Lucky for me, Karen McManus is awesome, and published the sequel to One of Us is Lying back in January, so that means I just finished reading One of Us is Next! It was as entertaining as the first installment, and it makes me just want to read everything this woman puts out. The text is easy to read, and her characters are described in such a vivid way that I almost feel bonded to all of them.
One of Us is Next picks up about a year after the events of the first novel, but this time we’ve got some new narrators. First is Bronwyn’s sister, Meave, along with her best friend, Knox, and then there is fringe-popular girl, Phoebe. Luckily, with Meave as a narrator, we still get to marginally interact with the the original four characters, but Nate and Addy show up the most (they were my favorites from the first, so I was pleased).
Just when everyone thought that Bayview High had gone through enough trauma, someone decides to start a new texting game of truth or dare, with the threat being “always take the dare.” A few players heed that warning, especially after the first reveal was the Phoebe slept with her older sister, Emma’s, ex-boyfriend. Yikes! A couple more take the dare, but then Meave opts out, and something embarrassing for both Meave and Knox is revealed. The three narrators all agree to just not participate in the game and block the number…that is until someone dies.
Some relationships are strained, so everyone is figuring out pieces of the mystery separately, but luckily they come together in the nick of time to save everyone from a devastating incident at Ashton and Eli’s rehearsal dinner after party! All throughout the book, it is really fun to see certain relationships develop and evolve, and it’s also nice to get a small glimpse back into the lives of the original Bayview Four. Cooper is wowing everyone in his rookie baseball season in college, Bronwyn is studying at Harvard, Nate is fully employed and taking local college courses, while Addy is working and trying to figure out things that interest her.
I don’t want to say anymore about the story, because the twists that occur towards the last hundred pages are pretty wild and honestly unpredictable. My mouth dropped to the floor with the final reveal, so just prepare yourselves for that! Again, a very well-written and intriguing novel to sink your teeth into, so I highly recommend (obviously read the other book first).