I’m torn with this one everyone. Meet my first (I think) half star rating. I originally rated it 4 stars, but I kept thinking on that rating. I enjoyed the story and characters, however, it didn’t grip me. The ending didn’t really hit its mark with me either. So I finally came to the conclusion to drop my rating to 3.5. And no, I didn’t go thinking it was Illuminae (although they do use some of the voice actors which I loved).

I feel like this had a strong first half. I was invested in the plot and what all the characters were up to. The second half is where it lost me. I felt it dragged, and the part where I was supposed to feel something or be sad I just didn’t. I think it’s because the character it was happening to I didn’t connect with.

I love Kal!! I found myself loving all his chapters. Same with Tyler, Aurora, and Finian. Sarcastic, bad-ass, attitude, and dimples….how can you go wrong?? I know it seems like I didn’t really enjoy this book. However, I really did. Just fell flat at the end. It was a strong 4 until then. That being said, I’m excited for Aurora Burning to come out this year.

The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, One of Us is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide. On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention. Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing. Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher. And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app. Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon’s dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer that’s still on the loose? Everyone has secrets right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

I wanted to try this book because I kept hearing about it on booktube. I’m not a big thriller person. Ok I take that back. I’ve never read a thriller. I’m more of a mystery person and that’s probably why this drew my attention. I like being able to try and solve things.

I always say I’m a character driven person, which is true, but in case the plot is what held my attention. Those twists and turns had me thinking one thing at one point and then something completely different at another point. I love how this was written as well. I like being able to see from all the characters point of view and not just a main one sometimes. Especially in a plot like this.

The guys, Cooper and Nate, I enjoyed all throughout the book. The girls, however, switched. I liked Bronwyn at the beginning, but as the story went on she started to do things that just made me go “chill out lady”. Addy I didn’t like at the beginning, but grew to love her by the end. I did enjoy some of the secondary characters as well, especially Maeve.

Now I see why booktubers don’t really give much away about thrillers and mysteries. It really is best to go in blind or only knowing what the synopsis says. This is another series I will be continuing with.

Have you read this? If you have, did you like or dislike it? If you haven’t, is it on your TBR? Let me know down in the comments. As always, happy reading 💚

Now we can begin. Let’s talk book first. I bought this book almost a year ago, and kept putting it in TBRs all throughout the year. I even started it and got 230 pages in before putting it down. I don’t know why I couldn’t not get into it. I think it just wasn’t the right time for me to appreciate it because I was reading for readathon and challenge purposes instead of reading for me. So I made it a priority to be one of the first books I read in January. It turned out to be THE first book of 2020 for me, and I gave it 5 stars.

You all know I’m a character driven person and with so many characters I found myself feeling like I was there in the town with them. I was getting mad for some characters like I knew them personally.

I have to mention the audiobook. Oh my word. It was so immersive. Not only do you have the narrator doing the voices, but there would also be sound effects in the background based on what was happening in the scene (mostly the big scenes). The way he did Amma and the Sisters voices had to be my favorite. I honestly can not wait until I pick up book two.

Have you read this book and/or series? Did you enjoy it or not? Have you seen the movie? I plan on watching the movie soon. As always, happy reading 💚