ONE OF US IS BACK By Karen M. McManus

Dani Young 

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

ONE OF US IS BACK By Karen M. McManusOne of Us Is Back by Karen M. McManus
Series: One of Us Is Lying #3
Published by Delacorte Press on 7/25/23
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 362
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

It’s been almost two years since Simon died in detention, and the aftermath has been hard to shake. First the Bayview Four had to prove they weren’t killers. Then a new generation outwitted a vengeful copycat. Now the entire Bayview Crew is back home for the summer, and everyone is trying to move on.

Only, this is Bayview, and life is never that simple.

At first the mysterious billboard seems like a bad joke: Time for a new game, Bayview. But when a member of the Bayview Crew disappears, it’s clear this “game” is serious—and whoever’s in charge isn’t sharing the rules. Or maybe there aren’t any.

Bronwyn. Cooper. Addy. Nate. Maeve. Phoebe. Knox. Luis. Kris. Everyone’s a target. And now that someone unexpected has returned to Bayview, things could start getting deadly.

The thing is, Simon was right about secrets—they all come out eventually. And Bayview has a lot it’s still hiding.

Short and Sweet Review

It’s summer in Bayview and all of the Bayview crew are back together. You would think after Simon’s death two years ago and another group stopping the copycat that this would be the end, but nope someone is targeting the group again. It starts with a sign on a billboard then one of the crew members goes missing. Simon warned everyone before he died that secrets will come out, and there’s a few more Bayview has to give.

I love this series and as happy I was to hear there was going to be an installment I don’t think this book was needed. We’re back in Bayview and this time everyone is there, but we only get the POVs of Addy, Nate, and Phoebe. I understand Phoebe and Addy but not really sure we needed Nate. Phoebe is trying to figure out if her brother is a psychopath and we need Addy because Jake is back and we need to follow her thoughts and emotions through it all. If I had to guess why we got Nate maybe it was so we could see how he’s trying to better himself and also his relationship with Bronwyn. Anyway, Jake is out and about on probation so when the “games” are starting he looks like the number one suspect except that’s too easy. I honestly think Jake was there to throw us off and it’s funny because he’s still a horrible person so it very well could be him. When we get to the end and everything is explained it just feels like it was out of left field, because really how out of whack can one town be? Anyway in this book we get our normal something is happening that shouldn’t be, lets do a little investigating, something happens to one of our members, and we were a little off but now we know who the suspect is.

I do enjoy this series but I do feel like everything here was so convenient and out of nowhere that it worked but also made me feel like this shouldn’t have been a new book. I liked seeing all of the characters together and how the characters from the first book were like mentors to the characters from the second book, they had a great friendship with each other. Definitely recommend this series books 1 and 2 were amazing this book threw me for a loop.

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