Book Review

Book Review: One of Us Is Next (One of Us Is Lying #2) by Karen M. McManus

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Mystery/Thriller
Length: 384 pages
Author: Karen M. McManus
Publisher: Delacorte Press for Young Readers
Release Date: January 7th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling thriller everyone is talking about, One of Us Is Lying! There’s a new mystery to solve at Bayview High, and there’s a whole new set of rules.

Come on, Bayview, you know you’ve missed this.

A ton of copycat gossip apps have popped up since Simon died, but in the year since the Bayview four were cleared of his shocking death, no one’s been able to fill the gossip void quite like he could. The problem is no one has the facts.

Until now.

This time it’s not an app, though—it’s a game.

Truth or Dare.

Phoebe’s the first target. If you choose not to play, it’s a truth. And hers is dark.

Then comes Maeve and she should know better—always choose the dare.

But by the time Knox is about to be tagged, things have gotten dangerous. The dares have become deadly, and if Maeve learned anything from Bronwyn last year, it’s that they can’t count on the police for help. Or protection.

Simon’s gone, but someone’s determined to keep his legacy at Bayview High alive. And this time, there’s a whole new set of rules.

ANOTHER GREAT READ BY THIS AUTHOR.

Oh guys. We all know I’m not a big thriller fan, but McManus continually sways me to that side with her compelling YA centered novels. I loved this second book and thought it wove the characters from One of Us is Lying seamlessly together to bring another book that kept me on edge.

I can’t be the only one that doesn’t love NOT knowing who’s the bad guy in mystery books? This one did a great job of keeping me in the dark until almost the reveal. I was super excited when I started whispering to myself, OH IT’S —- [redacted, of course]. One of Us Is Next always had a heightened sense of drama to it. It wasn’t a basic tale of why they were doing such things, but a deeper tale of grief and anger that can consume someone.

As a romance lover, I adored the tiny tidbits throughout for our characters. It never overshadowed the plot, but gave the characters another layer. Phoebe, Maeve and Knox each had a nuanced level of complexity and personal issues that made me love each one on their own and as a group of friends.

The story was twisted and had a good flair for theatrics. I was surprised by some of the details and secrets that came out. Plenty of tense moments and quick flipping pages to get to the bottom of the mystery!

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult mystery/thriller
  • Language: some throughout
  • Romance: some kisses/make-outs, general discussion of sex life
  • Violence: murder, physical
  • Trigger warnings: sexual assault (unwanted kissing/grabbing – Ch. 8), slut shaming, bullying

Instagram || Goodreads

Monthly Wrap-Up

Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: May 2019

Y’ALL.

WHAT A MONTH.

I didn’t even realize I had read 16 books. I am still stunned. And everything got such a great ratings I couldn’t believe it. I promise I’m not a easy reviewer. I have been trying to choose books that I think will bring me joy rather than wasting my time on reading a book for the sake of it.

Read what makes you happy, my TED Talk for the summer.


  • The Gilded Wolves (The GIlded Wolves #1) by Roshani Chockshi
  • The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicles #1) by Patrick Rothfuss
  • The Traitor’s Ruin (The Traitor’s Circle #2) by Erin Beaty
  • Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M. McManus
  • Finale (Caraval #3) by Stephanie Garber
  • The Kingdom of Copper (The Daevabad Trilogy #2) by S.A. Chakraborty
  • The Thousandth Floor (The Thousandth Floor #1) by Katharine McGee – (RTC – ☆☆☆☆)
  • The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren – (RTC – ☆☆☆☆☆)
  • The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co. #1) by Jonathan Stroud – (RTC – ☆☆☆☆☆)
  • Aurora Rising (The Aurora Cycle #1) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff – (RTC – ☆☆☆☆☆)
  • Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin #3) by Robin LaFevers – (RTC – ☆☆☆)
  • The First Girl Child by Amy Harmon – (RTC – ☆☆☆☆☆)
  • Descendant of the Crane by Joan He – (RTC – ☆☆ 1/2)
  • Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid – (RTC – ☆☆☆☆)
  • Jackaby (Jackaby #1) by William Ritter – (RTC – ☆☆☆☆)
  • Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton – (RTC – ☆☆☆☆)

Favorites of the month: Finale, The Unhoneymooners, and Aurora Rising

Least favorite: Descendant of the Crane


Have you read any of these? What do you have on your TBR? Lets talk in the comments!

Instagram || Goodreads

Book Review

Book Review: Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult mystery/thriller
Length: 336 pages
Author: Karen M. McManus
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: January 8th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery’s never been there, but she’s heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.

The town is picture-perfect, but it’s hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone’s declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.

Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she’s in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous–and most people aren’t good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it’s safest to keep your secrets to yourself. 

DEFINITELY A BIT CREEPY.

I’m not a horror/scary fan. Never have been, and while I would love to try a legit horror book just once, I like this dialed back version a lot.

I loved One of Us Is Lying, and TCKaS was better.

I spent the entire book trying to guess who was the original murderer. Every time I thought I had an idea, whoa bam, something would happen and I would have to change my mind.

THIS IS HOW I’M SUPPOSED TO FEEL. Right? No one wants a mystery book where you can guess the person before you even start reading it. I loved that the blame kept moving around making me nervous as to what the final fallout would be.

There were definitely some creepy moments. And it only got more disturbing as all of the facts were known. I mean, really disturbing.

I loved our two main POVs, Ellery and Malcolm. They had great banter and chemistry together. I liked that both of there backgrounds were different and switching between them gave a truly different view point on how these murders were affecting them.

A chilling last sentence left me feeling shook. I am not mad I read this. These are the only YA mystery/thrillers I’ve ever read and I will definitely keep picking her books up.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult mystery/thriller
  • Language: a bit of strong language
  • Romance: kiss/small make-out
  • Violence: light descriptions of multiple murders, creepy dolls, poisoning, physical
  • Trigger warnings: loss of a loved one

Instagram || Goodreads

Top 10 Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: The Ten Most Recent Additions to My To-Read List

Howdy! Another week into January, and another Top 10 Tuesday before us!

This week is a beautiful topic because of it’s simplicity. Find my most recent additions below:


Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Starsight (Skyward #2) by Brandon Sanderson

We Hunt the Flame (Sands of Arawiya #1) by Hafsah Faizal

Emergence (Shadowfire #2) by Gaja J. Kos & Boris Kos

One Day in December by Josie Silver

Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang

Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus

Court of Lions (Mirage #2) by Somaiya Daud

What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon

The Beautiful (The Beautiful #1) by Renee Ahdieh

There you have it! Are you excited about any of these? Have you read some of these? Lets talk in the comments!