Book Review #70: One Of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus

Hey Guys x

I read and reviewed the prequel to this book sometime last year, and you can read my review here!

Bayview High is still reeling over the events surrounding the death of Simon Kelleher a year ago. But now, someone is stepping up to take Simon's place. Someone who uses a game of Truth or Dare to destroy the school from the inside out. But when personal secrets are revealed, and a death occurs, will the students of Bayview be able to discover who started the game before it's too late?

Despite the fact that I was so annoyed with the ending of the first book that I had to write a spoiler-filled rant/review on it, I enjoyed the first book more than this one. Which isn't to say that this book isn't enjoyable, I just didn't like it as much.

However, the one thing that I loved about it was the three main characters.

This story doesn't focus on the same four characters as the first one, but the first four are linked well enough that you don't really feel like you miss them.

But focusing on Maeve, Knox and Phoebe in this book was great because they're all such great characters, particularly Knox who was far and away my favourite.

Having said that, I'm going to try and pin down what I didn't love about this book. And I think that a lot of it lies in comparison.

The concept of the truth or dare game, although logistically pretty impossible (in terms of someone having the mobile number of everyone in the school) works quite well. You feel like there are real stakes. Until, that is, you get further into the book and find out that other than our main characters, the rest of the school isn't really ever affected by the game. And then it feels like the game doesn't really mean anything.

In addition, I felt like the stakes were a lot higher in the first book. All of the secrets being revealed could have potentially destroyed lives or future careers. I won't spoil what the secrets are in this book, but by comparison they were really tame. Which was disappointing because it meant that I didn't take the 'truth or dare' instigator seriously.

And then there's the reveal, which makes or breaks a book like this for me. When everything finally came out (on the last page, no less), it was exciting and great. And then I closed the book and realised that the final reveal didn't really change my view of the overall events one way or the other. It just felt a bit bland. In a way, it was kind of similar to what happened in the first book where more than one person was involved. But the reasons for me didn't make that much sense, and like the first book, were way too over the top.

Neither the 'villain', not his acts of 'villainy' were enough to make me care about that character.

What was good?

Other than what's already mentioned, I really like the way that McManus tells stories. I like the way she writes, the way she teases characters and the way that we, the reader, are hanging on to her every word regardless of whether or not we're enjoying the story.

What was bad?
I've pretty much mentioned everything that I didn't like. It just had a much lesser impact on me than the first one. The first one had me almost breathless by the end because I just couldn't stop reading. This one in comparison felt a bit meh.

Overall
I would definitely read a sequel of this book (and I can't wait to read 'Two Can Keep a Secret' by McManus) because I love how the author writes, but I probably won't be reading this one again.

2.5/5 Stars

Lou