One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

I heard about this book when Lectus reviewed it and since she gave it four stars, I was pretty sure that I was going to like it. So I immediately placed a hold on it and once it came, I ended up devouring the entire book in one sitting.

One of Us is Lying is basically a mystery. Four students, who basically represent the jock, the pretty girl, the studious nerd, and the bad boy are framed for detention. Along with them is Simon, the guy who publishes gossip about the students, gossip which is always true. When Simon dies from an allergic reaction, suspicion falls on the four students. Things do not get better when blogposts from the 'killer' start turning up and secrets start to be revealed.

Since the book is told from the four viewpoints, I was a little afraid that I was going to get confused (this happens more often than I'd like to admit because sometimes all characters sound the same). But all four characters turned out to have distinct personalities and their own character arcs, and I not only had no problems following the story, I got so curious about the ending that I went to spoil it for myself.

The four characters are:

- Addy, the pretty girl dating one of the most popular guys in school. I actually like her the best, probably because the relationship she was in infuriated me so much that I cheered the moment she started to grow. Plus Addy is a good friend to the other characters and that was something that I appreciated.

- Bronwyn, the studious nerd. I thought her romance was pretty predictable, but I liked her well-enough and she was basically the driving force for them to find out what was going on.

- Cooper, the jock. He was a really sympathetic character and one of the few people who stuck with Addy when she became an outcast.

- Nate, the bad boy who has a past with Bronwyn. He has perhaps the most stereotypical role but it never felt cliched when I was reading the story.

Writing this out, I realise that this book could have been extremely cliched. But the story manages to rise above the stereotypes and is an engrossing mystery. I like that all four characters had their own character arc and all of them were equally fleshed out and carried their share of the story well. I would definitely recommend this.