One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus

One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus

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One of Us is Next is the sequel to One of Us is Lying. I read One of Us is Lying a couple of years ago. It has good reviews that make it sound like a twisty mystery that I would not be able to guess the ending of. It is about five high school students who are in detention together, and one of the students ends up dead. A gossip blog reveals secrets of the four surviving students that points to one of them being responsible for the death. I knew right away there was two possible explanations for what happened to the student that died, and the explanation I decided on turned out to be correct, so I was disappointed at how easily I figured it out. The surprising part of One of Us is Lying is not the whodunnit, but rather the motivation behind the death. The other thing I got from One of Us is Lying is how toxic of an environment high school is (I did not enjoy high school, but I really do not remember it being as bad as depicted in a lot of YA novels these days). McManus has another novel called Two Can Keep a Secret that I have read as well, but to be completely honest, I do not recall what happened, that is how memorable it is. So, you must be wondering by now why I would bother reading One of Us is Next. Well, first, I was trying to get free shipping at Book Outlet, and second, I was curious to know if McManus’ plotting had improved enough to keep me guessing until the very end.

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Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

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I am very late to the Where the Crawdads Sing party, but better late than never, right? After reading this novel, I can see why it was such a hit when it first came out. I really enjoyed reading it and had a hard time putting it down; I finished reading it in two days. I very highly recommend you read this novel if you are like me and are also late to the Where the Crawdads Sing party.

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Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

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Hench is an entertaining novel set in an alternate reality where some people are born with “superabilities” and they grow up to become either superheroes or villains. But Hench questions whether there is really a difference between superheroes and villains. Are superheroes really any better than villains, or are they just as bad, or worse, for society as villains?

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My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

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My Dark Vanessa was published to much fanfare in March 2020. At the time, I was indecisive about whether I wanted to buy a book that I felt for sure, based on the subject matter, I was not going to like. In the end I decided not to read it. About a year later, My Dark Vanessa went on sale on Kindle books and once again I found myself dithering over whether I wanted to buy it. In the end curiosity won out and I decided to read it. It turns out that I was right, I did not enjoy reading My Dark Vanessa. I do not know how anyone can enjoy reading a novel about a 15-year-old girl being sexually groomed by her 42-year-old English teacher. However, that does not mean I think you should not read this novel.

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Rule of Wolves (and the Grishaverse novels) by Leigh Bardugo

Rule of Wolves (and the Grishaverse novels) by Leigh Bardugo

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I just finished reading Rules of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo and now it is time to do another all-encompassing review of a popular YA series. I am also just in time for the Shadow and Bone series that starts streaming on Netflix tomorrow, which is based on the Grishaverse novels. I am really looking forward to watching the series, even if the original Shadow and Bone trilogy is not my favourite of Bardugo’s novels. The Six of Crows duology, on the other hand, are two of my favourite YA novels and really got me invested in the Grishaverse. I also really enjoyed the King of Scars duology, which includes Rules of Wolves.

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Humans: A Brief History of How We F***ed It All Up by Tom Phillips

Humans: A Brief History of How We F***ed It All Up by Tom Phillips

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I mentioned in my last review that I do not read a lot of non-fiction, but I have made it a goal this year to diversify my reading list. Tom Phillips’ Humans: A Brief History of How We F***ed It All Up examines human history and how we keep making the same f**kups over and over again without learning from them. I actually enjoyed reading this book and thought it was interesting (until I finished it, and then I felt sad lol). Phillips injects humour into his writing, which helps make the very heavy subject matter more palatable.

Warning: the rest of this post contains a lot of F-bombs.

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Becoming by Michelle Obama

Becoming by Michelle Obama

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I do not read a lot of non-fiction, but I was interested in reading about Michelle Obama’s life and how she handled being a Black First Lady in a country that is still too full of racists. Her story is very inspiring and examines on a macro level the racism that still persists in America and on the sexism that still persists in our society’s views towards women. If you have any interest at all in Michelle Obama, then it is definitely worth your time to read Becoming.

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The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

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I am beginning to feel confident that Kate Quinn is a writer that I can rely on to churn out a great historical fiction novel. The Alice Network, The Huntress and now The Rose Code are all novels that I very much enjoyed reading. These three novels all have World War II as the backdrop, but each focuses on a different aspect of the war, and each one is well researched and intricately plotted. The Rose Code is about the people who worked at Bletchley Park during the war and helped win the war by cracking enemy military code and deciphering enemy communications.

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The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

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Novels with dual timelines where the protagonist in the present timeline is trying to solve a mystery from the past timeline are like catnip to me. When I read the synopsis for The Lost Apothecary, I thought, yes, this is going to be good. And the reviews that I read for it were all very positive. But unfortunately, I ended up being disappointed by this novel. It has the potential to be a good novel, but it seems like the author was in a rush to tell the story and sacrificed a richer plot and stronger character development. There are other authors who tell this type of story much better, such as Kate Morton, Eve Chase and Susanna Kearsley (although her novels have a supernatural slant).

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