One of Us is Next Review- by Matt Byrnes

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      I decided to read One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus for our last unit. This book is the sequel to One of Us is Lying. I don't know if anyone remembers, but I did a book report here on One of Us is Lying earlier in the school year. One of Us is Next has three main characters, Maeve, Phoebe, and Knox. The four main characters from One of Us is Lying, Bronwyn(sister of Maeve), Addy, Cooper, and Nate, are all in the sequel, however, they just side characters. All four have already graduated high school. Both books used alternating perspectives for each of the main characters.
     
      While the prequel contained a kid, Simon, spilling secrets about kids in his school left, right, and center via an app, the sequel contains a game. That game is truth or dare. Maeve, Phoebe, Knox, and everyone else in their school constantly get a text from an unknown person. The unknown person would play truth or dare. Someone would be picked and they had to choose truth or dare. The chosen person would have 24 hours to choose truth or dare. If they don't respond, the unknown person would choose for truth for them. The truth would reveal a deep secret about that person, similar to when Simon would reveal deep secrets about the kids in his school. No one would know who was picked until either the secret was revealed, or until the unknown person congratulated the selected person for completing the dare by texting everyone what happened. The book dives into the lives of Mavae, Phoebe, and Knox having to get through this game along with trying to deal with normal high school drama. 

      The one thing that I loved about this book was that it lived up to the hype. With the first book being so great, I didn't know how good this one would be. Sure enough, it was pretty dang good in my opinion. If I had to choose which of the two were better, though, I would choose the first book because of one big reason. One of Us is Next had 1 major problem: the ending. I'm not going to say what happened, but, what I am going to say is that it felt very abrupt. I remember reading the last page of the book. I didn't realize it was the last page while reading it though. Plus, with the way the ending was heading, I thought there is still going to be more to wrap the book up. Yet when I flip the page, I see in big words, "Acknowledgments." I kept checking and checking to see if I actually just read the last page. I couldn't believe it. I left feeling like there was still more that was needed to be written.

      While the ending may have not been my most favorite, the rest of the book does compare fairly to its predecessor. Both books have you at the edge of the seat for the whole time. Both books have that mystery kind of feel due to both the reader and the characters not knowing who is behind everything. Both books show great character development. Overall, I thought One of us Is Next is a fantastic read. If I were to rate it on a 5-star scale, I would give it 4 stars.




                                                                                    This is a picture of the book.




                                                            This the author, Karen M. McManus, of One of Us is Next.

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