One Of Us Is Next

One Of Us Is Back // Book Review

- Bunny 1 Comment

About The Book
The third time’s a charm. First the Bayview Four had to prove they weren’t killers. Then a new generation outwitted a vengeful copycat. Now the entire Bayview Crew is back home for the summer, and everyone is trying to move on. Only, this is Bayview, and life is never that simple. The global phenomenon returns with the third book in the One of Us Is Lying series, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen M. McManus.
Buy The Book: https://amzn.to/3PbUOsS

My Rating

This is the third, and final, installment of Karen M. McManus’s ‘One Of Us’ series. Keep in mind that this review might spoil something’s in the first two books. In this book, we follow the perspectives of Addy, Nate, and Phoebe. I loved being back with the Bayview crew, because these characters are incredibly likable.

In the first book, we had a whodunit type of murder/mystery plot. The next book had a deadly truth or dare situation. However, I’m not really sure I can explain the plot of this book, because there really wasn’t much of one.

The author was trying to create a plot that brought everything full circle and connected all three books. However, I think that she lost sight of making a really engaging story. The plot just kind of lacked, and fell short for me. It wasn’t as intense or gripping as the first two books.

This isn’t to say that the book is bad, because I was interested in the story, but that could just be for my love of these characters. I did find the book to be fast paced and McManus’s writing is wonderful – as always. I was just hoping for more.

“But we all know how Simon felt about secrets, right? They have to come out eventually.”

The way on which everything was tied together wasn’t my favorite. It felt very random. As a horror movie fan, I love when sequels are tied into the first movie, making things come full circle. But, only if it’s done right. The first three Scream movies did that perfectly, yet the ‘Happy Death Day’ films took a really weird route in the second movie. But, I digress.

Overall, the plot just didn’t leave me shocked, and there really wasn’t any sort of major twist. I do like that the author went back to the ‘secrets are powerful’ message, as it was a recurring theme throughout the entire series. Nonetheless, it was a decent conclusion to the trilogy, and I will continue to support Karen M. McManus. Also, thank you for giving us more Knox and Phoebe!

In the comments, let me know which ‘One Of Us’ book is your favorite. My personal favorite is ‘One Of Us Is Next’, because I was on the edge of my seat the entire time I read it. If you enjoyed this book, please hit the follow button, because it really helps my blog grow!

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny

One Of Us Is Next // Book Review

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Title: One Of Us Is Next
Author: Karen M. McManus
Published: 2020
Genre: Young Adult/Thriller
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Synopsis
Come on, Bayview, you know you’ve missed this. A ton of copycat gossip apps have popped up since Simon died, but in the year since the Bayview four were cleared of his shocking death, no one’s been able to fill the gossip void quite like he could. The problem is no one has the facts. Until now. This time it’s not an app, though—it’s a game. Truth or Dare.

This is the companion novel to ‘One Of Us Is Lying’, which I have a review up for as well. In this book, we are following a new group of teens, one of whom is Maeve Rojas (Bronwyn’s sister, that we saw in book one), as well as appearances from characters in the previous book. A few characters had already been introduced in ‘One Of Us Is Lying’, which was a nice bonus. The plot walked the line between mystery and thriller. We follow this group of teens as they deal with a dangerous game of Truth and Dare. It was engaging, but then again I find that many Karen M. McManus books are (at least to me).

I enjoyed each character, and not one perspective bored me. There were a few parts that felt like unnecessary filler, and didn’t add anything to the story. However, it wasn’t common enough to be a problem for me. Overall, the story unfolded at a nice pace. I was happy to see that there wasn’t a best friends to lovers story in play. I am not opposed to that all, but it was nice to see the author go a different, less cliche route.

One of my favorite characters was Phoebe. She had a lot going on, and made some stupid choices, but was unapologetically herself. She didn’t hide her faults, and tried her best to own up to her mistakes throughout the book. Maeve was a solid character, and mini Nancy Drew, which is always fun to read about. Knox (Maeve’s best friend/ex-boyfriend) was the nice guy, but out of all of them, he was the least fleshed out. I didn’t feel like I got a true sense of his personality.

“I don’t understand why the world insists on stuffing kids into boxes we never asked for, and then gets mad when we won’t stay there.”

There was a bit of romance in this book, and I adored it. Maeve and Luis had great chemistry, and it was nice to watch their relationship unfold. But the pairing that I shipped most of all was Phoebe and Knox. They had some great moments together, so I could see them having real couple potential. Also, I liked that they were different, but grew closer as the book went on.

I am pretty bad at mysteries, but I did have my suspicions on where the plot was going. And, while I was sort of right, the ending shocked me. It was such a good twist, and the last chapter was amazing. I truly wanted to know what was going to happen next. I think a good book keeps you wanting more, which is exactly what Karen M. McManus achieved with ‘One Of Us Is Next’.

I would say that if you are in between fantasy books, you should give this one a read. It’s a good novel to pick up when you need a break from reading big, plot-heavy books. It’s an easy one to follow, and a fairly quick read. Don’t worry if thriller isn’t your preferred genre, it leans more towards the mystery side.

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Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny