In a series of twisted, unfortunate events, a “normal” Monday afternoon takes a turn for the worst. Day by day, Karen M. McManus takes the readers through a journey as Simon Kelleher, one of Bayview High’s most hated student, unexpectedly becomes a murder victim, dragging down four other students into this chaotic mess he created, risking their reputation and labeling them as murder suspects. However, as secrets begin to reveal and lies slowly unravel, the author addresses concerns that people deal with in the everyday world. In her novel, One of Us is Lying, Karen M. McManus conveys the idea that the need to meet expectations and the desire for attention and to fit in becomes the downfall of all by establishing different points of view so that the reader is able to understand how such selfishness affects each character.

 First and foremost, the author begins the story by giving the readers an insight into Simon’s way of thinking through comments and opinions that he voices out loud. As the story progresses, the author provides details that allow the readers to understand not only Simon Kelleher’s mentality, but also how it correlates to his downfall. When asked what stereotype category he belonged to, he simply replied, “I’m the omniscient narrator.” (McManus 11) When Simon called himself an “omniscient narrator”, he characterized his own self as someone who both acknowledged and understood the thoughts and emotions of every character presented in the novel; he also displayed his want to control every aspect of life that he could manage. The cause of this need of his was the fact that majority of Bayview High considered him as the outcast; he didn’t have a specific group that he belonged to, and the thought of this sparked his desire to be recognized by others. By allowing the readers to understand this particular fact about Simon, the author makes it easier to understand why Simon ended up going through with his plan of action: to kill himself in the most unimaginable way possible, which in the end, led to his own downfall. The author made certain to add in details to show that Simon Kelleher regretted his decision to commit suicide. For instance, the author wrote, “His eyes are bugging out of his head, his lips are blue, and he’s making horrible choking noises.” (McManus 13)  This sentence alone showed the struggle that Simon faced, both physically and mentally, in his final moments of life, showing that in the bitter end, he wanted to be saved, but with his plan already set into action, it was far too late for anyone to save him.

 After Simon’s “tragic” death, four students were now perceived as murder suspects for being the last ones to talk to Simon, and also the last ones to have seen him alive; one of these suspects being Bronwyn Rojas. Karen M. McManus’s characterization of Bronwyn through Simon Kelleher’s words showed her in a bad light for possessing “the brains”; he portrayed Bronwyn as a presumptuous, conceited teen who liked to brag about her genuine intelligence. Contrary to this belief, McManus proved otherwise by illustrating Bronwyn’s life at home and her relationship with her parents to reveal the truth behind the image she built for herself. One comment Bronwyn made regarding to her parents was, “My parents are all about merit-based achievement. Dad was one on the youngest CFOs in California before we were even born, and Mom’s dermatology practice is so successful she hasn’t been able to take on any new patients in years. They’ve been drumming the same message into me since kindergarten: Work hard, do your best, and the rest will follow. And it always had, until chemistry.” (McManus 91) From this small excerpt, the readers clearly see the stress and the weight Bronwyn’s parents placed on her shoulders. Because of her parents’ successful past, present, and future, she felt the need to meet their expectations and be just as or even more successful than them. To all the sons and daughters out there, one of the worst things they can encounter is seeing the disappointment on their parents’ face caused by their own actions. No one would ever wish to witness a sight like that; any child’s dream is to experience the joy of making their parents proud of them, and this dream of Bronwyn soon became her biggest downfall. Not wanting to disappoint her parents, she ultimately did something that sooner or later ruined her reputation as the “goody-two shoes”; she stole the chemistry final from her teacher’s Google Drive and cheated, wrongfully earning that A and passing Chemistry. The desperation McManus displayed through Bronwyn’s actions showed a young teen’s mindset corrupted by the idea that she had to be perfect and could not show anything but her best efforts. In the end, her guilt ended up getting the best of her and those moments in which she cherished the feeling of her parents being proud of her became short-lived.  

 In addition to the main characters of the novel, another crucial character was Janae. The author developed the idea that Janae was simply Simon Kelleher’s friend from the beginning of the novel. Throughout the story, however,  McManus allowed the readers to understand Janae’s point of view and realize that there was more to Janae than what meets the eye. Similar to Simon, a multitude of people considered her as an outcast; no one desired to become her friend due to her piercings and clothing style. Having something in common with someone and experiencing her first true friendship with Simon, she entered a world that she never ventured to before. Considering the fact that Simon was her only friend, not only did she try to accustom herself to this new-found friendship, but willingly, she would also do whatever it took to gain Simon’s approval. Trying to fit into his “standards” and gain his approval became her biggest downfall. One quote said by Janae was, “You were nice to me. Hundreds of people in that stupid school and nobody, except you, ever asked if I missed Simon. I did. I do. I totally get how f***ed he was, but-he was my only friend.” (McManus 327) Her words showed her innocence and naiveness to the real world. Once she got to experience the joy and how it felt to have a friend by her side, she feared of losing him and becoming lonely again, which led to her decision to ignore the true side of Simon. She willed herself to turn a blind eye towards the dark side that he possessed. Knowing this fact about Janae, both Simon and Jake used her innocence and naiveness to their advantage. Plotting Simon’s own death together, both Simon and Jake developed a plan that turned a suicidal case into a homicidal one; needing a third party, they dragged her into the mess they created, knowing that not only would she agree to help them, but her loyalty towards Simon would prevent her from abandoning the mission. In the end, her innocence and inability to differentiate between right and wrong and to stand up for herself caused her to suffer the lost of her only friend, something that she feared. Thrown into the harsh reality of the real world, she tries to get back up on her feet. However, the only difference this time was that she didn’t have anyone by her side to help her along the way.

Throughout the novel, Karen M. McManus successfully shed light onto each characters in ways that the readers have never seen before. She perfectly established different point of views to portray how each person experienced their own downfall due to their own selfishness. She takes the readers through a journey as the characters suffer the consequences of their own actions. From Simon Kelleher’s untimely death to the aftermath of the tragedy, Karen M. McManus perfectly presents the audience with a captivating, mysterious and thrilling page turner filled with secrets and hidden messages.