Layla's Reviews > One of Us Is Lying

~ 2 stars ~

This is definitely the type of book that the more you think of, the more resentment you will have towards it. The more problems that you will think of and the more you will question what you just read. I enjoyed it when I was reading, simply because of how fast I sped through it, but, was it really, truly, actually good? Upon further reflection prior to this review, ok going to have to say no.



Summary: angsty teenage drama and whatnot.



What I disliked:


• the mystery aspect: It was so easy to guess who did it. Who killed Simon. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. It was so heavy handed and obvious with the clues and in your face. It tried to take focus and incriminate other people, because everyone hAtEs ThiS cHaRacTeR, but it did so in such a weak way, that I didn't even consider anything else other than what was true. But really, for a murder mystery book, there wasn't enough mystery.

And then there was a big reveal, and while I was interested in how the feat was accomplished, the reveal itself was so anti climactic. I wasn't on my toes, I wasn't speculating and doubting everyone (as I should be), and jumping between theories. I simply wasn't blown away by the end, which is what I want when I'm reading a mystery book. I want for the plot twist to be shocking, but not so preposterous that I cannot look back and fit together the pieces. I had known who the perpetrator was the for the majority of the book, and even then I hoped for it to not be true, that it wouldn't take the easy and cheap route, but it sadly ended up doing just that, as I feared it would.

• the characters: I liked Bronwyn and Nate enough to stay I didn't hate them. Not Addy and Cooper though. They were laughable and Addy's whole empowering story line was corny. Also, you're not going to catch me uplifting a bunch of cheaters. And everyone else didn't have a prominent personality and I didn't care for them.

• double standards: Back to the cheating thing. When the character that is a girl cheats ok her partner, it's presented in a way where she is obviously in the wrong, but when the male character cheats, his situation is presented in a sympathetic way. As if he had no other choice. The girl cheats once, but the boy cheats for months on end, and it isn't even refered to as cheating. Not that it really matters, they are both in the wrong, but it seems worth mentioning to difference in treatment and how it was written.

• romance: I thought it was tolerable, but instead of being a sub plot, it had a big focus on it and I feel as if it may have taken away from the actual story. Why did I end up caring about this romance more than the main conflict?? Though the way things played out with the romance, I didn't like (see summary).

• mental illness rep: Nope nope nope. Let's please not use mental illness as a motive or in such a degrading way. _____ is depressed, and using that as something to explain why a person did something horrible, is not something I ever want to read. Villainizing all the characters with mental illnesses and degrading them to just that, is an automatic no for me.

This probably doesn't make any sense because I don't know how to put my feelings into words especially without context, but if you know you know I suppose.

• The ending: Horrible. The last quarter was so bad, and just ruined the entire book. I'm just going to pretend it never happened.




Final Thoughts: I thought this could have done a lot with the concept, but it took the easy route and did a lot of annoying things on the way. I could have loved this, but instead ended up being immensely disappointed. It was predictable, and that made the entire journey have no meaning. Good concept, weak execution

Let's hope the next mystery I read is better. I'm still contemplating whether to read the sequel or not, as it seems useless, but I might if I have nothing better to read?