Paperback: 384Published: 2017
Five students are sent to detention and only four walk out alive.
Now that sounds like a great start to a mystery, doesn't it?
I believe that a good mystery is one that keeps you on your toes the entire time, unable to put the book down until the truth is revealed. And One of Us is Lying did just that for me.
I will be honest and admit that I did not have high expectations going into this one and thought it will be a quick painfully obvious read.
It was quick, but not obvious, for it kept me guessing and changing my mind about the killer all throughout the book. And I still did not figure it out in time for the big reveal.
The book is told in four perspectives which is not my cup of tea, because I usually find it hard to keep track of who is narrating after a while. However, I do not think this one would have been as good a mystery as it is if it were told by one person alone, for alternating the chapters in four POVs raised a burning question: if all claim innocence, which one of them is lying?
“Unless one of us is lying. Which is always a possibility.”
The story is engaging, the writing is accessible and the characters are amazingly written.
Bronwyn is the brain, future valedictorian and Yale-bound, Addy is the beauty, the perfect homecoming princess, Nate is the criminal, on probation for dealing, Cooper is the athlete, the all-star baseball player and Simon is the outcast, the creator of About You, Bayview High's notorious gossip app.
When Simon dies while in detention, the four remaining students become persons of interest in a murder investigation. Questioned time and time again, carefully kept secrets are revealed and their lives change forever.
”Six hours and five minutes from then we were heading to detention. An hour later, he died.
Seventeen years, gone just like that.”
While there is diversity present throughout the story, I do have to point out that the book is not cliche-free and I did roll my eyes quite a bit at that. We have the good girl falling for the bad boy, the high school princess dating a jock and so on.
Even so, this book was a great remedy for my two month reading slump.
The romance was predictable due to the hints the author kept dropping, but I was pleasantly surprised at how she developed it. I may also have added a new bookish crush to my ever growing list, but I never mind that.
I cannot say too much for it would ruin the story, but I will say this. One of us is lying is a very entertaining read and I had a marvelous time playing detective and trying to piece together the bits of evidence revealed by each chapter.
I am very excited to read the sequel and delve into a new mystery. Hopefully it will be just as good as this one was.
If you enjoy the thrill only a good mystery can give, then this is the book for you!
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