One of Us Is Next

Starred review from October 21, 2019
McManus follows up her page-turning One of Us Is Lying with an equally breathless read, this time focusing on secondary characters from the original story. Following the events of the first book, the Bayview Four—Bronwyn, Addy, Cooper, and Nate—have now gone their separate ways. Only Addy remains in town, working as a server, alongside Phoebe, at Café Contigo. Maeve, Bronwyn’s younger sister, a leukemia survivor, spends a great deal of time there with Knox, her best friend and former boyfriend. When a new Reddit thread mysteriously begins under the moniker “Vengeance Is Mine,” and an anonymous texter begins a Truth or Dare game on Bayview High students’ phones, the new friends’ secrets are revealed in a public and embarrassing way, via school-wide texts. The anonymous texter ends the reveal with a warning: “Always take
the dare.” When the dares go from shocking to dangerous, Maeve, Phoebe, Addy, and Knox find themselves at the center of a new mystery with an even more dangerous puppet master. Full of exciting and unexpected twists and racing toward a shocking conclusion, McManus’s tale will not disappoint fans, and those unfamiliar with her previous work will inhale this complicated story of friendship and revenge. Ages 14–up. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Jan.)■

November 1, 2019
A dangerous texting game comes to Bayview High in this sequel to One of Us Is Lying (2017). Last year in a San Diego suburb, a gossip app led to a death and inspired weak copycats. Now an anonymous person is sending Truth or Dare messages to the students of Bayview High, and this time no one is safe. If you choose truth (or don't respond), one of your secrets is revealed. Complete a dare and you've passed. The game mostly causes an entertaining stir--until a student winds up dead. Was it an accident, or was it murder? High school juniors Maeve, Phoebe, and Knox find themselves caught up in the mystery of who's behind the texts. The Bayview Four make appearances, but the compelling heart of the story is the three main characters' family drama and personal struggles. Maeve thinks she's having a leukemia relapse, Phoebe slept with her sister's boyfriend, and Knox interns at a legal aid firm whose staff members are receiving death threats. Shifting perspectives keep the pace steady while McManus (Two Can Keep a Secret, 2019, etc.) deftly weaves in commentary on the justice system, bullying, and slut shaming. Plenty of secrets and surprises will keep readers captivated until the satisfying end. Knox and Phoebe are white, Maeve has Colombian ancestry, and Bayview is a diverse community. A can't-put-down read. (Thriller. 14-18)

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January 10, 2020

Gr 9 Up-The latest texting game, "Truth or Dare," causes a stir at Bayview, a high school in a yuppie California community still reeling from a tragic death linked to a gossip app a year ago. Refusals to accept the unknown texter's "Dare" result in devastating secrets being revealed to the entire student body via text. This suspenseful, romance-filled sequel is told from the perspectives of secondary characters from One of Us Is Lying. Each is facing personal trauma: for Maeve, a potential leukemia relapse; Phoebe, the lingering grief of her father's death and the horror that the school knows she slept with her sister's ex; and Knox, the tension of death threats against a lawyer he volunteers for, and the shame of an unsuccessful sexual encounter that is broadcast to the school. The book opens with a "Contact List" of characters, while reporter interviews and texts from a Reddit forum are interspersed menacingly throughout. Themes of bullying, sexual shaming, and the legal system are highlighted as multiple and seemingly unrelated mysteries unfold, coming together in an unexpected way. Passing references to skin and hair color, cultural and ethnic family backgrounds, a local college athlete who is gay, and the local restaurant's menu of South American foods provide a surface-level, forced sense of diversity to the plot. VERDICT Fans of McManus's earlier books will probably find this text equally compelling, despite its superficial treatment of diversity.-Ruth Quiroa, National Louis University, Lisle, IL

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2019
Grades 9-12 A year ago, in One of Us Is Lying (2017), Simon Kelleher, infamous creator of a gossip app, died during detention at Bayview High. Since then, the students in detention with him?nicknamed the Bayview Four?have all been cleared of his murder, graduated, and moved on. But Bayview remembers. At the high school, lesser copycat apps come and go, but nothing sticks until the game arrives as a mass text. The rules are simple: it's truth or dare. When Phoebe, the first target, doesn't pick one, her worst secret is leaked. As she teams up with Maeve, the sister of one of the Bayview Four, and her friend Knox, the game intensifies: the dares are getting dangerous, but everyone wants to keep their secrets. McManus offers a companion that, while set in the same sphere as her hit debut, takes entirely different cues, leaving readers new and old with a dizzying array of fresh twists. A nonlinear narrative and breakneck pacing, combined with the tech element and the already-intense high-school atmosphere, make this a thrilling read.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: One of Us Is Lying was a best-seller and a frequent flier on best-of lists; this companion, which is peppered with familiar faces, has all the twists and turns that readers loved about its predecessor.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)