That’s right, today we’re going back to none other than the New York Times bestselling author Karen M. McManus and her claim-to-fame duology, the One of Us is Lying books.
On my Instagram story (here’s a subtle plug to follow me at @toallthebooksblog to get updates—I’m only on Instagram because, hello, Gen Z over here) I asked if you wanted me to talk about The 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle or One of Us is Next—I know, I know, neither of which are a certain Holly Black trilogy I have to finish writing about—and you voted for One of Us is Next!
A great choice, by the way. One of Us is Next was a solid contemporary YA that holds the reader’s attention. While the characters were a little one-sided and stereotyped, they were likeable, and returning to Bayview made me weirdly nostalgic.
Let’s start with the actual writing quality. There’s no doubting McManus is a funny, talented writer. She slips in descriptions of coffeeshops like “prison-grey, the tables and chairs… grade-school cafeteria style” and dedicates entire paragraphs just to “oh my god.” She writes to the mostly-teenage YA crowd she has, and it works for her.
My only problem was that every narrator sounded the same. When a book is written with three different perspectives, the reader expects three distinct voices, and in that category, this book didn’t cut it. As cute as her prose was, I forgot who was narrating multiple times and had to check at the beginning of the chapter. Every time that happened, I was sucked out of the story.
The actual plot, however, was great—I mean, absolutely fantastic—at keeping me hooked. The whole Truth or Dare idea was super cool, and the ships? Too. Cute.
The biggest new ship was Luis and Maeve, and, oh my god, I’m in love. Not only were they an obvious guarantee from the beginning of the story (the reader was allowed to swoon as much as they wanted without having to worry how much swooning Laeve/Muis/Insert-Ship-Name-Here had left) but they also got the most adorable moments ever. Getting into the nitty-gritty of each and every scene would be stupid and boring because a) you should go read the book and b) there’s still six million things I want to talk about, and my five-page reviews are always so excessive, but seriously. Maeve and Luis were the cutest.
The other main ship was Phoebe and Knox, which I honestly wish we’d gotten to see more of. They never seemed all that in love throughout the book. Sure, they were both in denial about liking each other, but I never got the heart-racing, palms-sweating nerves I expect to read when a narrator—let alone two of three narrators—falls in love. I liked them as a ship and thought they were compatible, don’t get me wrong. It just felt like—well, they kiss in one of the last couple chapters, and then we never get to see them actually dating. That’s not really what a reader signs up to see, not when McManus has proven herself with the other ships in other books and even this book.
A third ship in the book, Bronwyn and Nate, was brought back from One of Us is Lying. It felt like a special treat to see these two together, especially since their ending in the first was so open-ended. Anyone who’s read my One of Us is Lying review knows that I’m absolutely in love with this relationship (go back to the post titled “Yes, Murder Mystery Breakfast Club is a Thing, and You Need It In Your Life” for more). You’ll also remember that I felt like Nate was portrayed as a cool, regular guy who got pushed down the wrong path but was finding his way back—and, god, did he find his way. In One of Us is Next, he’s absolutely swoon-worthy. He’s a thousand percent cleaned up his act, working for Knox’s dad’s construction company. Him and Bronwyn are on-again, off-again as she deals with college stress all the way across the country at Yale, but that doesn’t stop him from being a constant big brother to Maeve. When her leukemia came back, he was a perfect saint, talking out with her why she didn’t want to tell anyone and comforting her. When she asked him about his relationship with Bronwyn, he was just like, “Don’t worry. Bronwyn and I are endgame.”
Oh my god. That’s the cutest. Like, oh my freaking god, I’ll take two, please.
So, basically, they were adorable. Onto characters, shall we?
There were a whole bunch of new characters because it’s a whole new class at Bayview High, so we’re going to talk about characters in general rather than specific ones.
They all felt very… one-sided. I get that it’s not high literature or anything, but I found myself wishing that the people weren’t so all-bad, all-good. When characters were the Mean High School Bully, that’s all they were. They never got much of a sensitive side, not ever. There was a Perfect Academic Girl Who Fell Apart (Phoebe’s older sister Emma), a Know-It-All (a girl called Lucy Chen) a Backstabbing Social Climber (Jules, Phoebe’s ex-best friend), etc. Such extremely stereotyped characters made it easier to figure out how they would react and what would happen.
I guess the stereotypes could also go to the whole Bayview message, though. Lemmings, that’s what Simon called the people of Bayview High. The idea behind Bayview’s attackers is that everyone in the high school is a basic stereotype that would do anything to follow the crowd, and while I wouldn’t go that far, maybe the stereotyped characters were a way to show that those crazy, violent people are right, in some ways.
And it’s not like I didn’t like the characters. I did. Phoebe was a super cool gal, very feminist; Maeve was chill; Knox was always trying to be a good dude. Knox’s relationship with his sisters was always a treat to get to see because of how perfectly older sister they behaved.
The highlight of this book was definitely being able to return to Bayview. One of Us is Lying wasn’t ever my favorite book, not even top five, but seeing this town again made me almost nostalgic.
I’ve been thinking about why that was a lot recently, and I think it was because not often are characters returned to later in life. Not often do writers show you how a character has grown and changed a year after their journey was supposed to be over. Seeing them on their way with their lives, whether that be college baseball or cafe waitress, gave me a feeling of belonging. Like, I was there when it all happened. I knew these characters a long time ago, and I know what they’re referencing right now. I don’t know, maybe that’s because I read the first before the second one was even announced, but it feels like more than that. Returning to Bayview made me nostalgic, and I’m willing to bet that had I started One of Us is Next the second I finished One of Us is Lying, I would feel the same way.
The mystery itself in One of Us is Next was slightly underwhelming. I mean, random creepy guy who just happens to hate Brandon Weber as much as Emma does? Kinda lame, McManus. He wasn’t even a character in the book! In the first one, Simon’s accomplice Jake was an important dude. He was there the whole time. In this one? This guy (did he even have a name?) showed up looking for Phoebe a few times. He sent hate mail to Knox’s boss a couple of times that the reader had no reason to connect with him. Then he just, like, randomly tried to bomb a wedding party. And I don’t mean bomb as in show up uninvited, I mean literally bomb. Suddenly, everything was connected to him. Props to McManus for relating him to all aspects of the story, but maybe next time give the reader a little more so that it’s actually solvable? Don’t spell it out for us, sure, just maybe the character who’s trying to kill a whole lot of people should actually be a character in the book.
Just a thought.
Seriously though, I did like this book. I know I keep coming down on it pretty hard, but it’s great. Would recommend definitely. Wouldn’t call it the best book, even mystery, I’ve ever read, but it’s worth reading, at least to me.
That’s all I’ve got for today. This is the shortest review I’ve written in a while; what do you think, should I keep them brief like this? Or are my five-page rants better? I’m not really sure. Until next time, keep reading, readers.