Monday 22 June 2020

Book Review - One of Us is Next

Title: One of Us is Next
Author: Karen McManus
Series: One of Us is Lying (Book 2)
Publisher: Penguin
Release Date: 9 Jan. 2020
ISBN-13: 978-0241376928

Synopsis
Welcome back to Bayview High . . .

It's been a year since the events of One Of Us Is Lying.

But nothing has settled for the residents of Bayview. Not now someone has started playing a sinister game of Truth or Dare.

Choose truth? Your darkest secret will be revealed.
Choose dare? Well, that could be even more dangerous. Even deadly.

When the game takes an even darker turn, suddenly no one at Bayview High knows who to trust.

But they need to find out who is behind the game, before it's too late.


My Review

After racing through book 1 and really enjoying it, I was excited to get started on this one. I wasn't sure what to expect or where the author could take it as the first book wrapped up quite nicely, but I was invested and ready to find out so I had some time yesterday to sit and read so I started. Within 3 hours, I had finished - I basically devoured this book in one sitting, reading quite fast because I had to know what was going to happen next, I was totally absorbed that I couldn't stop for a second.

This book starts off a year after the first, we have some new characters and the reappearance of some of our original four. Maeve (Bronwyn's sister) is now one of the main narrators, along with a girl named Phoebe who works in a local coffee shop where Maeve and Addy like to hang out. We also now have Knox - who is Maeve's best friend and ex-boyfriend. I loved getting to see more of Maeve and seeing  her develop as a character in her own right. Knox is so sweet and a bit of a nerd, always just on the outskirts but still caring and thoughtful and willing to help others. Phoebe is sassy and funny but also sweet, we also see her sister Emma and find out about her background which helps her to be relatable.

Of course we have appearances from Bronwyn and Nate, Addy is around a lot with her sister Ashton and the lawyer Eli, and Copper makes start appearances but isn't a full focus of the story.

I was nervous how the dynamics would be different with new characters and old ones going off to college but it worked really well, I liked the new groups and found myself wanting to know all I could about them.

Simon has been gone for a year now, but some people are trying to keep his gossip alive, there have been some copycat blogs and messages, but most of those have been shut down - but then a text goes out. The biggest game of Truth or Dare in history is going to be played. Everyone in Bayview High is glued to their phones - who will be the first to pay? If you text back Truth, your worst secret will be revealed, if you text back Dare, you will be given a task to complete. If you don't reply - your worst secret is revealed anyway.

The pace of this book is perfect, the perfect mix of action, dialogue and information. Considering the most tragic part is about halfway through, you think it would then drag, but then things start to get even more serious and our group have to find out who is behind it all before something else blows up in everyone's faces. Hopefully no one else will get hurt, but this player is very clever and he has revenge on his mind.

In my opinion this book was even better than the first and I wish there were more from this series. I haven't been this absorbed in a book for a long time, something that can just grip me and carry me away.

The only thing I didn't like as much was that the ending was a little bit open ended, I wanted to know what would happen next and if there would be anything further, but overall I can see why she ended it this way, and it didn't destroy my enjoyment of the book as a whole.

A definite must read!

My Review






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