What’s about ?

One and a half years have passed since Simon Kellehers death put the people in Bayview in shock. The famous Bayview Four have graduated from school and continued their lifes at college or in the working world to finally keep their distance from their gossip leaded past. It seems like finally normality has returned to Bayview High where Maeve, Knox and Phoebe still have to survive their everyday life going there in and out. Knox’ escape from reality is by fully throwing himself into the work at Until Proven where he desparetly tries to finally get Eli Kleinfelters full attention and who he is fascinated looking up to. Phoebe on the other side is trying to catch up on life especially with her sister with who she has been like best friends till the day their father died and everything changed. Maeve still has to get used to the fact that she has to made it through everyday with her sister being thousands of miles away and not only a room apart.

But the past is coming back faster then thought when the well-known “Truth or Dare” game hits Bayview High in a way they would have never expected. Since the closing of “About That” no wannabe gossip app fulfilled the gossip void like Simon did when some students start to get text messages which forces them to make the choice between telling a truth or taking the dare. It started with Phoebes darkest truth and let the dares or truths of other students to seem quite harmless when the game begins to turn the deadly way everyone starts to ask themself: Am I the next one ?

My opinion:

At first I wanna tell that it is a pure coincedence that after 3 years of no new post of me on this site this review turned out to be the one of the sequel of the book of my last review. Anyway let’s start with answering the question you are maybe here to get an answer to: Is this book worth reading and if yes, why so ?

There is a totally YES from me ! At first I was a little bit sceptical before I started this book. I was scared that the sequel would turn out like a copy of the first book “One Of Us Is Lying” with only other characters and slight changes. I was and am really relieved that it turned out not to be. In this book we get to meet some new characters like Knox and Phoebe and their families and get to know some old characters like Maeve, much better.

*small and not much revealing spoiler ahead*

One fact that I just realized that I like more in this book than in the first one is that the story gets told by only three different people than four. Even when I absolutely adored the first book I got the feeling that I connected much more to the story and their characters in this sequel. Yes, it could partly have to do with the fact that the characters themself are also more connected: Maeve and Knox are best friends and often hang out at Café Contigo where Phoebe works with Addy, who happens to be one of the Bayview Four and turns out to be Phoebes neighbor. If I would have to choose my favourite character of them three it would be Knox. Knox fascinated me not only because he survived his life with being the only boy between four sisters but even because this fact his father seems to neglect him and takes out his disappointment on him. And still he took this job at Until Proven partly to proof to his father that he can actually care for something more than for video games.

Karen McManus wrote again a book which is fast paced and really easy to read. After ever chapter there is always a new reason to read on because you start to ask yourself “How is this possible ?” and especially “Who could have done this ?”. This story leads you to the big final reveal I would have never guessed. Of course I had my own assumptions which popped up in my head of who or why anyone could have done something. All in all I absolutely enjoyed reading this sequel which I never thought I would need and it was really great to revisit Bayview and see how the Bayview Four have turned out.