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Five Little Liars
I Know What You Did Last Summer meets One of Us is Lying in this fast-paced suspense thriller following five teens who must cover up the suspicious death of their teacher.
Nothing ruins summer vacation like a secret . . . especially when that secret is a dead teacher.
Ivy used to be on top of the social ladder, until her ex made that all go away. She has the chance to be Queen Bee again, but only if the rest of the group can keep quiet.
Tyler has always been a bad boy, but lately he’s been running low on second chances. There’s no way he’s going to lose everything because someone couldn’t keep their mouth shut.
Kinley wouldn’t describe herself as perfect, though everyone else would. But perfection comes at a price, and there is nothing she wouldn’t do to keep her perfect record – one that doesn’t include murder charges.
Mattie is only in town for the summer. He wasn’t looking to make friends, and he definitely wasn’t looking to be involved in a murder. He’s also not looking to be riddled with guilt for the rest of his life . . . but to prevent that he’ll have to turn them all in.
Cade couldn’t care less about the body, or about the pact to keep the secret. The only way to be innocent is for someone else to be found guilty. Now he just has to decide who that someone will be.
With the police hot on the case, they don’t have much time to figure out how to trust each other. But in order to take the lead, you have to be first in line . . . and that’s the quickest way to get stabbed in the back.
Perfect for fans of Chelsea Pitcher, Karen M. McManus and Holly Jackson!
Nothing ruins summer vacation like a secret . . . especially when that secret is a dead teacher.
Ivy used to be on top of the social ladder, until her ex made that all go away. She has the chance to be Queen Bee again, but only if the rest of the group can keep quiet.
Tyler has always been a bad boy, but lately he’s been running low on second chances. There’s no way he’s going to lose everything because someone couldn’t keep their mouth shut.
Kinley wouldn’t describe herself as perfect, though everyone else would. But perfection comes at a price, and there is nothing she wouldn’t do to keep her perfect record – one that doesn’t include murder charges.
Mattie is only in town for the summer. He wasn’t looking to make friends, and he definitely wasn’t looking to be involved in a murder. He’s also not looking to be riddled with guilt for the rest of his life . . . but to prevent that he’ll have to turn them all in.
Cade couldn’t care less about the body, or about the pact to keep the secret. The only way to be innocent is for someone else to be found guilty. Now he just has to decide who that someone will be.
With the police hot on the case, they don’t have much time to figure out how to trust each other. But in order to take the lead, you have to be first in line . . . and that’s the quickest way to get stabbed in the back.
Perfect for fans of Chelsea Pitcher, Karen M. McManus and Holly Jackson!
343 pages, Paperback
First published June 11, 2020
130 people are currently reading
7048 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 365 reviews
July 21, 2020
This was a fast-paced teen thriller, a little out of the realms of reality but a page-turner nonetheless. I found some elements predictable and the cast of characters were broadly unlikeable but it kept the plot spinning.
The story was told in multiple POV, all students taking a college-level summer psychology class in high school. Oh the irony of the psychology of this bunch of teens. Out of the this cast of five characters, there were only a couple I took to, the rest were conceited, trouble-makers or plain old mean. All that said, the teacher was plain evil.
The story took a spiral of events, panic and then lies in a familiar pattern but one that works. I did call the final twist very early on though. There were other twists that I didn’t predict however and it did keep me reading.
FIVE LITTLE LIARS was somewhat high drama teen-feeling. I read a lot of YA, but this felt particularly teeny to me with a lack of balance in the characteristics. I reminded myself that someone was dead and high drama was perhaps an appropriate response but there was just something about how it was written that sometimes made my eyes roll (like a teen).
I read this book in an afternoon, it kept me entertained and it was a switch up from genres I’ve been reading. I definitely think it has something to lend to the YA thriller scene and would appeal particularly to young adult readers.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster UK for the finshed review copy.
This review can be found on A Take From Two Cities Blog.
The story was told in multiple POV, all students taking a college-level summer psychology class in high school. Oh the irony of the psychology of this bunch of teens. Out of the this cast of five characters, there were only a couple I took to, the rest were conceited, trouble-makers or plain old mean. All that said, the teacher was plain evil.
The story took a spiral of events, panic and then lies in a familiar pattern but one that works. I did call the final twist very early on though. There were other twists that I didn’t predict however and it did keep me reading.
FIVE LITTLE LIARS was somewhat high drama teen-feeling. I read a lot of YA, but this felt particularly teeny to me with a lack of balance in the characteristics. I reminded myself that someone was dead and high drama was perhaps an appropriate response but there was just something about how it was written that sometimes made my eyes roll (like a teen).
I read this book in an afternoon, it kept me entertained and it was a switch up from genres I’ve been reading. I definitely think it has something to lend to the YA thriller scene and would appeal particularly to young adult readers.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster UK for the finshed review copy.
This review can be found on A Take From Two Cities Blog.
December 22, 2020
Cover states "Perfect for fans of Karen McManus"
This was a lie
Probably shouldn't have gone into this straight after "One of us is next" with all my high hopes of what McManus delivers but such is life.
This felt like a copy in the sense that it was a teen murder mystery with a dead character and a bunch of kids, a good girl/bad guy romance etc
The story was weird and there wasn't really a direction, it was all over the place. Each character had a "mysterious" backstory but you never really found out the things you wanted to know or how it fit with the plot.
I despise writing negative reviews but this really missed the mark for me and I'm disappointed.
July 15, 2021
This book is psychotic. To be honest the first part of the book was okay, if not mediocre. The book takes a boring route- which stops briefly for two of the characters to make out beside a dead body, trust me it was very disturbing. However the rest of the book is lacklustre, culminating in an anti climatic ending, wherein it turns out the man did not in-fact die but suffered a brain aneurysm. This destroys the whole plot of the book leading up to the ending- albeit it wasn’t a good plot anyway- and it is quite frankly a travesty.
At the end there is a desperate money grab when the book ends on a cliffhanger- that by the way no one wants the answer to. No one is that desperate to buy a sequel to a novel, that I believe is a disgrace on humanity. And you should too
DO NOT READ THIS BOOK
At the end there is a desperate money grab when the book ends on a cliffhanger- that by the way no one wants the answer to. No one is that desperate to buy a sequel to a novel, that I believe is a disgrace on humanity. And you should too
DO NOT READ THIS BOOK
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2022
DNF. Way too similar to "one of us is lying".
August 21, 2020
Sadly this was a big miss for me. The characters were all stereotypes and not really likeable. The story was quite weak and the ending was just terrible. I felt it was such a promising idea but just wasn't executed well.
February 27, 2021
Ugggghhhhhh. I’ve wanted to DNF this book for a while. I could get through the chapters pretty quickly. Only an hour of reading and I’m already a good portion a way into the book. I thought I could finish it. Boy was I wrong.
Let’s go over the bad parts. In other words: THE STEREOTYPES!! Ugh stereotypical much?
Cade (Asian kid)
- The guy who threw the punch’s
-Rich duche bag
- Has a really nice girlfriend and treats her like trash
-A daddy’s boy
-Daddy’s really mean (aka mean Asian parents)
Tyler (The bad kid)
-Falls in love with the goody two shoes
-Does drugs and stuff
-(Book stereotype) Nice at heart
Kinley (The smart one)
-Crazy nice parents
-RICH
-Super kind and stuff
-Narc
-Loves bad boy Tyler
-Uhhhhh a total Hermione Granger
Mattie (The weird bi kid who’s in the group)
-Not much spot light
-Has bf problems
-FALLS IN LOVE WITH A GIRL (I didn’t actually read this part, but it was heavily implied and read spoilers to see if it got any better. It didn’t. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with a bi kid liking a different gender, but the bi kid has a perfectly fine homo relationship, and the author just had to make them hetero again 🙄)
-Completely awkward
Ivy (Queen Bee)
-Has such a “hard” life
-Bf problems
-She’s a b*tch
And other than the personalities stereotypes, THE CHARACTERS? Why do all books only have the popular kid, the smart kid, the rich kid, the awkward kid, and the drug dealer? Like can’t we focus on one group?
The story was crazy slow. The book was supposedly told in different points of view, but it was actually third person. You don’t need one of the characters name up top if it’s told in third person.
On the cover it says for fans of Karen M. McManus, well my reply- LIES. This was utter trash. Compared to McManus, this is like warm evaporated froyo to the best ice cream you can think of.
Also, really the person who killed the teacher (he’s so under developed I don’t even know his name) was Cade. Ummmm sterotypes? Rich Asian kid with anger management problems and thinks he’s better than every one else?
Unless your a racist stereotypical person who loves trash, don’t read this book.
Let’s go over the bad parts. In other words: THE STEREOTYPES!! Ugh stereotypical much?
Cade (Asian kid)
- The guy who threw the punch’s
-Rich duche bag
- Has a really nice girlfriend and treats her like trash
-A daddy’s boy
-Daddy’s really mean (aka mean Asian parents)
Tyler (The bad kid)
-Falls in love with the goody two shoes
-Does drugs and stuff
-(Book stereotype) Nice at heart
Kinley (The smart one)
-Crazy nice parents
-RICH
-Super kind and stuff
-Narc
-Loves bad boy Tyler
-Uhhhhh a total Hermione Granger
Mattie (The weird bi kid who’s in the group)
-Not much spot light
-Has bf problems
-FALLS IN LOVE WITH A GIRL (I didn’t actually read this part, but it was heavily implied and read spoilers to see if it got any better. It didn’t. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with a bi kid liking a different gender, but the bi kid has a perfectly fine homo relationship, and the author just had to make them hetero again 🙄)
-Completely awkward
Ivy (Queen Bee)
-Has such a “hard” life
-Bf problems
-She’s a b*tch
And other than the personalities stereotypes, THE CHARACTERS? Why do all books only have the popular kid, the smart kid, the rich kid, the awkward kid, and the drug dealer? Like can’t we focus on one group?
The story was crazy slow. The book was supposedly told in different points of view, but it was actually third person. You don’t need one of the characters name up top if it’s told in third person.
On the cover it says for fans of Karen M. McManus, well my reply- LIES. This was utter trash. Compared to McManus, this is like warm evaporated froyo to the best ice cream you can think of.
Also, really the person who killed the teacher (he’s so under developed I don’t even know his name) was Cade. Ummmm sterotypes? Rich Asian kid with anger management problems and thinks he’s better than every one else?
Unless your a racist stereotypical person who loves trash, don’t read this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 5, 2022
I couldn’t finish it…. It’s WAY too similar to ‘one of us is lying’ - there were so many similar characters.
Way too samey, very disappointing. 😩
Way too samey, very disappointing. 😩
March 27, 2023
Five little idiots more like.
July 21, 2020
If you're a fan of Karen McManus or Holly Jackon, you will absolutely love Five Little Liars.
I was hooked into the story immediately and the characters drew me in. I definitely had high expectations of this book after seeing that it was for fans of Karen McManus. I love her books and this lived up to the hype, I love a good YA murder mystery.
The story is definitely character-driven and all of the characters have their own secrets. Having one secret unite them eventually revealed their true personalities and they're definitely not as perfect as they may seem, especially Kinley. It definitely showed how people should not be judged on looks alone. My favourite character was definitely Mattie, he seemed the most affected by the events and I had a real soft spot for him. The characters are all flawed and it made them all feel far more realistic that having "perfect" students, I was glad that it was an eclectic mix.
I loved that the plot wasn't predictable, far too often I can guess exactly what is going to happen next but I can honestly say I had no idea how this book was going to end. There are some great twists and turns to keep you guessing.
My only complaint was that the only character to be openly bi is shown to be more likely to cheat. It's so stereotypical and a harmful depiction.
An enjoyable murder mystery to devour in one sitting. It's a rollercoaster of a read.
I was hooked into the story immediately and the characters drew me in. I definitely had high expectations of this book after seeing that it was for fans of Karen McManus. I love her books and this lived up to the hype, I love a good YA murder mystery.
The story is definitely character-driven and all of the characters have their own secrets. Having one secret unite them eventually revealed their true personalities and they're definitely not as perfect as they may seem, especially Kinley. It definitely showed how people should not be judged on looks alone. My favourite character was definitely Mattie, he seemed the most affected by the events and I had a real soft spot for him. The characters are all flawed and it made them all feel far more realistic that having "perfect" students, I was glad that it was an eclectic mix.
I loved that the plot wasn't predictable, far too often I can guess exactly what is going to happen next but I can honestly say I had no idea how this book was going to end. There are some great twists and turns to keep you guessing.
My only complaint was that the only character to be openly bi is shown to be more likely to cheat. It's so stereotypical and a harmful depiction.
An enjoyable murder mystery to devour in one sitting. It's a rollercoaster of a read.
January 9, 2023
Either 3 or 3.5, I dunno 😂
December 27, 2023
2.5 ⭐ changed to a 1⭐
I don't know about others but when I pick up a murder mystery book I actually expect it to be mysterious and I would preferably like it to make me guess hard about the plot twists and this book did everything but that. The book had so many random plot twists out of nowhere like they were there for the sake of it. I ordered this book from Amazon because it sounded intriguing but oh boy was I wrong!! The romance subplot was the worst thing ever like why write a romance if it isn't even gonna be romantic??? Also it ended on the worst possible cliffhanger and I'm not sure I'm ever picking up a book by this author again. The marketing is so so misleading. I do NOT recommend
thanks for reading my rant and have a great day <3
I don't know about others but when I pick up a murder mystery book I actually expect it to be mysterious and I would preferably like it to make me guess hard about the plot twists and this book did everything but that. The book had so many random plot twists out of nowhere like they were there for the sake of it. I ordered this book from Amazon because it sounded intriguing but oh boy was I wrong!! The romance subplot was the worst thing ever like why write a romance if it isn't even gonna be romantic??? Also it ended on the worst possible cliffhanger and I'm not sure I'm ever picking up a book by this author again. The marketing is so so misleading. I do NOT recommend
thanks for reading my rant and have a great day <3
August 24, 2020
The book was really quite slow paced. The storyline was very boring, there were no twists or turns or excitement which made it really hard to get into. Overall a boring read.
February 23, 2022
My biggest waste of money. The audacity to compare it to One of us is lying or I know what you did last summer is shocking
July 19, 2022
dun dun dunnnn. twas a good read with twists and turns
Read
September 4, 2023it feels like a one of us is lying dupe 😭😭
April 5, 2021
This book captured my attention from the cover with the tagline of "one dead teacher, one secret pact". Even though our library had this book in the Top Titles section which is normally reserved for adults’ books, I found Five Little Liars would have been more suited to older teens as the book is set during summer school and features the students, all from different walks of life who have been signed up to complete the professor's psychology class. The teacher as we are about to discover is such a hard nut and one night after failing students - five students will be bonded for life with a secret pact after they accidentally kill their teacher. Mattie, Ivy, Kinley, Tyler, and Cade are now connected with the murder of their teacher. As the story goes along, the five will try and make it look like an accident and make a pact never to talk about this again. The thing though is each of the five is hiding dark secrets of their own and if they aren't careful, then those secrets could be the downfall of their pact being broken and one of them if not all taking the fall for the murder. Even though it read to be similar to Karen McManus's series, I thought this had more of a Sara Shepard feel to the story with the secrets and pact side of things. I am now interested in reading the other books by this author and of course the sequel to Five Little Liars as ended on a major cliffhanger.
October 6, 2020
Reviewed from a copy gifted by Jonathan Ball Publishers and Jonathan Ball Publishers Childrens.
Five Little Liars is a teen thriller about five students who were complete strangers. Five strangers who took a summer psychology class together, but soon they became more than strangers. After finishing a test an altercation took place after class and these five strangers were left to look upon the corpse of their teacher, Dr. Stratford. They knew they were now connected.
Instead of calling an ambulance, they reacted in shock and got rid of Dr. Stratford's body. Each passing day is a battle between guilt and lies. They need to keep quiet at all costs to avoid going to prison, but a large shadow hangs over their heads. Dr. Stratford's body will be discovered and soon there will be questions asked that they can't answer unless they wanted to go to prison. Throughout the story, each of the five characters tries to ensure that no one goes to the police or say anything that incriminates them, but at the same time, some of the characters try to pin the blame on someone else in the group.
The story has a good flow and the chapters are short which keeps the reader's attention. Nothing is resolved in a chapter which keeps the reader guessing. The plot isn't predictable and I liked the characters and their different backgrounds. Ivy, Kinley, Mattie, Tyler and Cade each had their own secrets and were flawed, which made the characters more believable. The story is told in multiple POV which makes it interesting to see how each character experiences the cover-up of their teacher's death as well as the guilt that goes with it.
I didn't have a favourite character, but what I liked about them was that they learned the lesson of consequence. Dr. Stratford was harsh and mean and they hated him and had vulgar thoughts about him and even said some vulgar things to him, typical teenage behaviour, but when he died they realised they could have handled the situation better. Each of them had done some stupid things and no matter how hard they tried to hide it, it all came to the surface like dead bodies floating in water.
I felt that too much time was spent on trying to hide their individual secrets and it took the focus from their dead teacher and the investigation around his death.
I think this is a great read for teenagers or anyone who wants a quick dose of mystery with a side of thriller. I enjoyed the story and the ending had me throwing my hands in the air.
A special thank you to Jonathan Ball Publishers for gifting me this copy.
If you're a fan of Karen McManus or enjoyed Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson, you will enjoy Five Little Liars.
This review is posted on my blog: https://willowscornerbook.wordpress.c...
Five Little Liars is a teen thriller about five students who were complete strangers. Five strangers who took a summer psychology class together, but soon they became more than strangers. After finishing a test an altercation took place after class and these five strangers were left to look upon the corpse of their teacher, Dr. Stratford. They knew they were now connected.
Instead of calling an ambulance, they reacted in shock and got rid of Dr. Stratford's body. Each passing day is a battle between guilt and lies. They need to keep quiet at all costs to avoid going to prison, but a large shadow hangs over their heads. Dr. Stratford's body will be discovered and soon there will be questions asked that they can't answer unless they wanted to go to prison. Throughout the story, each of the five characters tries to ensure that no one goes to the police or say anything that incriminates them, but at the same time, some of the characters try to pin the blame on someone else in the group.
There should be more blood. He lay there, sprawled across the floor, his lips parted as if he were about to speak. But he wasn't. He wasn't even breathing. His left eye was partially open, revealing a half-moon of jelly-white eyeball.
The story has a good flow and the chapters are short which keeps the reader's attention. Nothing is resolved in a chapter which keeps the reader guessing. The plot isn't predictable and I liked the characters and their different backgrounds. Ivy, Kinley, Mattie, Tyler and Cade each had their own secrets and were flawed, which made the characters more believable. The story is told in multiple POV which makes it interesting to see how each character experiences the cover-up of their teacher's death as well as the guilt that goes with it.
I didn't have a favourite character, but what I liked about them was that they learned the lesson of consequence. Dr. Stratford was harsh and mean and they hated him and had vulgar thoughts about him and even said some vulgar things to him, typical teenage behaviour, but when he died they realised they could have handled the situation better. Each of them had done some stupid things and no matter how hard they tried to hide it, it all came to the surface like dead bodies floating in water.
I felt that too much time was spent on trying to hide their individual secrets and it took the focus from their dead teacher and the investigation around his death.
I think this is a great read for teenagers or anyone who wants a quick dose of mystery with a side of thriller. I enjoyed the story and the ending had me throwing my hands in the air.
A special thank you to Jonathan Ball Publishers for gifting me this copy.
If you're a fan of Karen McManus or enjoyed Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson, you will enjoy Five Little Liars.
This review is posted on my blog: https://willowscornerbook.wordpress.c...
November 24, 2020
I recieved a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review, with thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author. This fact has in no way changed my review of this book.
This book follows five seemingly unconnected kids as they take a summer psychology course at school in a bid for extra credit. Ivy, a former queen bee, who we first meet crushed under a vending machine placed there by her former friends. Kinley, a genius with a record for being a narc. Tyler, a kid with a record in general. Cade, a guy haunted by his family secrets and finally Mattie, a new kid just there for the summer missing his boyfriend at home. These five kids share little in common, that is, until they murder their psych professor. The story follows each person as they feel the guilt and the trauma murdering and hiding a man's dead body can bring. Each story brought something new and originally going into this book I was excited.
I wanted this book to have The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas vibes to be honest, I wanted to be held at the edge of my seat because there was nowhere else for me to go. But this story actually left me a little annoyed? It was an easy enough book to follow but it seemed a little too convinient in places like it lacked the thrill and the drama of it all. Tyler's whole story of him acting as his brother's drug dealer was so stupid to me, like I know it probably has happened and I get what the author wanted to portray with that but it was genuinely a little much for me. I also found Kinley's dad physically manhandling Tyler out of his house to be completely unneccessary, as a politician, this could have ruined his career if a passerby had seen that. I don't believe that he would have done that in such a public way. Little things really stalled my enjoyment of this book overall, but I'm glad I read it.
This book follows five seemingly unconnected kids as they take a summer psychology course at school in a bid for extra credit. Ivy, a former queen bee, who we first meet crushed under a vending machine placed there by her former friends. Kinley, a genius with a record for being a narc. Tyler, a kid with a record in general. Cade, a guy haunted by his family secrets and finally Mattie, a new kid just there for the summer missing his boyfriend at home. These five kids share little in common, that is, until they murder their psych professor. The story follows each person as they feel the guilt and the trauma murdering and hiding a man's dead body can bring. Each story brought something new and originally going into this book I was excited.
I wanted this book to have The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas vibes to be honest, I wanted to be held at the edge of my seat because there was nowhere else for me to go. But this story actually left me a little annoyed? It was an easy enough book to follow but it seemed a little too convinient in places like it lacked the thrill and the drama of it all. Tyler's whole story of him acting as his brother's drug dealer was so stupid to me, like I know it probably has happened and I get what the author wanted to portray with that but it was genuinely a little much for me. I also found Kinley's dad physically manhandling Tyler out of his house to be completely unneccessary, as a politician, this could have ruined his career if a passerby had seen that. I don't believe that he would have done that in such a public way. Little things really stalled my enjoyment of this book overall, but I'm glad I read it.
September 10, 2020
Five Little Liars is being touted as a fast-paced thriller, but I think I may have been reading a different book. It was entertaining enough, but around halfway through I found myself losing interest and it never really picked up.
The story centres on a group of five students - Ivy (queen bee experiencing a fall from grace), Kinley (clever likeable student who’s known for telling on those who break rules), Taylor (local rebel), Cade (super spoiled rich boy) and Mattie (new student attending for the summer). These five students are all taking the same class, and their teacher has a reputation for being harsh and unlikeable. One day they’re taking a test, these five end up at the class at the end of the session and an altercation takes place. The teacher ends up dead. The students decide to cover up their involvement and dispose of the body, pledging that if anyone tells the police what they did the group will turn on them. And so begins our fairly mammoth time watching them implode as we wait to learn what happens next.
What we quickly learn is that each of the students is hiding something, something they’d rather others don’t know and which seriously impacts on their perception of events/others’ behaviour. Over time we learn these secrets, which is a bit of a distraction but our main incentive for reading is (or it was for me) to see what happens about the teacher.
Unfortunately this doesn’t seem to have been the focus for the author. The disappearance of the teacher hardly registers, and very little time or focus is given to the investigation or helping us to understand what’s going on. As a result we’re left to focus on the behaviour of this group that I felt little connection with. They’d each done some stupid stuff, and their behaviour at the time regarding their teacher was rather outlandish - I simply can’t believe this would happen and so found it really hard to care whether they got away with it. A part of me felt they deserved to be found out, and seeing as so little attention was paid to the bigger picture (the attempts made by linking Ivy’s brother to the case) when we actually got some answers it felt rather irrelevant.
The story centres on a group of five students - Ivy (queen bee experiencing a fall from grace), Kinley (clever likeable student who’s known for telling on those who break rules), Taylor (local rebel), Cade (super spoiled rich boy) and Mattie (new student attending for the summer). These five students are all taking the same class, and their teacher has a reputation for being harsh and unlikeable. One day they’re taking a test, these five end up at the class at the end of the session and an altercation takes place. The teacher ends up dead. The students decide to cover up their involvement and dispose of the body, pledging that if anyone tells the police what they did the group will turn on them. And so begins our fairly mammoth time watching them implode as we wait to learn what happens next.
What we quickly learn is that each of the students is hiding something, something they’d rather others don’t know and which seriously impacts on their perception of events/others’ behaviour. Over time we learn these secrets, which is a bit of a distraction but our main incentive for reading is (or it was for me) to see what happens about the teacher.
Unfortunately this doesn’t seem to have been the focus for the author. The disappearance of the teacher hardly registers, and very little time or focus is given to the investigation or helping us to understand what’s going on. As a result we’re left to focus on the behaviour of this group that I felt little connection with. They’d each done some stupid stuff, and their behaviour at the time regarding their teacher was rather outlandish - I simply can’t believe this would happen and so found it really hard to care whether they got away with it. A part of me felt they deserved to be found out, and seeing as so little attention was paid to the bigger picture (the attempts made by linking Ivy’s brother to the case) when we actually got some answers it felt rather irrelevant.
July 9, 2024
Lowkey this SUCKED. I didn't like any of the characters and the ending was so unsatisfying and stupid
December 31, 2024
if I’m being honest don’t bother
very mediocre and boring🥱😴
very mediocre and boring🥱😴
May 31, 2024
Was really good, but I didn't feel it was 5 star worthy. I didn't like how it ended on a cliffhanger, I also didn't like many of the characters
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
June 9, 2024Sadly dnf
July 20, 2023
Don’t listen to everyone saying it was awful!!! This is a well crafted story with an easy to follow yet intriguing and entertaining plot.
Were there a few bits I didn’t understand? Yes…
Were there very stereotypical characters? Yes…
BUT I don’t feel like any of this takes away from the overall feel of the story
SPOILER (ISH): Also if anyone can explain the whole Mattie and the truck situation that’d be great bc I think I missed that lol.
PS. It took me ages to read bc of a reading slump lol
Were there a few bits I didn’t understand? Yes…
Were there very stereotypical characters? Yes…
BUT I don’t feel like any of this takes away from the overall feel of the story
SPOILER (ISH): Also if anyone can explain the whole Mattie and the truck situation that’d be great bc I think I missed that lol.
PS. It took me ages to read bc of a reading slump lol
November 5, 2021
Content Warning:
Murder, Use of steroids.
I didn’t have any other TW written in my notes but if there are any others I am so sorry for not including it!
Intro:
I LOVED this book! I didn’t think I would love it as much as I did! I have previously read One of Us is Lying and this book is so similar but, and I’m going to say it, better! At least to me it was better! I was so much more connected to the characters and story in this book then the other.
The Plot
The plot focuses on five characters and their attempts to cover up the suspicious death of their teacher. I was hooked on this plot from the start and read about 60% of this book in one sitting!
I found the plot was paced so well! The end of every chapter had me dying to carry on!
The Characters
The characters in this book are almost the same as the characters in One of Us is Lying. However, I was so much more invested in these characters! They were a bit… stereotypical? None of the characters were anything new, but even with this I still was so interested in these characters individual stories!
The Writing
The writing was good, as I said before the pacing was immaculate, however, I did pick up on quite the number of spelling errors/sentence structure problems or words being switch around. Normally I think something like that would have bugged me, but it really didn’t take away from the story at all for me!
The Themes
The biggest theme is the theme of guilt. And boy did this book do a good job! I literally felt constant fear for the characters while reading this, and it was amazing to see how the guilt slowly broke each character a part and how because of this everything started to fall apart. The guilt was eating the characters alive and you can completely feel it! I was honestly so impressed with how well the author was able to portray and carry this theme across in the book!
The Romance and Relationships
The romance in this book was interesting. It was definitely a romance that came about because of trauma and because of the guilt, but because of this it made the character and there battle with guilt so much more intriguing! It added a whole other complex layer to the story and causes more complications for the characters.
The Sex and Language
There was a bit of swearing, however I did not find it majorly excessive, and it did not take away from the overall enjoyment of the story.
As for sex, I had nothing written in my notes (Did not keep good notes for this review!) however I do remember that there were mentions of it but it never actually happened and there was nothing graphic in terms of it either.
Small Grievance
Other than the spelling errors the only thing I can say is it is quite similar to One of Us is Lying. I think some people who really loved One of Us is Lying would be a little upset at just how similar. However… in my opinion I would always recommend this one to people instead of One of Us is Lying.
Conclusion
This book was great! It was so gripping and I just could not put it down! I highly recommend it! And something I haven’t mentioned… THAT ENDING!!! WHAT?!?!?
Quotes:
"This was a new kind of hate. It was fuelled by fear. And truth."
Murder, Use of steroids.
I didn’t have any other TW written in my notes but if there are any others I am so sorry for not including it!
Intro:
I LOVED this book! I didn’t think I would love it as much as I did! I have previously read One of Us is Lying and this book is so similar but, and I’m going to say it, better! At least to me it was better! I was so much more connected to the characters and story in this book then the other.
The Plot
The plot focuses on five characters and their attempts to cover up the suspicious death of their teacher. I was hooked on this plot from the start and read about 60% of this book in one sitting!
I found the plot was paced so well! The end of every chapter had me dying to carry on!
The Characters
The characters in this book are almost the same as the characters in One of Us is Lying. However, I was so much more invested in these characters! They were a bit… stereotypical? None of the characters were anything new, but even with this I still was so interested in these characters individual stories!
The Writing
The writing was good, as I said before the pacing was immaculate, however, I did pick up on quite the number of spelling errors/sentence structure problems or words being switch around. Normally I think something like that would have bugged me, but it really didn’t take away from the story at all for me!
The Themes
The biggest theme is the theme of guilt. And boy did this book do a good job! I literally felt constant fear for the characters while reading this, and it was amazing to see how the guilt slowly broke each character a part and how because of this everything started to fall apart. The guilt was eating the characters alive and you can completely feel it! I was honestly so impressed with how well the author was able to portray and carry this theme across in the book!
The Romance and Relationships
The romance in this book was interesting. It was definitely a romance that came about because of trauma and because of the guilt, but because of this it made the character and there battle with guilt so much more intriguing! It added a whole other complex layer to the story and causes more complications for the characters.
The Sex and Language
There was a bit of swearing, however I did not find it majorly excessive, and it did not take away from the overall enjoyment of the story.
As for sex, I had nothing written in my notes (Did not keep good notes for this review!) however I do remember that there were mentions of it but it never actually happened and there was nothing graphic in terms of it either.
Small Grievance
Other than the spelling errors the only thing I can say is it is quite similar to One of Us is Lying. I think some people who really loved One of Us is Lying would be a little upset at just how similar. However… in my opinion I would always recommend this one to people instead of One of Us is Lying.
Conclusion
This book was great! It was so gripping and I just could not put it down! I highly recommend it! And something I haven’t mentioned… THAT ENDING!!! WHAT?!?!?
Quotes:
"This was a new kind of hate. It was fuelled by fear. And truth."
February 11, 2021
I think this book was great.
Ivy was the Queen Bee but her ex made it all go away after he broke up with her and everyone thought he was cool for dumping HER.
Mattie was only in for the summer and has a boyfriend.
Cade doesn't really think about others and his dad keeps him under pressure.
Kinley is a goody two shoe and makes the best grades. Her teachers love her, but she's faking her grades.
Tyler is on probation for dealing but his swimming champion brother insists on giving him more.
Then everything changes......
Ivy screams at Stratford saying she'll kill him(maybe not literally) Cade punches him and he stumbles after tripping on Kinley's shoe. Tyler saw it all because he was in the classroom and so did Mattie who came back to get his phone. He's dead when he hits the floor and Ivy tries to revive him and Mattie tries to call 911. After having a conversation they agree to dump him in the river and forget it happened.
They all don't want to get accused so Tyler and Kinley team up and record a conversation if anything goes wrong they won't be accused. They also like each other. Cade calls and says he saw Tyler put Stratford's body in his trunk because he wants it to be all over and for someone to take the blame. Ivy nor Mattie do anything to blame anyone else. Mattie says he'll go tell the police it was him because he doesn't want to live with the guilt but Ivy says if he says it she will too(they later kiss and realize they have feelings for each other).
Overall, I like this book. My favorite character is Ivy even though she was the MEAN QUEEN BEE but I liked how the author described her. My least favorite character was Kinley because everyone thinks she is the smart one, but she really is not. She is just a CHEATER who gets credit when she doesn't even deserve it.
Ivy was the Queen Bee but her ex made it all go away after he broke up with her and everyone thought he was cool for dumping HER.
Mattie was only in for the summer and has a boyfriend.
Cade doesn't really think about others and his dad keeps him under pressure.
Kinley is a goody two shoe and makes the best grades. Her teachers love her, but she's faking her grades.
Tyler is on probation for dealing but his swimming champion brother insists on giving him more.
Then everything changes......
Ivy screams at Stratford saying she'll kill him(maybe not literally) Cade punches him and he stumbles after tripping on Kinley's shoe. Tyler saw it all because he was in the classroom and so did Mattie who came back to get his phone. He's dead when he hits the floor and Ivy tries to revive him and Mattie tries to call 911. After having a conversation they agree to dump him in the river and forget it happened.
They all don't want to get accused so Tyler and Kinley team up and record a conversation if anything goes wrong they won't be accused. They also like each other. Cade calls and says he saw Tyler put Stratford's body in his trunk because he wants it to be all over and for someone to take the blame. Ivy nor Mattie do anything to blame anyone else. Mattie says he'll go tell the police it was him because he doesn't want to live with the guilt but Ivy says if he says it she will too(they later kiss and realize they have feelings for each other).
Overall, I like this book. My favorite character is Ivy even though she was the MEAN QUEEN BEE but I liked how the author described her. My least favorite character was Kinley because everyone thinks she is the smart one, but she really is not. She is just a CHEATER who gets credit when she doesn't even deserve it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 24, 2020
The concept sounded interesting even if it was very stereotypical (queen bee, smart girl, bad boy, rich kid and a sort of random bi guy). I liked the idea but the story got a little sidetracked. I wanted to hear about the murder and how close they were to getting caught, but not a single character came under suspicion the whole book, and the end was a huuuuge let down. even with the twist in the last two pages, I’d rather half the book to be about that rather than the 2 extremely boring relationships formed
Each character had their own secret not related to the murder and I was excited for them to be revealed after lots of foreshadowing. But maximum 2 pages were spent on revealing each secret and all of them were underwhelming. The secrets weren’t even exposed to anyone but the reader
All the characters seemed rushed, ESPECIALLY the relationships which I found unnatural, annoying and in the way of the real story. (Like really, a girl had her first kiss while there’s a corpse she killed an hour earlier in the room)
2 out of three men objectified women to the point of making me uncomfortable (this was never resolved or anything), the one bisexual character cheated on his partner twice and ended up with a girl (harmful stereotype), the one Asian character is emotionless and cruel (also harmful stereotype), and the depiction of mental health is honestly terrible, the character isn’t seen as a real person because she was on medication.
I honestly really liked the idea and I don’t think the author meant any harm but sometimes you need to read over things
Each character had their own secret not related to the murder and I was excited for them to be revealed after lots of foreshadowing. But maximum 2 pages were spent on revealing each secret and all of them were underwhelming. The secrets weren’t even exposed to anyone but the reader
All the characters seemed rushed, ESPECIALLY the relationships which I found unnatural, annoying and in the way of the real story. (Like really, a girl had her first kiss while there’s a corpse she killed an hour earlier in the room)
2 out of three men objectified women to the point of making me uncomfortable (this was never resolved or anything), the one bisexual character cheated on his partner twice and ended up with a girl (harmful stereotype), the one Asian character is emotionless and cruel (also harmful stereotype), and the depiction of mental health is honestly terrible, the character isn’t seen as a real person because she was on medication.
I honestly really liked the idea and I don’t think the author meant any harm but sometimes you need to read over things
August 16, 2022
The characters are copy-pasted from One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M McManus, which actually is a decent YA thriller unlike this piece of stereotypical junk.
August 30, 2020
Wasn't bad but wasn't particularly good either.
I liked the premise but I felt like there needed to be more. There just seemed to be something missing to thicken the plot.
It was easily readable and I finished reading it fairly quickly. There was character development but it seemed a bit clumsy and stereotypical at times. None of the characters seemed that likeable but not in an interesting way. I didn't really prefer any of the perspectives to the others.
All in all it was a bit bland and I felt like the ending was rushed. The twists weren't too shocking.
I did however want to know what was going to happen so I guess there was some element of interest in the storyline. It was largely character based though but like I said before the characters were a bit stereotypical so I was never really invested in getting to know any of them.
If you want something quick to read though I would recommend. I think there just needed to be something more added in.
I liked the premise but I felt like there needed to be more. There just seemed to be something missing to thicken the plot.
It was easily readable and I finished reading it fairly quickly. There was character development but it seemed a bit clumsy and stereotypical at times. None of the characters seemed that likeable but not in an interesting way. I didn't really prefer any of the perspectives to the others.
All in all it was a bit bland and I felt like the ending was rushed. The twists weren't too shocking.
I did however want to know what was going to happen so I guess there was some element of interest in the storyline. It was largely character based though but like I said before the characters were a bit stereotypical so I was never really invested in getting to know any of them.
If you want something quick to read though I would recommend. I think there just needed to be something more added in.
June 24, 2021
Doesn't even deserve 1 star.
My first DNF in 2021 and it was on page 95. Reasons for DNF:
1. All 5 characters are deplorable.
2. The book would have ended 200 pages earlier if any of the characters had any semblance of a brain.
3. Writing was primitive with several errors throughout.
4. Plot was contrived, lacklustre, boring and predictable.
5. Clichéd and toxic (from the guy's side) romance between the "bad boy" and the "nerdy girl".
I regret wasting my money on this.
My first DNF in 2021 and it was on page 95. Reasons for DNF:
1. All 5 characters are deplorable.
2. The book would have ended 200 pages earlier if any of the characters had any semblance of a brain.
3. Writing was primitive with several errors throughout.
4. Plot was contrived, lacklustre, boring and predictable.
5. Clichéd and toxic (from the guy's side) romance between the "bad boy" and the "nerdy girl".
I regret wasting my money on this.
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