Book Review: One of Us Is Lying

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Released: May 30, 2017

Read: May 2017

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Format: ARC, 368 pages

Series: Stand-alone

Description from Goodreads:

Pay close attention and you might solve this.

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.

Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. 

Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. 

Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.

Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.

And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app. 

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose? 

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

Review: 
    One of Us Is Lying was simply amazing! It got my attention from the very first page and continued to hold it throughout the entire novel. The author, Karen M. McManus, did a great job of hiding who the true killer really was, and only hinted it in at the very end. Usually with books where the point of view rotates between characters, I enjoy one perspective more than the others and look forward to that one in particular. But that didn't happen with One of Us Is Lying; I wanted to know more information about each character equally. This created a very enticing read and I can't wait for more people to read it!

Favourite Quotes:

• " These murder club meetings are becoming a regular thing. We need a new name, though."
• "It concerns me you're avoiding a promise not to murder me."
• "I don't know why it's so hard for people to admit that sometimes they're just assholes who screw up because they don't expect to be caught."
• " I guess we're almost friends now, or as friendly as you can get when you're not one hundred percent sure the other person isn't framing you for murder."
• "We could be surrounded by walking dead in the zombie apocalypse and she'd look for the bright side."

Rating: 8.5/10

Recommended if you like: thrillers, murder-mysteries, high school dramas, the Breakfast Club, Pretty Little Liars

Keep flipping pages,
Lauren

Blog Tour Stop: Useless Bay

Hello all! We are happy to be the first stop on the "Useless Bay" blog tour, hosted by Rockstar Book Tours! Enjoy the following, and be sure to check out the rest of the tour!

Title: USELESS BAY
Author: M.J. Beaufrand
Pub. Date: October 18, 2016
Publisher: Amulet Books
Pages: 240
Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Goodreads

A gritty, psychological thriller about a mythic set of sixteen-year-old quintuplets searching for a young boy.

On Whidbey Island, the Gray quintuplets are the stuff of legend. Pixie and her brothers have always been bigger and blonder than their neighbors, as if they were birthed from the island itself. Together, they serve as an unofficial search-and-rescue team for the island, saving tourists and locals alike from the forces of wind and sea. But, when a young boy goes missing, the mysteries start to pile up. While searching for him, they find his mother’s dead body instead—and realize that something sinister is in their midst. Edgar-nominated author M. J. Beaufrand has crafted another atmospheric thriller with a touch of magical realism that fans of mystery and true crime will devour. 


About M.J:

Mary Jane grew up in Gresham, Oregon. She’s a graduate of Wellesley College and has an MFA from the Bennington Writing Program. Currently she lives in Seattle with her husband, two children, and dogs. In the eighties she had a bad perm.

Website |Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads

Here is our interview with the author behind Useless Bay!

What inspired the idea behind the book?

There were two ideas. The first was that many years ago, we had a dog trainer that helped us train our out-of-control puppy. He was later murdered, his body dumped into Puget Sound.  
The second is the wild beauty of Whidbey Island itself, specifically Useless Bay (yes, such a place exists and it’s GORGEOUS). The beach is so shallow, at low tide, the sand seems to stretch on forever. You never know what treasures will wash up, especially after a storm. It could be something wonderful, it could be a rotting corpse. Either way, it’s an adventure.  

Did the book turn out like you thought it would?

The beginning and end did. I gutted places in the middle. Hopefully for the better. 

Do you have any regrets about the book?

No regrets, but one part was particularly difficult to write. Alas, I can’t spoil it. You’ll know it when you come to it. 

As you were writing, did you fall in love with any characters over others?

Absolutely. I started out thinking it would be Pixie and Henry, but I came away with great affection for Pixie’s brothers. I’ve known teenage dudes like that, who come home with bleeding head wounds saying, “Check it out, how many points for this?” And their single mothers just sort of sigh and take them to the emergency room. 

Did you make any drastic changes from the final draft?

No, in fact the process itself was like a receding tide: with each draft I deposited something, but I revealed more, deposit, reveal, etc. 
I hope you find treasures in the final contents!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's the schedule for the rest of the tour!

 Week One:

10/11/2017- Zach's YA Reviews- Review

10/12/2017- The Alchemy of Ink- Review

10/13/2017- Bean's Bookshelf and Coffee Break- Review

10/14/2017- Curling Up With A Good Book- Interview

Week Two:

10/17/2017- Michelle4Laughs: It's in the Details- Excerpt

10/18/2017- In a bookish world- Excerpt

10/19/2017- The Bookworm Central- Review

10/20/2017- Eli to the nth- Review

10/21/2017- Owl Always Be Reading- Excerpt

Your Friends at the Autumn Bookshelf

Blog Tour Stop: Hidden Truths

Hidden Truths by Kristin Coley


Genre: YA Paranormal Romance 
Release Date: September 1st 2016 

Summary from Goodreads:
A missing boy...a girl haunted by answers. Addie's kept her ability secret her entire life. When a local boy goes missing though she's forced to expose herself as she enlists the aid of a suspicious hero to chance a harrowing rescue. Jake's determined to resist the crazy girl asking for help but can't when he realizes she knows more than she should. He's forced to keep her safe knowing her knowledge could get her killed if the wrong people found out. Their reluctant alliance will unearth secrets that push them towards a dangerous situation neither could have anticipated. Hidden truths never stay hidden for long.

Review:
Going into this, I was intrigued. The premise was so interesting, and I was really excited to dig in! The main character's ability was really cool, and for sure unique. Although it wasn't really explained (we kinda dove right into the middle there, and had to figure it out for ourselves..) it was something that I had never heard of before! Basically, she can see the answer to any question that you ask her (it would really solve the question, 'where did I put my darn phone?!'). It's a "super power" that is fresh, and has never really been done before. Because of this power, she meets Jake, an undercover cop. Lemme say that he is SUPER HOT sounding! The only odd thing about him is that he is waaay to accepting of Addie's supernatural gift. Like barely any questions regarding it, and then decides to right away trust her. That and he says some rather cringy stuff about/to Addie that make you go WTF? a little. But other than that, I thought that though the relationship between the two protagonists was quite tense (a lot of sexual tension),it worked quite well. I loved the scene where Addie starts talking about sex and cars, within the first 20 minutes of meeting him! If you don't laugh at that you are dead inside! My main critique is that her writing style wasn't really my cup of tea (however that's just my opinion, not anything against the book/story). It was a little choppy, and the chapters didn't seem to flow together... (again in my opinion) but Jake's hotness made up for most of it! (Strange how you can totally go gaga for a book character!) I thought this book was really interesting, and it kept me on my toes all the way through. I actually went "OH MY GOSH!" aloud, while reading, as it took quite a few unexpected turns. This book wasn't what I expected, but it finished up in a really fascinating place.

Favorite Quote:
"They were grungy to state it politely and I had the impression they would rather knife me than talk." Kristin Coley (me before coffee!)

Rating:
7/10 Stars 

Recommended for people who enjoy:
Paranormal, romance, YA fiction, psychic, murder mystery

About the Author:

I adore chocolate chip cookies, romance novels, and alone time. I live in south Louisiana with a collection of rescued dogs and cats. All of who are the loves of my life and well aware of the fact. Spoiled would be a good word to describe them. Writing is currently a hobby since it doesn’t pay the bills but my fond hope is one day I can consider it a full time job. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes. Currently I spend my days wrangling tech guys inmy job asanIT manager. I squeeze writing in between reading plus a million other things like cleaning. Guess what usually wins? Btw, I need to clean my house.


Author Links: Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook 

Blog Tour Organized by: YA Bound Book Tours

Happy Reading,
Mari