One Of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus - Book Review

One Of Us Is Next is the sequel to One Of Us Is Lying, which although it even said that on the book cover, I didn’t actually register it in my head until I started to read the book. Nevertheless, it is a book that is fine to read and easy to understand if you haven’t read the first one. 

I have read one other McManus book during the summer of 2019 - Two Can Keep A Secret, and knowing how much I loved the way she wrote that book; I knew I would enjoy this one too. The book itself has three main characters. Maeve, Knox and Phoebe. It is first person, but with each chapter it changes the point of view between one of these three characters. 

This YA novel is about this new game called ‘Truth or Dare’ that comes from an unknown number and takes control over the students at this school. They are all invested with it, after Phoebe, who was the first person to have to choose between truth or dare, ignores it. The next day a truth of hers is spread around the school, making everyone realise they should take a dare if they want their truth to stay hidden. However, this game ends after a person died. 

During this time, Maeve is keeping an eye on this website that is hidden in the darknet, she believes the person who is speaking on here is somehow linked to this game, due to the words they say. Eventually, it is Maeve and Knox who help to figure out who started this game. 

When finishing this book, I realised how clever Karen McManus was when writing this novel. Throughout the book there were hints on who could be behind this game, and not once did I figure it out. It wasn’t until the end when everything tied together, that I sat back and thought ‘It all makes sense.’ These twists that she creates are so simple, that they are really effective, and that is something anyone can praise her for.

I also enjoyed how it changed between three characters. This is hard to do especially when writing first person, because each point of view needs to have a unique voice, that if their name wasn’t written at the top of the chapter, you would still be able to tell if it was Phoebe or Maeve or Knox. Doing this didn’t only keep the intimacy between character and reader, but also helped us see what was needed on this journey. 

However, saying all of this there are some areas that I wished could have been done differently. I understand when it comes to YA novels, that the language will be simpler. Yet, I do think in some areas of dialogue it could have been stronger and make it seem more realistic. 

To add on top of that, in Knox’s point of view we learn that he has three sisters all beginning with the letter ‘K’ just like him. When learning that Cooper's boyfriend is called Kris, it made me think, in some scenes, that Kris was a sister of Knox, only after reminding myself that he is actually the boyfriend of Cooper. This is something small, but yet it can create a misunderstanding which can affect the story and confuse more readers.

I would have liked it to end slightly differently. I thought the ending was quite blunt and strange, and it made me wonder where the rest of the ending was. 

Overall, I do think Karen McManus writing works really well with these types of novels. She knows how to do the twists and turns, which makes us carry on guessing what will happen next.