I think the subject is still timely as this book is still on the bestsellers list, and it’s also one of my favorite young adult reads in recent memory. If you missed the review the first time, here’s your chance to see it again.
Today’s review is for ONE OF US IS LYING by Karen M. McManus.
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m notorious for purchasing a book I’ve never heard of based strictly on the cover and/or title. Once again, this was the case with ONE OF US IS LYING. After all, who can resist a book with such an enticing title? Not me, obviously! And once again, my instincts were spot-on.
First let me say that I loved this book. The story was compelling, the characters were interesting, the mystery kept me turning the pages, and the writing was top-notch. And when I turned the last page, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
So what was the premise? Very simple, yet very compelling: Five students are given detention, but before the hour is over, one of them is dead, and the only suspects are the remaining four students in the room. Is it the perfectly popular cheerleader? Or the 4.0 Yale-bound brainiac? Maybe it’s the only delinquent in the room? Or could it be the Division I, college scholarship bound pitcher on the baseball team? Nobody knows, but they all have one thing in common: the dead kid had a secret on each of them and those secrets are about to come out.
In Breakfast-Club like fashion, the kids know each other but none are particularly close friends. But before the killer is found, they’ll find in each other true friendship and a lifelong connection.
Seriously — this was a wonderful read. It kept me on the edge of my seat and, though the identity of the killer floated through my list of suspects fairly early in the book, there were so many twists and turns that I found myself shocked by the ending.
ONE OF US IS LYING is a great read that will appeal to both teens and adults, and it’s one of the best book of any genre I’ve read in a while.
C.H. Armstrong Books 
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