Maira Gupta, Grade 11
UWCSEA East Campus
Everyone has that one book they just LOVE, that one book which is their go to book, the one that they can never forget about. For me, that would be ‘One of Us is Lying’ by Karen M.McManus. I heard about this book first in English class, when we were discussing what we all read over the summer. Her description of the book sounded truly exciting so I decided to go to the library and pick it up - loved it!
This suspense novel is one that truly has the power to engage its readers and keeps them thinking till the last chapter. The sequel of this book, One of Us is Next, is just as engaging and exciting to read. The sequel is the continuation of the same story but centres around the younger siblings of the protagonists of the first book.
The author of this book has carefully crafted well throughout stories for each of the books and brought them to life using the vivid descriptions, suspenseful and gripping sequence of actions, and deliberate selection of word choice. The novel is M.McManus’s debut novel, published in mid-2017. The novel received immense love by readers, spending more than 130 weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list. Alongside this, the novel received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. This year, the book also won the 2022 Wisconsin Golden Archer Award.
There was also a movie based on the story that was released on Netflix just this year (2022).
Karen M.McManus is an American author of young adult fiction. In her 5 year career spanning and counting, after completing ‘One of Us Is Lying’, she worked on many other well crafted suspense books such as Two can Keep a secret, The Cousins, and more recently ‘You’ll be the Death of Me’ and ‘Nothing More to Tell’.
What I particularly enjoy about M.McManus’s books is that after the suspense is revealed, it's always fun to be able to connect the dots of the hints throughout the book to the final revelation. The readers become mini detectives, trying to uncover the mysteries, forming their own opinions and judgements about the characters. It’s like you are in the scene alongside the other characters too. Writing details about what particualry stood out for me might give the book and its storyline away, so all I’ll say is that if you are someone who enjoys suspense, murder mystseries etc, then this book is defintely somehting that you are sure to enjoy!
Image Courtesy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHWqq0g4y3I
This suspense novel is one that truly has the power to engage its readers and keeps them thinking till the last chapter. The sequel of this book, One of Us is Next, is just as engaging and exciting to read. The sequel is the continuation of the same story but centres around the younger siblings of the protagonists of the first book.
The author of this book has carefully crafted well throughout stories for each of the books and brought them to life using the vivid descriptions, suspenseful and gripping sequence of actions, and deliberate selection of word choice. The novel is M.McManus’s debut novel, published in mid-2017. The novel received immense love by readers, spending more than 130 weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list. Alongside this, the novel received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. This year, the book also won the 2022 Wisconsin Golden Archer Award.
There was also a movie based on the story that was released on Netflix just this year (2022).
Karen M.McManus is an American author of young adult fiction. In her 5 year career spanning and counting, after completing ‘One of Us Is Lying’, she worked on many other well crafted suspense books such as Two can Keep a secret, The Cousins, and more recently ‘You’ll be the Death of Me’ and ‘Nothing More to Tell’.
What I particularly enjoy about M.McManus’s books is that after the suspense is revealed, it's always fun to be able to connect the dots of the hints throughout the book to the final revelation. The readers become mini detectives, trying to uncover the mysteries, forming their own opinions and judgements about the characters. It’s like you are in the scene alongside the other characters too. Writing details about what particualry stood out for me might give the book and its storyline away, so all I’ll say is that if you are someone who enjoys suspense, murder mystseries etc, then this book is defintely somehting that you are sure to enjoy!
Image Courtesy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHWqq0g4y3I
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