|Book Review|: One of Us is Next

Hello!

I have been having a hard time trying to concentrate on reading or even opening a book and reading a single page. After few months efforts, I finally managed to finish another book and feel elated. Its not a reader's block, its more of a focus problem. Although I have started another one but I have high doubts on completing my yearly reading target this time. 

Book Title: One of us is Next
Genre: Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Murder, Thriller, Young Adult, Teen, College, Suspense
No. of books in the series so far: 3
Series: One of us is Lying
Book order: 2
Author: Karen M. McManus

One of us is lying by Karen M. McManus

Synopsis:

A ton of copycat gossip apps have popped up since Simon died, but in the year since the Bayview four were cleared of his shocking death, no one's been able to fill the gossip void quite like he could. The problem is no one has the facts.

Until now.

This time it's not an app, though—it's a game.

Truth or Dare.

Phoebe's the first target. If you choose not to play, it's a truth. And hers is dark.

Then comes Maeve and she should know better—always choose the dare.

But by the time Knox is about to be tagged, things have gotten dangerous. The dares have become deadly, and if Maeve learned anything from Bronwyn last year, it's that they can't count on the police for help. Or protection.

Simon's gone, but someone's determined to keep his legacy at Bayview High alive. And this time, there's a whole new set of rules.

My Thoughts: 

The dilemma with books ending with cliffhangers is that one ends up buying the next book in the series as well since the suspense keeps you hanging unless you conclude. And if you are unlucky enough that the series is still on-going then you bear the agony of waiting for every installment which may at times take years. Ask Game of thrones readers who are still waiting for the last installment to be published and cursing Gregory. 

Today, I bring to you the review of second installment from the series; One of us is lying, already reviewed here. The second installment is named as One of us is Next. Its along the same story as book one, only this time the juniors are the leads. Here is how the story goes...

Its been more than a year to Simon's death and our previous book's leads - Brownyn, Cooper, Addie and Nate have moved on with their lives. Brownyn has moved out of town for studies. She has on and off relationship with Nate, who works at Knox's father's company. Cooper is openly gay and doing quite well as college football player. Addie is still in Bayview but not really mentioned in this book. The book revolves around Maeve, who is Brownyn's younger sister, she also happens to be the actual hero of book 1, since she was the brain who cracked Simon's case. Knox is another lead in this book who happens to be Maeve's class fellow, her best friend also sorts of her ex and, Phoebe - Emma's younger sister. After Simon's death, Bayview High experienced serial copy cats, gossip apps and forums. However it seems things have finally settled down and people have moved on from all the drama and gossip. It turns out this happiness is short lived as another copy cat makes appearance and he is serious. The twist this time is that he has chosen to play Truth and Dare with his victims. Either you perform the dare or a dark truth is revealed about you. 

Phoebe is the first victim of this game. She does not take the dare and a dark truth about her is revealed which causes a serious rift between her and Emma in an already estranged family. Next target happens to be Maeve who decides not to be part of the game. Again a dark truth is revealed about her which sabotages her friendship with Knox. By this time things become serious and kids who were not previously taking it seriously are now hooked to the updates. Upon general understanding no one informs school authorities about the new threat that has engulfed Bayview At this point, Maeve has have enough and she wants to find out the person behind this sinister game. As the game progresses and Bayview High kids remain hush on it, a kid dies a horrible death. This is when Maeve and Knox speed things up to find the truth. As Maeve and Knox draw nearer to the truth, Knox receives a close call with death and ends up at the hospital. Phoebe unknowingly plays a very crucial role in revealing the truth and the truth is something that no one could have imagined. I, myself was literally shocked at how Karen has twisted the story. Although its unbelievable of sorts but I am giving Karen the leverage because she is amazing at character building and I am interested in finding out what she is going to do with the third installment. 

Yes, the book ends with yet another cliff hanger and its an interesting one. One of us is Next is a well written and well paced book. Although it kind of dragged in the middle and took its time to materialize things and I also kind of got bored in between but finally things picked paced at the end and a lot happened suddenly. However it will keep you hooked to find out about the copy cat. 

Availability: 

I bought this book from Liberty Books, Packages Mall outlet. Infact both the books in the series are bought from there. The third installment is out of stock currently. 

Price: 

The book is priced at Rs. 1195. 

Verdict: 

If you can not bear cliff hangers and want to find out what happened after the first installment then you will enjoy reading this book. It also fares well as a stand alone book but reading the first installment will give you a perspective. It sort of drags and gets boring but things pick up pace at the end. Karen's strength is her depth of character building and the details she dives into for more than one character. I do recommend giving this book a read.