Book Review #714 - One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide. 

Pay close attention and you might solve this.

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.

Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. 

Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. 

Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.

Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.

And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose? 

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them."

My Rating: 5.5/10

This book is described as 'The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars' which I think is a pretty accurate way to describe it. 

The whole premise of 5 people entering detention and only 4 leaving is what initially drew me into deciding to read it but I felt like this premise was not the major focus of the book as the four main suspects had other problems in their lives that had greater focus on them rather than the actual murder.

The book had alternating POV chapters between the 4 stereotypical teenagers. Bronwyn the brain, Cooper the athlete, Nate the criminal and Addy the beauty which sped up the pace of the book. I liked how the characters were made stereotypical on purpose so that over the course of the novel, those stereotypes get broken. 

The teenager that dies in detention was Simon who is described as the outcast. He runs the school newspaper and knows every students dirty secrets, which gives everyone a motive for killing him. 

I loved the whole media hysteria surrounding the murder, as it made it feel more modern and realistic in today's world. 

Throughout the story, as the characters developed it became obvious to me, through process of elimination, who the killer was and the more I thought of that possibility, the more the book made sense and so that ruined the book a little for me. 

I found the end rather rushed, even though I had strong suspicions about how it would end it came rather abruptly with almost no build-up. 

Book Review #713 - Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

It's the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We're out of oil. We've wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS - and his massive fortune - will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late twentieth century. And then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle. Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions - and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed. 

My Rating: 10/10

I am definitely not a gamer and so I was a little hesitant to read this book but as I had recommended the movie adaptation of this book to my brother who is a gamer I thought I'd check out what I was recommending. I found that this book completely blew me away with how much I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I absolutely loved the world building in this book. It felt completely fleshed out after just the first chapter.

There were countless 80's references that flew completely over my head but they were done in such a away that I felt like I wasn't missing out on anything. I probably would have loved the book more (if that is even possible) had I understood these references though.

Wade Watts was such a reluctant hero but that was what made him so relatable. He also felt very genuine. 

The world inside the OASIS was amazing. The way technology controls the world also seemed like a plausible realistic setting of a future world.

The world outside the OASIS however is not so good hence why people spend the majority of their time in a virtual reality world.

I loved the whole mystery egg, clue solving element to the story. The way it was presented seemed like a video game in itself. 

The main antagonists in this book are called the Sixers. I hated them for obvious reasons but they surprised me numerous times throughout the book at the lengths they went to in order to get what they wanted. 

The massive battle at the end was my favourite part of the book as I loved how action packed and pop culture heavy it all was. 

The overall way the book was presented would make it translate well onto the big screen. 

Book Review #712 - Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories (Wonder #1.5, #1.6 and #1.7) by R.J. Palacio

Auggie & Me gives readers a special look at Auggie's world through three new points of view. Previously only available in ebook, now they'll be published all together--complete with an introduction from the author on how she came to write them--in a gorgeous hardcover package!

These stories are an extra peek at Auggie before he started at Beecher Prep and during his first year there. Readers get to see him through the eyes of Julian, the bully; Christopher, Auggie's oldest friend; and Charlotte, Auggie's new friend at school. Together, these three stories are a treasure for readers who don't want to leave Auggie behind when they finish Wonder.

 

 

My Rating: 8/10

 

 

I absolutely loved Wonder and so I was only so happy to read more about these wonderful character (pun intended).

 

This book contains 3 short stories following side characters from Wonder. All of these stories contained the same unique quality as the novel.

 

The first story followed Julian, the bully who picked on Auggie throughout Wonder. It wasn't that hard to see why Julian is the way he is when you get introduced to his parents.

 

Although it was hard at first to feel anything towards Julian aside from contempt because of the way he treated Auggie, by the end I loved how much he had matured. This was aided by his delightful grandmother.

 

The second story followed Auggie's childhood friend Christopher. I didn't think this book was as strong as the other two, but I did enjoy the flashbacks to Christopher and August's childhood friendship.

 

Christopher had a minimal role in Wonder, but it is obvious that he played a huge role in Auggie's life. I felt that the way Christopher was embarrassed by Auggie at times although not ideal, was realistic for a child of that age and you could tell he was a genuine friend to Auggie.

 

The third and final story followed Charlotte who was one of my favourite characters from Wonder. This story didn't circle around Auggie like the previous two did.

 

Whilst I enjoyed learning more about Charlotte, I did miss Auggie's presence though.