One of Us Is Lying

I liked it, but I already liked the TV series, so I knew what to expect. Now I can compare!

Things I liked better in the book: There is no omnipotent, omniscient being as in the series. Everyone just knows what they see and hear about, and works with mundane methods. Also, Luis, Ashton and Eli are amazing extra characters! Also, yes, Simon is definitely a channer.

Things I liked better in the TV series: How the entire situation came to happen. Jake's role, Simon's, and most of all, Janae's! Also, the entire ending. That version is just way more satisfying.

Like seriously?! I didn't see it coming. Like who is stupid enough to bet their own life just to trap some of his peers? Well, it was a good novel though. Riled up my whole emotions. The major twist would be Bronwyn finding that it was actually Simon who did the whole car accident planning and Jake, the controlling boyfriend, was involved in all this just to trap his ex-girlfriend.

3'5/5 Mentiría si dijera que algo me ha sorprendido o que me ha enganchado muchísimo, pero sí que es una historia muy sólida donde todo lo que pasa tenía que pasar así y tiene sentido. Trata muchas cosas y en general los mensajes que deja están bien.

Oh my, I really got soaked into this book after just a couple of pages and could hardly put it down. It was very entertaining and quite suspensful at times so I devoured the story within a good 24 hours.
Still, you mustn't expect too much of it. The conclusion was rather obvious early on and the characters were clichéd but I still enjoyed it a lot. And for once, the bad boy trope didn't make me flinch.

I guess this book might be perfect for younger readers who want to try out murder mysteries, but suckers for teen movies will also not regret reading this novel. Nonetheless, I recommend checking it out at your local library or getting a cheap (second hand) copy as you probably will only read it once.

One of Us is Lying is loosely based on The Breakfast Club, but with a more sinister edge. There's the geek, the jock, the criminal, the prom queen and the outsider. Five enter detention but only four leave alive. I read this during readathon and it kept me turning the pages, eager to know who did it. I am not super familiar with the film it's based on.

Simon is the creator of a gossip app that reports on the secrets of Bayview High. There are few people who don't have a reason to kill him, but what are his fellow detentionees hiding? They might all start out as stereotypes but of course, people are so often different from how they present themselves to the world.

Cooper is the jock and his secret is nothing to be ashamed of, it's society that is the problem, especially the attitudes in the sporting community. I think for him, although he lost the choice of telling friends and family, it wasn't altogether a bad thing.

Addy is the prom queen character and seems a bit air-headed at the start but you soon learn her relationship with her boyfriend is controlling. She has relied on him too much and she must earn not to be co-dependent. What she did wasn't right, but maybe it was good for her.

I liked Nate who is the least advantaged of the bunch. He lives with his alcoholic father and makes ends meet by dealing drugs. He is not a bad person but driven by shitty circumstances. He's on probation when the death happens and obviously, everyone thinks he is the prime suspect.

Bronwyn's a straight A student with aspirations of Yale. Her secret will put that at risk. She felt like the main character in this, but maybe the hardest to feel sympathy for. I don't think what she did was dealt with properly either. The media are overly intrusive in all cases though, it's a real problem that people are tried through the media before things even get to court.

Each character has chapters in first person narrative but the voices aren't that distinct so I did rely on the headings to tell me who was talking at times. These four teenagers who didn't have reasons to mix normally, start to forge friendships, despite lingering suspicion. By the conclusion, it's a sad reminder of the brutal social environment that high school can be. It's so hard to come out of it unscathed.