You, you're a murder suspect and all your secrets are gonna be exposed, have a nicE LIFE!!! Want a cookie? :)) Ellery is a person who is always after touching those things that people prefer to keep in the dark. She embarks on a journey where she prefers to keep to themselves such the multiple disappearances. Her mission is, however, dangerous since it will end up putting her life in grave danger, but she has already set her mind to bring everything to light. Someone seems to be doing everything within their reach to ensure that what they have hidden since it is likely to create a substantial amount of damage. This book was such a disappointment because I was REALLY enjoying it up until the last 3rd or so. I seriously thought this would be a 4 or 5 star read. However, upon finishing, I strongly believe that this book should not have been published as is. It's ignorant and damaging. But nothing has settled for the residents of Bayview. Not now someone has started playing a sinister game of Truth or Dare.

Sure, there were some (very) minimal cheesy scenes, but I (unexpectedly) found them rather cute, and not annoying and unnecessary like I usually do. There are also kept on a small scale, so the attention never drifts away from the main plot. And when a member of the crew disappears, it's clear this 'game' just got serious - and no-one understands the rules. He dies 24 hours before he could post their deepest secrets online. Investigators conclude it's no accident. All of them are suspects. This wasn’t entirely original, I think I’ve heard of some other handful of stories similar, but it was entertaining nonetheless. It’s a very entertaining show! Twisty and turny. Very dark. I’ve gasped a few times. Viola Davis is a national treasure.

Publication Order of One of Us Books

I love a murder mystery anyway, but this one was made better as I cared about the 4 kids who were suspects. This probably doesn't make any sense because I don't know how to put my feelings into words especially without context, but if you know you know I suppose. I love me a good sibling bond in a book. Recently I've been reading books where there is sibling hate or no siblings at all. Personally I have five siblings - not that we all get along all the time. But I feel like sibling relationships don't get enough rep and are unappreciated. I'm not sure this will be the last time we see the Bayview Crew, and I never say no to another installment, but I'm telling you, this is the best book in the series, and you shouldn't miss it!

Even though I predicted the whodunit less than halfway through, I still ended up genuinely enjoying the story. First, depression is villanized because Simon is portrayed as a terrorist. His main motivation was wanting the infamy of a school shooter. He wanted to cause the same amount of damage, but in a way he deemed better. Problem: Depression does not equal being a terrorist! Mental illness being portrayed as wrong and evil is such a tired depiction. The characters in this book were really well-done - each one was completely distinct and truly memorable. Also, I guessed it oh my god. I think it's because I'm so obsessed with non fiction crime and murder or probably because I'm just plain morbid??? But even though I had my predictions, I was shook when that ending happened, son. I feel like one of maybe four people in the world who just... really did not enjoy this book? I've been putting off this review for weeks because I just don't know where to start. I have so many friends who raved about this book to me, so I was so disappointed by it.This was a great read. And let's put it this way: only for a novel as skillfully written as One of Us Is Lying would make me willing to relive memories of some of the angst, emotions, drama, and insecurities of high school. (And since you know so many books have me singing a particular song, for no reason whatsoever, this book had me singing "One of Us" by ABBA. But this was an easy one: the song actually has the lyric "One of us is lying.") On the other hand – not a bright side – the answer to the tormenting question “Who is the killer?” is quite obvious so the mystery itself is not that strongly wrapped in unknown and delusion, which on my list is a weak point, but the good news is that the story is quite enjoyable so it kind of balances things out. the writing and the pacing had me feeling like I was binge watching an addictive Netflix series. If that's not an indicator of a good book then I don't know what is.

There are a couple of characters in the book that are said to be depressed and one of them was Simon, the boy who died. The final plot twist is that Simon wasn't murdered, but killed himself. Again, I think that some of Simon's feelings that surround his depression could be very relateable to teenagers, but I had three huge issues with how his suicide was portrayed. My personal favorite was Addy - I truly had a soft spot for her! Her individual storyline and development is something so important. I was rooting for her the whole way through and was cheering her on at every step of the way. I'm sure that they are people reading this book who are in the same situation as her, and I really, really hope that their eyes might be opened with the help of Addy's portrayal.

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Five students have detention one afternoon. There's Cooper, the golden boy and star baseball player trying to decide between college and the major leagues; Bronwyn, the class valedictorian who plans to follow her family's legacy and go to Yale; Addy, one-half of the picture-perfect couple and a homecoming princess; Nate, the bad boy, on probation for dealing drugs (and still selling them not so secretly); and Simon, the despised (and kind-of feared) creator of About That, Bayview High's gossip blog. They're all in detention for something none of them did, and they can't understand why the teacher doesn't believe them. The main romance is fairly cute. Incredibly trope-y "goody-two-shoes smart girl falls for the brooding bad boy!" stuff, but, I mean, their interactions are fine, and I was rooting for them by the end of the book, which is a big plus. I would say I was more attached to the budding relationship between them than I was to any of the individual characters in this story. Second, a side character was also said to be depressed and she was his accomplice. She framed his death on the other 4 students by planting evidence. Through her, depression is villainized once again. Indeed, some of them were, so much so, that again, I don't like that YA authors resort to making the police force completely oblivious to the crimes - please, it would not hurt to bring some forth of realism to the stories. Just writing them off, as a work force that is not taking the crimes or deaths seriously, all the more annoyed. ☹️ And then, to have the ending, not even bring decent closure to all the characters - it leaves it all so wishy-washy, and even makes me believe that there may be a spin-off or sequel in the works, because it still left some story lines hanging! It was as if, it was written for the sole intent of making the bad guys completely unlikable and not even redeemable for their cause of actions.😩😩