This is the second book of the series One of Us Is Lying (my link text). I gave the first book a 2/5 stars because of all the clichés that I couldn't get past. That seemed to follow into the second book as well unfortunately. I get that this is a YA book, but the fact that in the first book the author pointed out each character was a cliché to begin with was cringe. I did like that she had these events happen to someone other than the characters of the original book, but it was still in a way connected to them.
I also didn't feel like the plot twists were that big of a deal, as in I didn't find them shocking. When the "biggest" plot twist was that (view spoiler)[the Intense Man, Unknown, and Darkestmind turned out to be the same person, (hide spoiler)] I wasn't shocked at all I thought that was a given. There are two ways an author can go about something like this: first, make it be something the reader knows but the characters don't; two, make it be something that the reader and characters don't know. The later is my personal favorite (I suggest The Silent Patient as an example). I felt like the author was trying to make it unknown by the reader and the characters but I really didn't feel that way.
I struggled with remembering who all the important characters are because there were so many of them in the original book and I have read a few books between these so maybe that's my fault but it would've been nice for when a character is introduced in the second book for them to have like a sentence or two (not paragraphs) about who why were in the first book.
It was also hard to remember whos point of view I was reading in. Usually when authors write their books like this, they switch up their writing style and thought patterns of their characters making it easier for the reader to follow along whos POV it is. That didn't happen in this book though and I often had found myself wondering why someone is referring to themselves in the third person and have to flip back to the beginning of the chapter.
I wasn't a fan of all the teenage sappy love that was on show. If you like that kind of a thing, that's totally fine but I am not one of those people. I just think it really slowed the story down and for no reason.
It was a poor buildup to the ending and there wasn't any suspense. It felt like it was a day in the life of some high schoolers that have group drama. I also don't enjoy more than fifteen pages for the closing up of a book. After everything has ended I don't think we need the next few months about what happens (just an exaggeration).
I read the first book to this series, then all three of the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series (my link text), finally One of Us Is Next. The books gave off the same vibes but I think I would chose A Good Girl's Guide to Murder over this series.
I don't have high hopes for the third book. I believe that it will just be continued on to keep making money from the series and therefore whatever the plot is decided on, it will be forced. I of course will read it because of my inability to never finish something, but I'm just not sure how this could get better.
I also didn't feel like the plot twists were that big of a deal, as in I didn't find them shocking. When the "biggest" plot twist was that (view spoiler)[the Intense Man, Unknown, and Darkestmind turned out to be the same person, (hide spoiler)] I wasn't shocked at all I thought that was a given. There are two ways an author can go about something like this: first, make it be something the reader knows but the characters don't; two, make it be something that the reader and characters don't know. The later is my personal favorite (I suggest The Silent Patient as an example). I felt like the author was trying to make it unknown by the reader and the characters but I really didn't feel that way.
I struggled with remembering who all the important characters are because there were so many of them in the original book and I have read a few books between these so maybe that's my fault but it would've been nice for when a character is introduced in the second book for them to have like a sentence or two (not paragraphs) about who why were in the first book.
It was also hard to remember whos point of view I was reading in. Usually when authors write their books like this, they switch up their writing style and thought patterns of their characters making it easier for the reader to follow along whos POV it is. That didn't happen in this book though and I often had found myself wondering why someone is referring to themselves in the third person and have to flip back to the beginning of the chapter.
I wasn't a fan of all the teenage sappy love that was on show. If you like that kind of a thing, that's totally fine but I am not one of those people. I just think it really slowed the story down and for no reason.
It was a poor buildup to the ending and there wasn't any suspense. It felt like it was a day in the life of some high schoolers that have group drama. I also don't enjoy more than fifteen pages for the closing up of a book. After everything has ended I don't think we need the next few months about what happens (just an exaggeration).
I read the first book to this series, then all three of the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series (my link text), finally One of Us Is Next. The books gave off the same vibes but I think I would chose A Good Girl's Guide to Murder over this series.
I don't have high hopes for the third book. I believe that it will just be continued on to keep making money from the series and therefore whatever the plot is decided on, it will be forced. I of course will read it because of my inability to never finish something, but I'm just not sure how this could get better.